AC/DC will celebrate their 50th anniversary later this year. I was surprised to find out that their first singer wasn’t Bon Scott but, Dave Evans, Although he only recorded one song with the band.
He was the original lead singer for AC/DC in 1973–1974 and sang on their debut single and one other single shortly ,before being replaced by Bon Scott. Evans then went on to join the band Rabbit who were active into the early 1980s. He resumed a solo career shortly after the year 2000.
Dave recorded AC/DC’s first two singles, “Can I Sit Next To You Girl” and “Baby, Please Don’t Go”. But in October 1974, less than a year after AC/DC’s first gig, Evans was out of the band.
This is slight deviation from my usual heavier history blogs. Every once in a while something lighthearted is needed.
The Netherlands, a small country in the Northwest of Europe. Known for great painters and footballers and for Tulips and windmills and a lot of other things.
It is however not so much known for its music.and to an extend rightfully so. Because lets face it, the majority of Dutch music just isn’t great. But there have been some bits of music which have become global classics and a lot of people,including Dutch, don’t know the origin lies in the Netherlands. Even some of the worlds biggest acts have some Dutch connection.
Starting off Down Under
Harry Vanda
The name Harry Vanda on its own will mean very little to most, but connect it to the name George Young and it becomes a different story.
Born Johannes Hendrikus Jacob van den Berg , the young musician Harry emigrated to Australia in 1963. Where he met George Young and teamed up to form the band “the Easybeats” they achieved a global hit with the song “Friday on my Mind” with the Easybeats.
But it was in their songwriting/producing capacity they achieved the biggest successes, Songs like “Love is in the air” and “Standing in the rain” performen by John Paul Young became massive hits. However the biggest impact they had in the music industry was as producers of the band formed by George Young’s brothers,Malcolm and Angus,AC/DC.
This is one of my favourite Vanda/Young productions. It is the duo in the incarnation of the band “Flash in the Pan” the song “Hey St.Peter”
Diesel
This band started off as more of a hobby project of former members of legendary Dutch symphonic rock band Kayak. In 1981 their song Sausalito Summernightgot to No.25 in the US Charts and No.1 in Canada. It also did very well in a number of European countries.
Shocking Blue
Shocking Blue are probably responsible for one of the biggest hits, if not the biggest hit ever written by a Dutch band. The song “Venus” still gets an awful lot of airplay in a variety of versions and if it’s not on radio it is on TV, where the song is often used in commercials ranging from products like yogurt to razors for ladies.
This is the original from 1969
Dave
This one is a bit difficult to definee, I suppose the best way to describe Dave is a French Disco chansonier, but he wan’t French but Dutch.Born Wouter Otto Levenbach in Amsterdam. He had a string of hits in French, the most successful song Dansez Maintenant. Most people in the Netherlands don’t know he is Dutch.
The George Baker Selection
Some bands need only to be heard and not to be seen, well at least that is what I think about this band and especially the singer George Baker aka Hans Bouwens, his fake smile just annoys me. But having that said he is responsible for a massive hit which had an unexpected revival due to the Quentin Tarantino movie “Reservoir Dogs” the son of course is “Little Green Bag” first released in 1970.
Pussycat
This is like a country and western music fairy tale, Three sisters, telephone operators form a rural part of the Netherlands, the south east of the country. They team up with some musicians and a song writer/lyricist and create a classic Country song which topped the charts in most countries worldwide. A song of a river which they hadn’t seen. The river Mississippi.
Caro Emerald
Now before I get accused on only focusing on 20th century music. This one sneaked in a few years ago. Caro Emerald born Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw had a big world wide hit with the Jazz song “A Night like This” which was released in 2009.
To me the quality sign of approval for any musician is when they appear on “Later with Jools Holland” on the BBC. Caro appeared on Jools Holland’s new Year’s eve edition of his show in 2011.
I could have added the more commonly known dutch artists like Van Halen,The Golden Earring, 2 Unlimited, DJ Tiesto and Andre Rieu, but I think this is a good compilation of bands and musicians most people outside of the Netherlands know are Dutch.
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In the beginning Back in nineteen fifty-five Man didn’t know about a rock ‘n’ roll show
And all that jive.
The above line is the start of the AC/DC classic let there be Rock. The whole song is basically a history lesson in Rock N Roll, brought to us by the one and only Bon Scott.
It is not often I dedicate a blog to a musician but since it is coming up to the 41st anniversary of Bon Scott’s death I thought it only to be fitting since he was the lead singer of one off my all time favourite bands AC/DC
On a side note. something not many people know is that the founders of AC/DC ,Angus and Malcolm Young, had an older brother called George Young who had a massive hit with the Easybeats called “Friday on my mind” He also co wrote “Love is in the Air” and “Standing in the Rain” recorded by “John Paul Young a fellow Scots-Australian but no family.
Like the Young brothers Bon Scott was also Scottish Australian.Scott, he emigrated to Australia aged six, he joined fellow Scotsmen brothers Angus and Malcolm Young in AC/DC in 1974.
His distinctive voice was so recognizable, the second he would start to sing you’d know “That’s AC/DC with Bon Scott”. Not was he only a singer he was also an accomplished drummer. There was always this twinkle in his eyes as if he was up to no good.
In July 2004 the magazinn Classic Rock, rated Scott as number one in a list of the “100 Greatest Frontmen Of All Time” ahead of Robert Plant and Freddie Mercury.
In 1980 he had started working with the rest of the band on the album “Back in Black” but unfortunately he never got to finish it.He had only input on drums on 2 songs of the album.
On Feb. 19, 1980, he was found dead. He had been out drinking with friends, in a London nightclub — but the casual evening took a terrible turn as Scott passed out in his car, and ultimately choked to death on his own vomit. He was only 33 years old.
The album was finished 5 months later with AC/DC’s new front man Brian Johnson.
To end this tribute to Bon Scott I will use the words sang by the other AC/DC singer, Brian Johnson. “For those about to Rock we salute you”.
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Although we didn’t lose as many musical heavy weights in 2017 as we did in 2016. This year there were still significant losses in the music industry.
Especially the alternative rock scene had to bear the brunt of the losses, Below is a list of some of those losses, the ones who exchanged day for night.
Mott the Hoople
Pete Overend Watts, the original bassist for Mott the Hoople, died on January 22nd. The bass guitarist (originally guitarist) appeared with singer Stan Tippins on The Doc Thomas Group, before using the Mott the Hoople name, with new singer Ian Hunter. Watts became the staple of Mott the Hoople’s lineup throughout the years, even appearing as late as 2013 when they went on a reunion tour.
Al Jarreau
Legendary Jazz singer Al Jarreau passed away at the age of 76, following hospitalization for exhaustion, on the 12th of February.
Y&T
On 12 Mar 2017: Singer, songwriter and lead guitarist for Y&T (originally named Yesterday & Today), Dave Meniketti, broke the news just hours ago that, their original rhythm guitarist, Joey Alves, passed away that morning.
Allan Holdsworth
16 Apr 2017: One of the most influential guitarist, Allan Holdsworth, died. The news came out on Easter Sunday, April 16th, from his family. Holdsworth inspired a generation of guitarists, including Frank Zappa, Eddie Van Halen, and Joe Satriani.
Soundgarden
18 May 2017: Chris Cornell, lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave, died at the age of 52. On June 2, 2017, the Wayne County Medical Examiner released its autopsy and toxicology report in the death of Cornell. The coroner confirming that the manner of death was suicide by hanging and that “drugs did not contribute” to the cause of death.
Afghan Whigs
27 Jun 2017: Guitarist Dave Rosser from the Afghan Whigs died after a battle with cancer.
In July 2 members of some of my favourite bands died on the same day, however one only made the news.
The Jayhawks
20 Jul 2017: Jayhawks co-founder Caleb Palmiter died at the age of 53, Palmiter suffered heart failure after some years of poor health.
Linkin Park
20 Jul 2017: Singer Chester Bennington committed suicide , just before 9am. Bennington was 41. tmz.com broke the news, stated that it was suicide by hanging. This was only two months after his close friend Chris Cornell … who also hung himself. July 20th would have been Cornell’s 53rd birthday.
Glen Campbell
In June 2011, Campbell announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease six months earlier.He became a patient at an Alzheimer’s long-term care and treatment facility in 2014.Glen Campbell died in Nashville, Tennessee on August 8, 2017 at the age of 81 and was buried in the Campbell family cemetery at Billstown, Arkansas.
Hüsker Dü
Grant Hart ofHüsker Dü died on September 13, 2017, at 9:02 PM., at Fairview University of Minnesota Hospital of complications from liver cancer and Hepatitis C. He was 56 years old. He is survived by his wife Brigid McGough Hart, son Karl Turbenson, granddaughter Grace, siblings Nett Hart, Roxanne Hart and Craig Hart.
Tragically Hip
Gordon Edgar Downie (February 6, 1964 – October 17, 2017) was a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, musician, writer and activist. He was the lead singer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, which he fronted from their formation in 1984 until his death in 2017.
Downie died of glioblastoma on October 17, 2017, at the age of 53 in Toronto
Fats Domino
Domino died on October 24, 2017, at his home in Harvey, Louisiana, at the age of 89, from natural causes.
AC/DC
Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was a Scottish musician and songwriter, best known as a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter for the hard rock band AC/DC.In April 2014, Malcolm Young became seriously ill and was unable to continue performing.
Young died on 18 November 2017 at the age of 64,at Lulworth House in Elizabeth Bay.His funeral was held at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney on 28 November.Young’s elder brother George Young died a few weeks before him, on 22 October 2017.
Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday, the “French Elvis” died on December 6. The 74-year-old had battled lung cancer.
Born Jean-Philippe Smet, Hallyday decided he wanted to be a performer after watching Elvis Presley. He was credited with introducing rock ‘n’ roll to France in the ’60s, and enjoyed enormous success there. However, Hallyday never really broke through in the United States.
Donation
I am passionate about my site and I know you all like reading my blogs. I have been doing this at no cost and will continue to do so. All I ask is for a voluntary donation of $2, however if you are not in a position to do so I can fully understand, maybe next time then. Thank you.
To donate click on the credit/debit card icon of the card you will use. If you want to donate more then $2 just add a higher number in the box left from the PayPal link. Many thanks.
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