Here are most of the odd bits and pieces from the Bon Scott project 1979-80 list which aren't complete shows. A couple of stray performances, some interviews, and then tributes and news reports following the death of one of rock's most charismatic and affectionately remembered figures. Inevitably, there is a bit of repetition, with a couple of the interviews also featuring in the radio tributes.
01 - Johnny B. Goode <4:54>
Cheap Trick were the support band for the latter part of the 1979 "If You want Blood" North American Tour. Angus, Malcolm and Bon joined them for their encore at the Sioux Falls Arena on 7 July 1979. The sound quality is excellent, probably soundboard, and you've got to wonder whether there was a tape for the rest of this concert? Perhaps only the encore, or only the Cheap Trick set, was taped... Can anyone shed any light on this?
02 - Interview <10:00>
Angus Young & Bon Scott are interviewed by KSJO's Sheila Rennay after their performance at the third Day on the Green Festival on 21 July 1979. Angus on Bon - "He's old, he's got his coffin ordered!" Bon says there are only five songs from the (still unreleased) "Highway to Hell" album suitable for playing live (so "Beating around the Bush", "Night Prowler", "Get it hot", "Touch Too Much" and "Love Hungry Man" never got a concert performance). He also mentions playing these five songs at the 13 July Rijnhallen TV show - of these, only Highway to Hell was broadcast, but perhaps there's more out there... Bon and Angus give differing views on playing smaller clubs - the bigger the better for Bon... Taken from the KSJO tribute (See Track 14) - speed corrected, ending restored, song intros edited out.
03 - Interview <1:53>
Same interview as Track two, but in far better quality. Only [most of] Bon's contributions are included, though.
04 - Highway to Hell <3:27>
The band performs live for the West German TV show "Rockpop" in Munich on 28 August 1979. The video of this performance can be found on various DVD bootlegs (Bon Scott Collection 2, Let there be Rock, Promo Clips and TV Appearances 1974-1980 Vol. 3, et. al.). But since the band finally started releasing their DVD retrospectives, nearly all of these bootlegs would be banned on dime...
05 - Interview <3:02>
Angus Young & Bon Scott are interviewed by an English DJ at the time of their appearance at the "Who and Friends Roar in" concert on 18 August 1979. Since they played a date in Belgium the day before, it seems a safe bet that it took place on the day of the concert. The questions are mildly hostile (Don't we have enough heavy metal bands in the UK already? Why doesn't your music progress? - that sort of thing), but Bon and Angus take it in good part, and even have the DJ laughing along.
06 - Interview <2:21>
Angus Young & Bon Scott are interviewed for a European TV show. The date is not specified, and the interviewer sounds French. I'd put it as late August 1979. A cover of Highway to Hell is visible on the available footage - the album's release was 3 August, and they played a couple of dates in Europe that month, notably (ie francophone countries) Belgium on the 17th and France on the 27th. By the end of the year and the November-December European tour, Bon was parting his hair in the middle, whereas here, he has a fringe. The interview focusses on their albums, but sadly in no great depth, and this is only part one of the interview - the rest hasn't surfaced.
07 - Interview <1:16>
Excerpt from a longer interview with Bon in New York on 17 October 1979, from a much later radio broadcast. He discusses the origins of "Whole Lotta Rosie".
08 - Interview <2:33>
Moments before going onstage (you can hear the crowd and the introductions, and the pre-show music) in Toledo on 2 October 1979, an amazingly nonchalant Bon is interviewed for a Detroit radio station and invites the interviewer to come onstage with him.
09 - Interview <0:43>
From the same source as Track 8 (both of these excised from #17), Bon is interviewed in a more relaxed setting, and sounds hoarse from the show. He discusses plans for writing and recording the next album, then going on tour again later in 1980.
10 - Interview <6:24>
Presumably recorded around the time of the Manchester shows (29 & 30 October), but who am I to dispute the November date this came with? Bon is interviewed for BBC Radio Sheffield's "Something Else" programme, discussing AC/DC's place in the hard rock spectrum. It cuts in, and there were interruptions in the sound, with the levels dropping dramatically in three places - I tried increasing the volume in these sections, with a minor improvement - Bon is barely audible above the hiss. Noise reduction was attempted, but it made it sound terrible, so I left it at just the level adjustment.
11 - BBC news report <0:50>
20 February 1980 radio news item on Bon's death for the BBC, oddly enough reported by an American female.
12 - American Radio news report <0:51>
20 February 1980 radio news report on Bon's death for Capitol Radio, and we hear from another American on the spot, Rick Davies. "In 1973 he was forced to stop singing for a while because of his drug problems" - for "drug problems", he presumably meant "life-threatening motorcycle accident". Slip of the tongue...
13 - Australian news report <0:31>
Brief excerpt from a February 1980 Australian radio news report.
14 - Radio special <10:00>
February 1980. KSJO's Sheila Rennay pays tribute to Bon, replays the 21 July interview, and speculates on how the band will continue. This ran a bit slow, so it's been correected by ~5%, and the ending was missing, so this in turn has been patched in from Track 3.
15 - Australian TV - tribute by Molly Meldrum <1:31>
February 1980. The Australian ABC TV pop show Countdown, which had helped propel the group to stardom, was perenially hosted by Ian 'Molly' Meldrum, who like Bon, had been in the business since the 1960s. Although no doubt upset, he ends it in wildly inapprpriate fashion by saying "Bon - best of luck" ... a bit late for that, Meldrum!!
16 - Interview <1:20>
Ozzy Osborne talking about his song "Suicide Solution" and how it was inspired by his friend Bon's death. Mediocre sound.
17 - Radio special <9:00>
WABX Detroit pays tribute to Bon by replaying interviews and speculating on how ex-Easybeat Stevie Wright is going to manage taking over as vocalist for AC/DC.
18 - Stone Dead Forever <5:31>
Lemmy dedicates the song to Bon Scott at Motorhead's Milan concert on 25 March 1980. Not a sentimental moment...
Total time 63:13
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