Remembering Bon Scott of AC/DC
10 great songs featuring the late and great singer
I’ve been a fan of AC/DC since I was a freshman in high school. Their Back In Black album was new at that time and my friends and I spent many, many lunch hours at school listening to it. I instantly loved singer Brian Johnson’s voice and was surprised when I learned that he was new to the band and had replaced Bon Scott, who tragically died way, way, way too young.
It wasn’t long before my friends and I bought up all of the Bon Scott era AC/DC albums and started playing them almost daily. I still regularly listen to a few of them. While I have a slight preference for Brian Johnson as their lead singer, there’s no denying that Bon Scott was fantastic and had a great, very unique voice. I love his music with the band and it’s hard not to wonder what the band would have been like if he had stayed alive.
I can never choose definitive “absolute favorite songs” from musical acts, because my favorites will change back and forth over time. Here, in no particular order, are ten of my favorite AC/DC songs featuring Bon Scott on lead vocals.
- “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Want To Rock And Roll).” The first song on their first internationally released album, High Voltage. I mean, wow, what a fantastic song to kick off their first album with. It opens with the kind of great guitar riffs that would soon become their wonderful signature sound. It’s no wonder that it didn’t take AC/DC very long to get to the actual top with their kind of rock and roll.
- “T.N.T.” This one’s also from the same album as above and it was one of the first AC/DC songs I fell in love with. Catchy chorus and fun, rocking music. I still have very clear memories of me and my friends in high school (what’s up, Bob, Tim, and Jeff!) playing it over and over again on Bob’s cassette player.
3. “Bad Boy Boogie” from the Let There Be Rock album. I don’t have much to say about this very cool song, but if there’s ever an opportunity while making lists like this for me to include a song with the word “boogie” in its title, I do it.
4. “Whole Lotta Rosie.” The final song on the Let There Be Rock album. I may be wrong, but I don’t think this one ever got played too much on the radio other than on maybe some Classic Rock stations many years after its release. But don’t quote me on that, okay? If you know the song, I bet you love it like I do. If you don’t know it, go to Spotify or Apple Music or some other groovy music-streaming place and give it a listen. It’s a great, rocking song.
My next four selections are the first four songs off of their Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap album, which may possibly be my favorite album from the band.
5. “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.” The title track. The album was their third album, but didn’t come out in the United States until 1981, a year after Scott’s death. It was the first of their albums that I actually purchased and it still holds a special place in my heart for that reason. The title track is one of the band’s greatest songs, in my opinion. Great music and fun, naughty lyrics.
6. “Love At First Feel.” Awesome rocking music and a fun one to sing along to. Bon Scott’s voice is perfectly suited to this song. The ways he delivers lines like, “Feels good just like I knew it would” is the ultimate in fun, rock and roll naughtiness.
7. “Big Balls.” Speaking of naughty songs…well, this one definitely falls into that category, doesn’t it? Or no, maybe it doesn’t. I mean, if you listen to the lyrics, the guys are just singing about simple, innocent dance balls, right?
Regardless, it’s a very fun song that still makes me chuckle when I hear it.
8. “Rocker.” A very short song about a country music singer in the southern USA who is struggling with whether he should stay in country music or instead give it all up and move to Scotland to become a bagpipe player.
No, of course that’s all just a lie.
The song’s about a rocker. A roller. A right-out-of-control-er. Oh, but he’s much more than that. He’s also a bunch of other things that end in “er” too. Go and listen to this great rock and roll song. Go on and rock your little hearts out.
9. “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It.) This one is from the band’s final album with Bon Scott, Highway To Hell. The album itself is one of my favorites from the band. I could include just about every song from it on this list. However, I’m just including two of them here. I chose this one because I especially love Bon’s vocals in it. The man was a truly exceptional rock vocalist.
Random side note: I once suggested to my local Blood Bank that they should use this song in their advertising. Surprisingly, they didn’t think it was a good idea. (Maybe I should suggest it again.)
10. “Night Prowler.” I started this list with the first AC/DC song featuring Bon Scott and I’m finishing it with the final one featuring Bon Scott. It’s the last song on the aforementioned Highway To Hell album and it’s a great one. It’s got a nice and slow blues rhythm and some very creepy-sounding vocals, which is kind of what you want from a song called “Night Prowler,” right?
Something that’s kind of odd and out of place, but that I’ve always enjoyed a lot, is that Bon Scott mutters “Shazbot” and “Nanu-Nanu” at the very end of the song. If you’re not familiar with them, they were phrases made popular by actor Robin Williams on his sitcom “Mork And Mindy,” which was very popular at the time this album was made.
To me, I always felt that Bon was kind of winking at the audience by adding those phrases. Sort of like he was saying, “I just sang a very dark and unsettling song, but it’s just a song. We’re all just having fun.”
And he definitely gave us a lot of fun. Thanks for all the fantastic music, Bon. Let there be rock wherever you are.
