# 1971      AC/DC -             MONEY TALKS
                                                                                        
  
                The Razor's Edge, Atco Records, 1990                            



                    BILLBOARD CHART ACHIEVEMENTS:

                          Mainstream Rock:   #  3 
                        Hot 100 Singles:        # 23                         
                        
                                 # 36  in the UK, Nov '90

                                top 10 hit at MATT RADIO

Has the interplay between you, Angus, and your brother, rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, changed since the early days?

ANGUS:  Well, I was Malcolm's little brother, so it's probably the same as a lot of families [with] brothers and sisters.  You know, you don't want the kid brother hanging around you all the time.  But when we started [AC/DC], we got along better than we ever had-- even as kids.  Because as kids you're always scrapping and you've got different interests, and when we formed the band it was... I don't know, it's just something between the two of us, probably because of the music factor, you know?  We seem to know exactly what we want on that side of life.  We were both great rock 'n' roll fans.  We still beat the shit out of each other [laughs].
 
The Bonfire boxed set was quite a collection.

ANGUS:  That took a lot longer than what we first thought.  Because sometimes you got rewarded and other times you were thinking of something and you knew it was there and then they said, "Well, we can't find the tape," or it was recorded in bad or not great quality.  And so on.

With AC/DC you know what you're going to get.  Some other bands undergo huge changes and experiment a lot. You guys are consistent, almost a brand name.

ANGUS:  Well, if you're going to go to a butcher, you don't walk in and say, "Give me a beer," you know [laughs].

BRIAN:  "I want that lambchop cut differently because it may taste a little different."  You're going to get a lambchop.  I think if you stick to what you're good at... people like things that they're used to.  They don't want everything to change all the time, you know?

ANGUS:  Somebody once said, "People know what they like, and like what they know."  And I think as a band you spend all your early years defining your own style-- and with us it was always, we're a hard-edged rock 'n' roll band-- and you want to put on a record and go automatically, "That's them.  That's AC/DC."  And you do all of that and it's kind of weird that [then] they expect you to change into something else.  So I've always found that strange when they say, "You've never changed or experimented with the current trends."

How are you going to mix songs from any new albums in with older classics on the road?

ANGUS:  It's a big pool to dip into, but with AC/DC, it's the same [as] when you make a record: You want to play what people expect.  When I was young and I would go see someone, I wanted to hear my favorite tracks.  I think it's the same for us.  If I went to see the Stones I'd want to hear the "Jumpin' Jack Flash"-es, the hits, and it would be the same for the Beatles in their time.   So I've always viewed it as that.  When I've seen... especially the time of the hippie-type thing, where bands would come on and tell you up front, "We're so sick of playing these songs, we're just going to play our new records"-- hell, I was one of those kids who said, "Well, I'm on my way home." [Laughs]


excerpted from a March 2000 interview with vocalist Brian Johnson and lead guitarist Angus Young,
                        conducted by Darren Davis, LAUNCH, yahoo.com