‘High Voltage’, the debut album for AC/DC, is 50 years old.
The Australia and New Zealand only release, ‘High Voltage’ premiered on 17 February 1975.
The AC/DC line-up at this time featured Bon Scott on vocals, who had replaced Dave Evans who sang on the debut single ‘Can I Sit Next To You Girl’. The band was mainstays Angus Young (lead guitar) and Malcolm Young (rhythm guitar) with Rob Bailey on bass for six songs and Peter Clark on drums for one.
Angus and Malcolm’s brother George Young was a session bass guitarist for two songs and Tony Currenti played drums on seven of the eight songs.
‘High Voltage’ did not feature the song ‘High Voltage’. That was on the second Aussie album ‘T.N.T.’ released later in the year in 1 December 1975.
The hit song from the album was a cover of the old Big Joe Williams blues song ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’, done AC/DC style. By the time the band appeared on Countdown, the video we all know featured Phil Rudd on drums and Mark Evans on bass.
‘High Voltage’ reached no 14 on the Australian chart.
The next album ‘T.N.T.’ was also an Australian only release. America didn’t get an AC/DC release until their butchered version of the first two albums combined into one and leftovers discarded which was also called ‘High Voltage’.
The American ‘High Voltage’, not to be confused with the first two Australian albums, was released 14 May 1976.
America continued to fuck up AC/DC records. Their version of the third album ‘Dirty Deeds Done Cheap’ had a completely different cover and a tracklisting that looked like someone set their playlist to shuffle.
Even ‘Let There Be Rock’ had a completely different tracklisting and cover to the authentic Australian version.
America fell into line with Australia finally for ‘Powerage’ but then Europe fucked it up and made their own tracklisting up.
‘Highway To Hell’ was the first AC/DC album with a common tracklisting worldwide but the smart arse Americans had to change the cover once again.
Not one of the Bon Scott AC/DC albums was released like its original Australian counterpart. The first AC/DC album with a global tracklisting and common cover was the first Brian Johnson album ‘Back In Black’ in 1980.
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