I’m starting a new project. It’s all about Bon Scott, the singer from AC/DC. He died in 1980. During the first half of this year there will be a Bon Scott Project in Fremantle, Western Australia. That’s where he spent much of his childhood, and that’s where he’s buried. Apparently his is the most visited grave in the Freo cemetary. A bunch of fans have gotten together to raise the money to have a bronze statue of Bon made up. The statue will be unveiled on February 24th at a memorial concert. (Perhaps unsurprisingly, rumour has it that not all his fans think a bronze statue is the best way to memorialise their hero.*)
I have been commissioned by the Fremantle Arts Centre to write a blog about all of this. I’ll be travelling to WA in February for the statue unveiling and concert, and again in April/May when there will be further festivities and an exhibition by visual artists responding to Bon’s life and work. My mission, hazy as it is right now, is to interact with “the fans”, whoever they might be.
I’ve been asked to do this project based on my previous blogging projects, Bilateral Kellerberrin, and The Sham. In those projects, I spent an extended period of time blogging about a small country town in WA, and my own home suburb in Sydney. In this new project, I will need to get my head around a different kind of “site” – no longer geographically specific, but a site which revolves around a community of people who are dispersed throughout the world, and who hold in common their enthusiasm for Bon Scott.
I have to disclose from the beginning: I am not a fan. I certainly don’t dislike the music of AC/DC, but it’s just never crossed my horizon in any significant way, and I’ve never gone out of my way to listen to it. The earlier work of Bon Scott, before he joined AC/DC – well, I know nothing about it at all. So the Bon Scott Blog will certainly be, at least at the beginning, my autobiographical account of “coming to know Bon Scott”. I hope that some of the fans will take me under their wing and show me the “Tao of Bon”.
My first task is to get to Fremantle for the concert and statue unveiling on the 24th of February. I’m looking for an ardent fan as a travelling companion to drive with me across the nullabor from Sydney to Perth. The candidate would need to have a working car with a good stereo, and maybe some camping gear. I will pay for the petrol. Please contact me at shortleftleg[at]yahoo[dot]com to register your interest. (I guess we’d need to leave at least 5 days in advance…)
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*but I can’t remember where I heard this rumour. Searching around the net, looking at the enthusiastic sites maintained by fanclubs, I haven’t seen anything critical of the idea yet. Maybe I just dreamed it.
Hey lucas this sounds good. acdc had a lane named after it in melbourne, it’s the one with cherry bar in it. acdc in this case represents maybe an idea more than a individual band.
I am a now a fan, i went to a bon scott birthday memorial gig a few years ago at the public bar. a range of bands did an acdc number each, including SPG. It was great, pure energy especially from a band of basically children who played one of the big numbers with perhaps that rawness you might have got from an early acdc gig. the crowd didn’t let the kids leave the stage and they had to play it again. i was at the front, converted. since then i have wanted to make a biopic of acdc. not being a filmmaker in anyway has prevented this somewhat.
I cannot believe you are NOT an AC DC fan ! My God man where have you been hiding all your life. They are the ULTIMATE rock and roll band and the loss of Bon Scott was devastating. My first experience was in Tampa, Fla. at an electric light show movie concert. I have been a devout fan ever since. And I keep hoping I will get to see them in a live concert before my days on this earth are done. As I am almost 45 now Im starting to wonder if they will ever come to the states. And I cannot settle for tribute bands no matter how good they are. So maybe you could let someone know they are very much loved and wanted here in the US of A. I hope you are going to put the pictures of the bronze statue on your Blog. I cant wait to see it. Sure wish I could drive you there. But thats quite a trip for me and I dont think my boss would appreciate the lost days of work. Bon Scott was the ultimate entertainer and very much missed.
heh, thanks for getting in touch Michelle!
Hey, tell me more about this electric light show movie concert! It sounds amazing.
If I ever bump into AC/DC I will inform them that you guys in the US of A are hanging out for another tour. But alas I think you are not alone. I just met a devout fan, Rick, on the train here in Fremantle (today is the anniversary of Bon’s death) and he said “My one wish is that one day I could get to meet the boys. That would be just…my life would be fulfilled. My second wish is that they would bloody well come on tour again! It’s been seven years! C’mon!”
I will definitely put pictures of the bronze statue being unveiled up on the blog, don’t worry! For a sneak preview, the WA Bon Scott Fan Club have put a link on their site to this little TV clip, where the statue is in the process of being made…
mmm, Bon, his spirit in our hearts will always stay…
greetings from Hungary, good luck with the blog, Lucas!
Bon Scott was definatley a star but what about his history before AC/DC What other bands was he a part of , Who were the other members of these bands ,all ths info made Bon Scott what he was but there seems not to be a complete history from the beginning. tracking Bon Scott through time. The other band members and other people were part of Bon Scott.
HI KERRY!!!
WELL BON WAS IN A FEW BANDS BEFORE AC/DC HE COMMONLY REFFERED HIMSELF AS A 3RD TIME HASBEEN…HA
“THE VALENTINES” “FRATERNITY” AND THERE ARE OTHER BANDS HE PERFORMED MINOR ROLES IN OVER TIME…
I HEAR HE EVEN HAD A SING WITH ANGRY ANDERSONS BAND”ROSE TATTOO” ONE NIGHT…
a bon scott biopic is long overdue, i think that scott caan should play him with a fake nose and a voice modifer because scott caan is 5’1
Very funny, Steven, you must be yanking our chains!
For authenticity, you’ve got to have an Aussie playing Bon.
I agree 1000% Carolyn! Besides, Scott Caan, though a good actor, has the wrong build and way of carrying himself to be considered to play Bon. I do think a biopic would be good but no one can come close to Bon. That’s the problem.
Exactly, Susan. No one compares to Bon!
I think the only way it could possibly work would be to go with an unknown Aussie, perhaps? He’d need that lean, wiry build we love and the right face. But he’d have to lip-sync all the concert scenes as Bon’s voice is absolutely inimitable! And capturing Bon’s essence, what a challenge, even for the best actor.
Was’nt he born in Scotland? Or was that the other members of the band. Nice town is Kirriemuir and they have a memorial where he was born.
Yes, John, he was actually born in Forfar, very close to Kirriemuir, but lived in Kirriemuir until he was 5 and his family emigrated to OZ. But in general his speaking voice sounded more Aussie than Scot. (as an adult) Did that make any sense? Maaan I’m tired!
Carolyn, you hit the nail on the head. Especially the lip-sync-ing! Think Nat would play Rosie? :-} My feeble brain is really taking flights of fancy now.
PERHAPS YOU GUYS SHOULD FOCUS ON GETTING THE BRONZED STATUE OUT OF ITS CURRENTLY MAROONED POSITION OF THE FREO FISH AND CHIP SHOP BEFORE EMBARKING ON ANY FURTHER ESCAPADES OF FINACIAL GAIN!!!
MY INITIAL ATTITUDE APON HEARING HOW THE LOCALS OF FREMANTLE ARE NOT TO KEEN ON HAVING BONS STATUE IN THE MAIN PRECINCT… WAS OF WONDERING WHY…
THEN THE MORE I SEE AND READ OF SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE ATTACHED THEMSELVES TO BONS CAUSE … THE MORE I START TO THINK THAT ITS NOT JUST BONS HISTORY WHOM THE LOCALS DONT LIKE…
ITS THOSE WHOM HAVE BECOME “HANGERS” THAT HAVE CREATED A BAD AURA WHEN BONS NAME IS MENTIONED…
Sorry, Ben, didn’t mean to offend with talk of a biopic. We hardcore fans just believe Bon’s story deserves to be told onscreen. The fans have nothing to gain from it other than the satisfaction of seeing a fitting tribute to Bon’s greatness.
But your point is well taken.
I, too, am perplexed by the reluctance to place Bon’s statue where it rightly belongs.
Carolyn and I are just two women commenting on Bon’s blog from several thousand miles away. We have no political or local clout to get anything done. You’re the one in country, Ben, I’d love to hear what you’re doing to get Bon’s statue moved.
You are correct, Carolyn, tnere is no finangial gain to be had from sharing our dreams and opinions of what it would be like to have Bon’s story on the big screen.
My take on the resistance or reluctance to having Bon’s statue put out where it belongs is a typical hippie one. Bon’s a beloved rock’n’roller, there must still enough old “establishment” conservative political muscle. I’m sure it’s not quite that simple, and it only my opinion, Ben, and no, I’m not out to make a buck from it.
I believe you’re right on the money with your take on the Fremantle establishment, Susann.
WELL TO BE TRUTHFUL; I ARE SIDING WITH THOSE WHO THINK THAT BON MAY HAVE A BAD INFLUENCE ON YOUNG WESTERN AUSTRALIANS…WHO MAY LOOKM AT HIM IN THE MAIN STREET OF FREO AND COPY HIS ANTICS…
I SAY THAT A BACKPACKERS NAMED IN BONS SAKE WOULD MAKE AN IDEAL PLACE TO LOCATE THE STATUE… PEOPLE WHO COME FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD COULD PARK UP AND STAY A FEW NIGHTS IN THE BACKPACKERS… VISITING HIS GRAVE AND ENJOYING THE STATUE IN A SAFE ENVIRONMENT…
Ben, that’s interesting that you would feel that way, “siding with the establishment” so to speak! The backpackers sounds like a nice idea, a place created to honor both Bon and his fans. His statue could front the building, welcoming fans, rather than just sticking him inside some random shop as he is now.
Now there’s an idea worth rustling up some noisy grassroots support.
ITS SURPRISING THAT ONE OF THE ALREADY OPERATING BACKPACKERS HAS NOT ADOPTED SOME TYPE OF BON SCOTT THEME…
THE STATUE IS NO LONGER IN THE FISH N CHIP SHOP… ITS CURRENT LOCATION IS A MYSTERY…
PERHAPS IN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO ITS OFFICIAL PLACE WILL BE KNOWN!!!
Wow! Wonder where he’ll turn up next? Hopefully some highly visible spot where those of us who are geographically challenged can check in on him with a click?