Pierre Robert interviews Brian Johnson of AC/DC
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Pierre?
00:02Hello.
00:03Hello, Pierre. How are you, me son?
00:07I'm doing great. How are you, sir?
00:09Good lad. I'm doing fantastic.
00:12Of course, I'm in Florida, and that's all I'm going to say,
00:15because then I'll just piss everyone off.
00:17You sure the hell will.
00:19I mean, it's not quite Florida conditions here, Brian.
00:23Yeah, I know.
00:24Well, all my family are in, you know, the north of England,
00:27and, you know, they're just, it's like minus six degrees centigrade there,
00:35you know, and they can't leave the house.
00:37It's total lockdown.
00:39They're just clawing at the walls, you know.
00:42And, of course, Uncle Brian and Daddy and Grandpa are sitting in Florida,
00:48you know, just scratching his testes and having a beer.
00:54It's a fabulous life.
00:57Oh, it is 93.3 WMMR here in Philadelphia,
01:01and we have the great pleasure of the company of the singer of ACDC,
01:07Brian Johnson. Good day, sir.
01:09Good day, Pierre.
01:11How are you and all the good, lovely people in Philly?
01:13We're doing great, and all the greater for having you with us at this very moment.
01:18We have a brand new record from this band, 17th album, and it's called Power Up.
01:24And before we get to it, I wanted to ask your first experience with ACDC,
01:29like in terms of, obviously, you had heard that Bon Scott had passed,
01:33and then came an opportunity somehow for you to audition.
01:38What was that like?
01:39How did you hear about it?
01:40And do you remember that first time visiting with the lads?
01:43Absolutely.
01:44It was, you know, it's like most things just came out of the blue.
01:49And I got a phone call from a lady in London who had a very heavy German or Russian accent.
01:57I wasn't sure.
01:57So I later found out she was nicknamed Olga from the Volga,
02:01and she was going, you must come to London.
02:05And I went, what?
02:06She must come to London and sing this band.
02:10And I said, who is it?
02:11And she said, this I cannot tell you.
02:14This is a secret.
02:16And I said, well, I'm not coming.
02:18I'm not going down to London, you know.
02:21And so I said, give us a clue.
02:23And she said, okay, I will tell you the initials.
02:25This is a true story, by the way.
02:27And she said, AC und DC.
02:30I said, you mean AC DC?
02:32And she went, scheiße, I have said too much.
02:36And so I said, you know, I'll see if I can get down, you know.
02:43I mean, honestly, I really did think it was a bit of a wind up or somebody, you know, joking.
02:48But I did go down and went, you know, I went down to do a TV advert, you know.
02:57I was singing on this Hoover advert.
02:59And I thought, well, while I'm there, I'll pop across the road to the studio.
03:03And I went in.
03:05And Malcolm came straight up to me with a bottle of Newcastle brown ale, which is the beer from my part of the world.
03:12And I said, well, thanks, mate.
03:14He said, no, no, you just get yourself comfortable.
03:17And I just knew this was the real deal, just the way they were sitting there.
03:22And the poor boogers that lost Bond, that tried two or three people.
03:27And it just looked, you know, just a little lost, like, you know, that talisman and best friend was gone.
03:35And I think there were just, reality was starting to bait in that he wasn't going to come back, just like in both cases, you know.
03:42And he just said, what do you want to sing?
03:47And I said, can we do Nutbush City Limits by Tina Turner?
03:51And I went, what?
03:53And I think it was Malcolm that said, well, at least it's not another one singing smoke on the water for Christ's sake, because everybody wanted to sing smoke.
04:02And so the boys didn't really know it, but, you know, they picked it up real quick and off we went.
04:09And immediately there was this magic.
04:11I mean, honestly, you know, you could see the boys looking at each other going, oh, this might be it.
04:17And then I did a whole lot of Rosie, which my little band up in Newcastle did at the Wigan Men's Clubs.
04:24Yeah, Geordie.
04:24And we did it up there.
04:26We finished the set with it.
04:27And it all was, you know, people cheering and everything.
04:31And so that was it, really.
04:34And they said, well, are you staying tonight?
04:37I said, no, no, I've got to get back to work in the morning.
04:41I've got to drive back to Newcastle, which was about five, five and a half hour drive.
04:46And they couldn't believe it.
04:49You know what?
04:49I must have been nuts, you know.
04:51But I got back and they phoned me the next day and said, you know, would you want to come back down again?
04:58And I said, well, why?
05:00And I said, well, we'll just want to try a few more things.
05:03And I said, Christ, that's it.
05:05It's pretty expensive popping up and down there.
05:07I said, well, we'll pay for your gas.
05:11And we'll put you in a hotel.
05:13And they did.
05:14And that's where it really started to, you know, evolve into what happened.
05:20And then, you know, it was about a week later.
05:24I was staying at my mom and dad's house.
05:27And the phone rang and it was Malcolm.
05:29And he just said, listen, do you want to come to the Bahamas with us to make this album?
05:34And I said, phone me back in 10 minutes because I still don't believe you.
05:40And he did.
05:43And I remember it was my father's birth and I bought him a bottle of whiskey.
05:46And he wasn't there.
05:48Neither was my mother.
05:49And I was just bursting with joy.
05:51So I opened my father's birthday present.
05:54And I had a big, long swig just to bring myself down a little bit.
05:59But I was, it was a very exciting day.
06:02And, you know, and it obviously had changed the rest of my life.
06:06And to be part of that album, you know, if there's anything I've done once in my life that was worthwhile, that was it, you know.
06:16Well, when you think about that record and the extraordinary amount of success that, I mean, Back in Black has sold probably 18 trillion copies at this point.
06:27But, you know, the legacy of that album alone, what's your take on that?
06:32Well, it's sometimes a little frightening, you know, Pierre.
06:35You know, I was just a boy working boy.
06:38We got to the Bahamas.
06:39You've got to remember Malcolm Angus came to me and said, hey, by the way, can you write lyrics?
06:45And I went, well, well, I'll give it a shot.
06:48It's a tooth.
06:49And the first night, you know, they brought me a legal pad, a yellow legal pad and a pen and a little cassette player.
06:59And they said, well, this song is, it's a very basic track.
07:06It was Shook Me All Night Long.
07:08And they gave me the title.
07:10They said, it's called Shook Me All Night Long.
07:12And I said, bugger, that's a long one.
07:14And there was just a basic track of it there.
07:18And, you know, but to this day, Angus argues it was back in black.
07:22But I remember it being Shook Me All Night Long.
07:27I don't know.
07:28And I remember just sitting there and just going, well, here goes, you know, what am I going to lose?
07:35I've got a week's holiday in the Bahamas, at least.
07:38And I wrote it down in about 20 minutes.
07:43You know, honestly, it was just, and I went, well, that's it.
07:47And I took it to him the next day and said, well, sing what you've written.
07:54Basically, what you hear is basically that first day.
08:00And as soon as it finished, I went, I like that.
08:03That's a good little song.
08:06And then Back in Black came, which was, you know, which was fascinating because I never knew that I could sustain notes like that.
08:15That was Mutt Langer, the producer, who said, sing it, are you?
08:18I've heard you do it.
08:20And I went, well, I'll give it a try.
08:21And it was just like being set free from a straitjacket, you know.
08:26Once I found I could do it, I went, wow, this is just, and I just wanted to do it all the time,
08:31which would have, you had to keep pulling us back down, you know.
08:35And, but it was a wonderful thing to discover that you could do, even at the age of 32.
08:45You know, to me, you know, I was way past it.
08:47And I didn't think I would ever get a job with a rock and roll band at the age of 32.
08:53But that was the age of Bond when he passed, you know.
08:56And it was just, it just kept getting better, you know, as the weeks went by with these new songs.
09:02And I know we're on a very tight budget.
09:05And I had to get out of there in about six weeks.
09:08So, you know, as soon as you were finished, they put you on a plane to save money, you know,
09:14with the facilities that we're staying at.
09:17And I got back home.
09:18As I say, I was staying with my mum and dad's with nothing, you know, nothing.
09:23I just went, well, I think I've just made a record.
09:26Because it didn't even have a, because it wasn't even mixed yet.
09:28And it was another six weeks to two months before I actually got a copy of it that came with the mailman.
09:35And it was black.
09:37And I didn't have a record player in the house.
09:41So, you know, it was, you know, it was fun.
09:45I took it to a friend's guitarist and Jordy.
09:48And he had a record player.
09:49And we put on Hell's Bells.
09:52And I think it was a few bars.
09:54And then he went, no, that's never going to fly.
09:56Come on, let's have a pint.
09:57He said, you're singing way too high.
10:00That's not you.
10:01And I just, I was heartbroken.
10:05I just went, oh, Jesus.
10:07And so we went to the pub and drowned my sorrows.
10:10He said, never mind.
10:12I didn't realize what he was trying to do was to get us to go back with Jordy again.
10:18But, you know, it all worked out fantastically well, you know.
10:22And I still can't get my head around the fact that it's, you know, it's been 40 years since we did that.
10:31And, you know, we can still sing them on stage.
10:34That's the wonderful thing.
10:36Well, when you think about this brand new record called Power Up, which is so cool.
10:43And I like the inside.
10:45Yeah, it's cool, isn't it?
10:46Yeah, it's really cool.
10:47The way all the images of the band are, there are three of each of you.
10:51But when you think of this being a tribute to Malcolm, which it is, and that Angus and Malcolm had been working on these riffs for a long time.
11:00So if you juxtapose the two records, Back in Black and Power Up, in terms of them both being tributes, Back in Black to Bond, Power Up to Angus.
11:12Did you feel any similarity in the recording of those two records, keeping in mind that they were both tributes?
11:19You know, that's a good question there, young Peter.
11:22I'll tell you why.
11:22The first time with Back in Black.
11:23I like that you said young, first of all.
11:26Well, everybody is compared to me.
11:29But no, you know, the first one, not so much because I knew of Bond and I respect him and I loved him and I'd met him before, you know, a long time ago in 74 or something.
11:41But I could feel it with the boys.
11:44I really could.
11:45And when they said Back in Black, you're going to write these lyrics, but we don't want it too soft or soppy, you know, it's going to be hard, which I did.
11:54The second one, of course, I used to stand next to Malcolm for 36 years before he couldn't play anymore.
12:01And his very presence I missed.
12:04But when we gathered in Vancouver and we got in there, immediately there was this presence in the room that we couldn't explain.
12:13And everybody really wanted it to be the best thing ever to prove to Malcolm, you know, our love for him and, you know, our admiration and respect for what he'd done.
12:26And, you know, I don't want to sound too soft, you know, but the thing was we couldn't help it.
12:31Even Angus just said, listen, there's something here, you know, and we're not spiritualists or anything like that.
12:37We're realists, but it was really there and we're all tried.
12:42And I think it culminated for me when I stood in front of that microphone and I sang Mists of Time for the first time.
12:51And I mean, the hairs on my arm were standing up.
12:56There was tears.
12:57You know, I wasn't crying.
12:59There was just this water coming out of the eyes.
13:01You know, it had nothing to do with me because I could see Malcolm and all the fun times we had, you know, all those years ago, the happy times, you know, in the early 80s and, you know, the tough times in the late 80s.
13:15And then, you know, when he got sick and then back again and, you know, what we'd been through and what the band stood for, for all these kids that love rock and roll.
13:26Because, you know, the middle ground will always win on radio, you know, the simple, easy tunes that are just so, you know, just incongruous, you know, they'll just mix into the background.
13:38Rock and roll was always, had a lot of trouble playing it on mainstream radio.
13:43They just didn't want anything to do with it.
13:45And Malcolm made them do that.
13:48You know, you can't ignore chart positions and you can't, and, you know, and so, you know, it broke through all the boy bands and the girl bands and, you know, as he called it, it's all tits and teeth, Brian.
14:05You know, that's all he said it was, you know.
14:07And so we were proud of him and we really wanted it.
14:12And when I heard that song and I sang it, the producer, you know, you know, Brendan O'Brien said, hey, man, you nailed it.
14:21That's it.
14:22And I said, no, no, no, I've got to do it one more time.
14:25He said, you can't better it.
14:28And I said, I don't care.
14:30I just want to sing it again.
14:32That's the truth.
14:33I had heard that you would do vocal takes and you'd go, what would Malcolm think of that?
14:39Absolutely.
14:40You know, if you're sitting again, you know.
14:43But how do you answer that question to yourself?
14:45Because he's not there.
14:46So would Malcolm approve of that?
14:48Yeah, you just listen to it again.
14:50And Angus said exactly the same when he was playing his lead parts.
14:53And he'd go, hang on a minute.
14:54Let me listen to that again.
14:56And you can, because honestly, sometimes you can almost say Malcolm, because he was always there.
15:01Malcolm on stage next to me would never miss a trick at a concert.
15:06If a lighting guy didn't get his lighting right in the middle of a song somewhere, he'd remember it and ask him why he missed it.
15:14Wow.
15:15You know, if somebody put a flat, a bum note or in the wrong place, he'd just go, well, you know, just watch it tomorrow night.
15:25You know, let's not make a habit of doing that.
15:28You know, it was always, that show always had to be as tight as a drum because he always said, you're only as good as you had last show, you know.
15:37So he was great.
15:38He was, you know, and Angus, you know, just adored his brother.
15:44You know, they had that scraps, you know, brothers do now and again, but it was very rare.
15:48But Angus, you know, respected him more than anybody else, I think, in the world.
15:56I wanted to, we're almost out of time, but I wanted to ask you about your hearing because that's why you had to leave the tour.
16:03Yes.
16:03And you said there's a gentleman named Stephen Ambrose, who's an audio expert, who came up and put what you call prosthetic eargrim thing.
16:11Yeah.
16:11Well, that's what I call it.
16:13In your ears that during, after the album was finished, you guys did a video, I think in Holland.
16:18Yes.
16:18And Angus said, we'll let, we'll go quietly.
16:22And you said, no, let's do the whole, the whole battleground production, if you will.
16:29Yes.
16:29The whole thing.
16:30It wouldn't have been worth it otherwise.
16:32And Stephen was there, you know, God bless him.
16:35He came with a new thing and me and him were standing there just about as nervous as anything, you know, because, you know, we had expense to bring these things and we had all the sound.
16:45We had a big sound studio and there was the three, you know, tough looking sound guys who'd heard all this BS before from people.
16:55Oh, this is great.
16:56This one.
16:57And I remember Angus said, you know, we'll just start it quietly, you know, Brian, and, you know, we'll build it.
17:03And I said, no, no, no, Angus, if this is going to work, we can't do that on stage.
17:08It's full blood, no prisoners.
17:11Okay.
17:12And he said, what do you want to do?
17:14I said, back in black.
17:15And he went, well, okay.
17:17He said, it's your.
17:18And then we went.
17:21And I thought it might take a couple of days to get it right.
17:24It worked instantly.
17:26Wow.
17:26What it is, it's nothing, you know, it's probably the easiest thing ever.
17:30It's just two small resonates in your ear, which inflate.
17:35And they use the bone structure and everything to amplify your brain.
17:41The brain really doesn't care where it gets its information from as long as it does.
17:45And it was just, oh, it was, I could hear everything, every single thing in the guitars.
17:52And then before long, Cliff got some in and he was joining.
17:56And I think the big sound guys in the tour manager, Tim Brockman, just said, you know, and Opie, I was just so happy to see you guys smiling and jumping around.
18:08And you were like kids up there again.
18:10And we were, you know, we'd found ourselves again, you know, and we were ready to go out and just do it.
18:19And then the virus came.
18:21Well, so was there plans for a tour?
18:23And assuming that we get through this in the next few months, are there plans for a tour?
18:29Well, there's plans to plan.
18:32I know at the time in Holland, Angus was going, well, you know what, I fancy, I fancy doing some choice ones, maybe smaller venues.
18:40Just to get right back to our roots without the big light show and without all the cannons and just to be a rock and roll band.
18:48And just because we've seen how much we'd all enjoyed ourselves just playing in the sound studio and just having a ball.
18:56It was raw, you know, and we didn't have to wait for lighting cues or cannon cues.
19:02It was just the boys, you know, follow me, you know, keep up or die, you know.
19:07And when there was just excitement as anything and we couldn't wait.
19:14And of course, the frustration when all this nonsense started.
19:18But I can honestly say we're all chomping at the bit.
19:23You know, we're all in the starting blocks.
19:26You're just, you know, waiting again.
19:27And you'll hear me shout charge first.
19:33So there are, there are, there are plans for a tour at some point, hopefully, of some kind.
19:39Yes, as I say, it's, you know, we've just got to take it a month at a time.
19:43Right.
19:44See, but of course, everybody wants to do it.
19:47Right.
19:47I want to see the fans again.
19:49You know, and especially the lovely Philly ones from who in the 80s would never forget it.
19:54Every time we went to Philly, they'd throw joints on the stage.
19:58And the trouble is we could never get them because our road crew would run on and steal them all up.
20:03Rotten, stinking swines.
20:04But that's why we love Philly.
20:06Apart from the rock and roll audience I had there, the joints were magnificent.
20:11Well, you did the Money Talks video there, too, where the dollar bills with Angus's face were coming out of the ceiling of the spectrum.
20:19Yeah, well, I had to stop doing Money Talks and dropping the money for one reason.
20:23It was complete silence at the end of it because everybody was on the floor trying to pick all the money up.
20:29It was, we can't wait.
20:31Ta-da!
20:32Me-dee.
20:33Me-dee.
20:34What?
20:35They are telling me that you have to leave, but I have one more thing to ask you.
20:40Sure.
20:40And I read one interview where you said about this record, Power Up,
20:44you said that your hope is that it just brings happiness to those who hear it.
20:49You said, quote,
20:50it's music that doesn't have sides.
20:53It doesn't have a hidden agenda.
20:55It's not asking you to do anything or join anything or be anything.
20:59It's just asking you to be with us.
21:03And I love that.
21:04Well, thank you, son.
21:05And I meant every word.
21:06It is great to talk to you, Brian.
21:08The new record is called Power Up.
21:09We cannot wait to see you in Philly, and I'm sure people will be starting to roll their joints right now
21:16in anticipation of some kind of a visit from the lads in ACPC.
21:27You are the best, and we're so glad you're back with the guys and that the hearing is good,
21:32and we wish you nothing but the best.
21:34Thank you, Pierre.
21:35It's been a joy.
21:35Thanks, Matt.
21:37Toodle pips.
21:38Hoo-wah!
21:38Hoo-wah!