Music is brimming with haphazard encounters that change the course of those involved and the world itself. Whether it be the first meeting of John Lennon and Paul McCartney at a church fete in 1957, the re-convergence of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards after years on a train platform, or Jimi Hendrix blowing Linda Keith away in a New York club, there are numerous famous instances where chance has brought people together, and changed their fates.
Interestingly, this seems to be a common occurrence in the stories of world-famous, widely influential groups, as evidenced by the aforementioned meetings. While some fans would claim things were just always ‘meant to be’ for those involved, and others would maintain that these examples are nothing more than wild snapshots of just how jaw-droppingly haphazard life is at its core, it is certainly strange that so many famous figures were drawn to each other by a kind of unquantifiable magnetism – a shared interest in music.
Another band who became great thanks to such a random meeting is AC/DC. The band was founded in 1973, with their original frontman Dave Evans at the helm. However, the following year, he was replaced by the elemental Bon Scott, the man who proved to be the final piece in their puzzle, with his vocals, and on and off-stage demeanour, perfect for their rough and tumble take on rock ‘n’ roll.
When speaking to the journalist Ray Lancaster in October 1976, Scott revealed how he was hired to be in the band, and it was anything but conventional. Despite the 25-minute long chat being an enlightening one, and reflecting much about the late Scott’s affable personality, the highlight is undoubtedly how he came to front one of the most influential groups of all time.
At one point during the conversation, Scott is asked by Lancaster about his job outside of AC/DC. Laughing, the frontman cast his mind back to his employment before fronting the ‘T.N.T.’ group, when he was, in his own words, “between bands” and looking for a new outfit to front. When in this musical lull, he revealed that he was hired by an agency to chauffeur bands to shows around town for $10 a night.
“This was the first band I worked with,” he said, clearly referring to AC/DC, “and they knew I was sort of a screamer and they knew I was out of work and they hated the guy they had singing for them then, so they offered me a job.”
“I always knew I was something other than a worker,” he posited after being asked if he knew he was always going to be a rock frontman.
