It was a moment of sadness driving to visit my father today. The radio said Malcolm Young had passed away. This was the band sweeping the country as I was exiting High School. Honestly “Back in Black” was the first 8-track I ever owned. Okay, if you must know, the second was Charlie Daniels Band “Million Mile Reflections,” but that is not relevant now. “Back in Black” was and still is ground breaking. This one album is so ingrained into global culture the Iron Man movies keep using cuts from it because there simply isn’t anything better.
The title track was reportedly the only track on the album the original lead singer, Bon Scott, sang. It was written about him and his hard living lifestyle. Turned out to be predictive, he died. Thankfully Brian Johnson stepped in and did a damn fine job. This kept the song writing gift from God, Malcolm Young, writing hard rock which mattered.
I don’t mean it invoked great social change, my God! The worst President in the history of America, Bill Clinton, got elected. Real social change would have stopped that from happening. What I mean by hard rock which mattered is it told good stories while embodying every inch of youth, rebellion, and metal. More importantly, they have done it well past their 50s when most rockers were either dead or changing genres to write somber songs about their impending mortality.
While it might not have invoked massive social change, it didn’t invoke massive social commentary with tracks like: “What Do You Do For Money Honey” and “Shoot to Thrill.”
I was also saddened to learn Malcolm exited this world like too many others will, from/width dementia.
You will be missed Malcolm. I hope you don’t mind if I steal some of your words, part of the warning you offered to Bon Scott.
Malcolm Young courtesy of acdc.com
Forget the hearse cause you’ll never die
