AC/DC Australia's Family Jewels

I first saw Acca Dacca in 1975 at the Canberra Theatre, it was as hot and as loud as hell, and I couldn’t hear anything much for about a week afterwards. Back then, aged sixteen, I didn’t know much better, I didn’t have any money and certainly wasn’t buying Pink Floyd or Eagle’s albums. Live, loud, home grown rock ‘n’ roll was the only thing that grabbed me in the guts and wouldn’t let go. For my mates and I, as we played air guitar to Angus’s wild leads, it was AC/DC – rock ‘n’ roll by us, about us and for us. There were no messages, no concepts; we just wanted to have a good time. I now know that this was the same for many other people.

AC/DC at the Marquee, London 1976

Photograph Courtesy: Bob Hope

Jump-forward 34 years and my colleagues and I from the Collections, Research and Exhibitions unit of the Arts Centre are planning our ‘Icon’ exhibition for the summer of 2009. These unique shows are all about celebrating our greatest performing artists through exhibition form. Really treating popular culture seriously and making exhibitions for which we know there is a large and interested audience. We soon came to the realisation that there was only one act possible as the finale of our first series, the biggest Australian act of them all: AC/DC.

Over the following year I have travelled all over the place from Sydney to Glasgow and New York; contacting collectors, visiting old friends, family and roadies, searching photographer’s archives, reading endless press stories and all the unapproved biographies, generally sorting out fact from fiction about the band’s history.

From coming up with our first exhibition proposals about what we were going to achieve – to now, I have gradually come to understand the band much better, to take pride in the fact that AC/DC have never, ever set themselves above their fans. And to recognise the pact that I felt as a fifteen year old; that us fans were actually a part of the band.

AC/DC Australia’s Family Jewels is the outcome of this year of work; it has many photos, letters, hand written lyrics, costumes, posters, instruments, videos, live footage, backstage passes and even a ‘Let There Be Rock’ cannon. It is one for the fans and we hope you enjoy it.

Please post all your comments on the ‘your say’ page. I’ll start with my favourite quote:

I don’t like to play above or below people’s heads. Basically, I just like to get up in front of a crowd and rip it up.
(Angus Young as quoted in New Musical Express, 16 October 1976)

Tim Fisher, Curator – AC/DC Australia’s Family Jewels