The AC/DC Story Continued

Mad In Madrid

During the 1996 Ballbreaker European tour, AC/DC did not only play concerts. They indeed took part in three different projects, namely a long-form video tape, a television broadcast and an American movie.

In the beginning of July AC/DC played two nights at the Palau San Jordi in Barcelona, Spain. The day after the second show the band took the plane and flew to London for a single day. They were asked by the British commercial television channel VH-1 to record some songs live in the studio for a special TV broadcast.

For the occasion the band listened to old material they hadn't played for a very long time. As Brian had never sung some of the songs originally recorded with Bon Scott, he had to read the lyrics while he was singing. But they also recorded other songs during the breaks just for fun.

In total 14 songs were recorded during the session. In addition to the songs played on stage during the Ballbreaker tour, the band recorded two songs they hadn't played since 1978, namely 'Riff Raff' and 'Gone Shootin', a song they never played on stage neither with Bon Scott nor with Brian Johnson, 'Go Down', and two cover songs, namely 'Mary Superstitious' from Stevie Wonder and 'I Feel Good' from James Brown.

The first 30 minute broadcast, 'Take It To The Bridge', took place on August 4, 1996 in an 'AC/DC Special' program. The set included four songs, namely 'Riff Raff', 'Down Payment Blues', 'Gone Shootin' and 'Go Down' and some short interviews with Malcolm and Angus Young.

On September 21 & 22, VH-1 broadcasted the "AC/DC Uncut" show. The set list of the show was made of 'Riff Raff', 'Go Down', 'You Shook Me All Night Long', 'Shoot To Thrill', 'Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution', 'Down Payment Blues', 'The Jack' and 'Whole Lotta Rosie'. The show ended with the 'For Those About To Rock' video clip.

After the recording at VH-1 Studios, AC/DC flew back to Portugal in order to perform in Lisbon on July 6. The next shows were to take place in Madrid, Spain. When the tickets were first put on sale, only one show was planed on July 4. Only two weeks after, no tickets were to be found on the market; this first Madrid show was then postponed to July 9 and a second show was added on July 10. Some weeks later tickets for a third show were put on sale.

Being in the same town for three concerts, AC/DC decided to record the second show at the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas in Madrid for a long-form video tape. During the first concert on July 9, recorded by a Manor Mobile studio, director David Mallet came to see the show and to make lightning checks. The video was shot the day after using 14 cameras.

The video tape, entitled 'No Bull', was released through Warner Home Video on November 18, 1996. It features the 20 songs played during the concert. A limited edition single CD was joined to the first copies of the video tape including three songs recorded on July 9, namely 'Hard As A Rock', 'Hail Caesar' and 'Dog Eat Dog'.

After the end of the European leg of the Ballbreaker tour, AC/DC went to New York to meet Howard Stern. On July 27, AC/DC filmed three songs onstage for the movie, 'You Shook Me All Night Long', 'Highway To Hell' and 'The Jack'. The shooting took place in Bryant Park in New York in front of thousands of Stern fans.

The movie is based on Stern's first book, called "Private Parts", which describes how Howard Stern became a radio personality and worked for many different stations before he made it big. It follows his whole career from meeting his wife to finding his radio partner, Robin Quivers.

On July 29, Brian Johnson came on Howard Stern's radio show. He said that the whole band had a lot of fun there on the movie set. The movie was released in the United States in 1997. AC/DC only appears very quickly at the end of the movie playing 'You Shook Me All Night Long' on stage.

Bonfire

Around the middle of the 1996 Ballbreaker World Tour, rumours started circulating about a new AC/DC box set. In fact, the band owed the record company a box set as part of their record deal, but nobody knew what was to be included in it. The rumours told about a re-release of all of the singles B-sides, previously unreleased studio tracks and live concerts with Bon Scott and Brian Johnson, re-recordings of old material, radio and TV shows, etc...

When the Ballbreaker tour ended in New Zealand in November 1996, the band took some holidays. In March 1997, the band began to think seriously about the making of the box set. Initially, the record company planned to release a 4 CD box set with the best songs taken from the band's whole career. However, during the last tour many fans asked the band to officially release some of the old live tapes recorded with Bon Scott. The idea seduced the band and they eventually decided to make a tribute to Bon Scott through this long awaited box set.

While work began on the content of the box set, the band didn't have any unreleased songs with Bon Scott, only demos recorded in the studio before the final take. The making of the box set was mainly a research project in order to find the master tapes of old studio recordings and live shows. Malcolm and Angus Young spent a lot of time in the studio listening to the tapes and selecting the songs where Bon was at the top of his condition. They were helped in this by their older brother George who participated in the production of the band's first albums with Harry Vanda in the seventies.

Finished in September 1997, the box set, entitled 'Bonfire', was released on November 14, 1997 in Europe and four days later in the United States. 'Bonfire' was a title that Bon Scott used to joke about when he dreamt of being famous one day and make a solo album. The box set is made of 5 CD's including a live radio show recorded in 1977, one of last live performances with Bon Scott in 1979 on a double CD, a collection of unreleased demos and live songs with Bon Scott from 1977 to 1979 and the mutli platinum album, Back In Black.

'Live From The Atlantic Studios' was recorded at the end of the 1977 American tour in New York. At that time their record company - Atlantic Records - used to organise live radio performances for the bands signed on their label in their famous recording studios in New York. The concert was released in 1978 as a very limited edition promotional record in order to be broadcasted by a few associate American radio stations. But this show was also to be released as the first AC/DC bootleg record entitled '110/220' and later on various other bootleg vinyl records and CD's. The sound quality of the original tapes was enhanced thanks to a new production made by George Young from the master tapes.

'Let There Be Rock - The Movie - Live In Paris' is the full soundtrack from the film 'Let There Be Rock' released in 1980. This recording includes the complete concert recorded in Paris on December 9, 1979. It features the full version of the song 'Walk All Over You' and the missing track 'T.N.T.' that was dropped from the movie. The record even includes the movie introduction solo recorded by Angus Young during a soundcheck in Metz on December 6, 1979.

'Volts' presents 5 studio songs with Bon Scott that nobody had ever heard before. These songs, taken from the original studio tapes and produced by George Young, are in fact the first demo versions of songs published later on the 'Let There Be Rock' and 'Highway To Hell' albums. 'Volts' also includes rare live recordings and ends with songs released on the first three AC/DC Australian albums.

'Back In Black' is the last record of the Bonfire box set, depending on the country where it is released (not all countries have this last CD included). As the band declared during the promotional interviews they gave all around the world, 'Back In Black' was included in the box set because it was made as the band's tribute to Bon Scott at the time of its release. Released in a double carton embossed sleeve with all the original components of the vinyl release, this edition of 'Back In Black' is exclusive to Bonfire.

Bonfire also includes a 48-page booklet, a two sided-poster, AC/DC sticker, removable tattoo, guitar pick and a key chain/bottle opener. The booklet includes rare black & white and color photos of the band, a brief AC/DC history by Australian journalist Murray Engleheart, various quotes from AC/DC band members and Bon Scott hand written lyrics.

As Malcolm and Angus Young declared during the promotional interviews following the release of Bonfire, a new album should see the light during the second half of 1998. The next World Tour should begin at the dawn of 1999.

Stiff Upper Lip

Early 2000, and after the band have been rocking for over 26 years (!!!) they release the Stiff Upper Lip album. Produced by Young brother George, it again features a trademark stripped down bluesy sound ala "Powerage". Demand for the band hasn't waned, MTV had the band into the studio to talk to fans and perform a few select tracks live, the band made their first ever in store appearances to meet fans and in Spain they named a street in Madrid "AC/DC Street". This doesn't sound like a band on the way out or getting tired does it?

Sure as eggs is eggs, the band launched into a massive World Tour with the kind of gusto and vigor one might have expected 20 years earlier. Rave reviews, memorable performances and tens of thousands of happy fans are the norm for AC/DC and the schedule never seems to stop. No sooner have the band finished the USA tour and start the European leg, they announce dates in Australia and Japan. Japan is very significant as the band haven't been there for nearly 20 years!

One other new "phenomenon" for AC/DC is the Internet. From the mid 90's the band's activities have been followed, tracked, talked about and written about all over the Internet. For the first time on this album and tour has there been so much information available without having to rely on the radio or MTV. Let's face it, the band confess to not being media types so the Net is the perfect vehicle for them. Well....your reading this aren't you? Even though there is no official AC/DC website there are official WebPages hosted by the bands various record labels, East West, Alberts, EMI, etc..

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