The following message from Deb came through to the Bon Scott Blog mailbag recently:

From: Deb
Subject: Bon Scott Photo - rare…

Hello fellow Bon Scott fan,

I just saw your Blog today. It is a fun site. I have a rare signed photo from Bon Scott when he was in the band The Valentines. He played at my father’s disco in Newcastle in 1969 (The Bus Stop) and signed the photo for me - “To Debbie, Your Valentine, Bon xxxx”.

It is an original black and white fan club photo and I am thinking about selling it because I am going on an around the world holiday. I am selling off all my possessions because I don’t know when I will be back. Do you know anybody that may be interested in buying the photo? I can send a scanned picture of it thru if required.

Many thanks and keep up the good work.

Deb.

Here was my reply:

Hi Deb

Well, if you like, we can feature the photo and your story on the blog? Then people could get in touch with you directly if they wanted to buy it (or, if you like, they could contact me and I can pass their details to you).

It makes a great story! I’d love to hear more about THE BUS STOP! How interesting to grow up with a father who ran a disco! How old were you when you met Bon?

And where will you travel on your big trip?
Cheers
Lucas from Bon Scott Blog

finally, Deb’s reply, with a great story about her Dad’s Disco…

Hi Lucas!

Gosh…thanks for the reply! I am going to send through a scanned copy of the photo and you can tell me what you think.

I would be happy for you to feature it on your Blog…I think people would really enjoy the story.

My Dad owned The Bus Stop Disco for several years in the late 60’s. All the big bands played there. They mostly used to stay at our house because there was not a lot of money back then. Mum used to cook them dinner and I have vivid memories of sitting around the dinner table with all sorts of celebrities.

I was 13 years old when The Valentines played at Dad’s disco. Dad is still alive and I am going to get some more details off him and get back to you. I will write a blurb about that time and send it to you.

I think this photo would look fantastic framed with some other Valentines memorabilla. I think that would really increase it’s value. I am not sure what my photo would be worth. I would love it to go to a dedicated fan who would appreciate it.

You will notice one of the faces has been coloured in with green texta. You can thank for 5 year old sister at the time for that. I am sure that with the modern technology today that somebody would be able to repair it.

Anyway…let me know what you think. Kind Regards. Deb.

[I personally LOVE the green texta scribbled on the photo... Cheers, Lucas]

30 years since we lost you. Clearly, you’re not - at all - forgotten.

As well as the article from today’s West Australian newspaper above (thanks for sending it through, mum!), another great tribute appeared in the Powerhouse Museum’s blog today, here (thanks to Greg for the tip-off).

Wish I were in Fremantle.

Every now and again, some gold comes through the mailbox at ye olde Bon Scott Blog. Here’s a case in point - Lee an artist who is 35% through the process of crocheting an image of Bon and Angus in full flight. Amazing work, Lee!

Here’s Lee’s fabulous dramatisation of the work in progress (right) as compared with how it will be when it’s finished (left):

In other words, a slow reveal from bottom to top. Lee, we look forward to further updates as the work moves along!

(I reproduce Lee’s email to me below)

Hi Lucas!

Fellow Acca Dacca fan from Canberra here!
I stumbled across your blog after a bit of surfing and think it’s wonderful that fans such as yourself are commited to preserving all that is Bon and keeping us up to date on any happenings!

I just thought i’d drop you a note to say “well done!” on the site and to let you know that i’m doing my part in keeping Bon’s spirit and memory alive and well!
I’m a fiber artist and work with wool to create crocheted portraits and when I spotted the pic of Bon & Angus at the Marquee, London, 1976 in the book ‘AC/DC Maximum Rock & Roll’ by Murray Englehart - straight away I thought it would make a great piece!

I’m only 35% of the way in but it’s shaping up quite nicely!

It measures just over a metre wide, and when it’s finished I dare say it will be around 2 metres high!

Hope this finds you well and once again, cracking site!!
Regards,
Lee ^__^

UPDATE! 24 November 2009:

The crochet Bon/Angus has now reached 50% completion!

[UPDATE! It's finished! see here...]

Some amusing messages have been trickling into the mailroom of the Bon Scott Blog lately. Here’s one - from Damien in Melbourne, who plays with a band called “The Bon Scotts”. I love the honesty of Damien’s introduction. Although named after the great frontman, Damien writes that the band sounds “almost nothing like AC/DC.” Brave move, Damien! I wonder what happens when die-hard rock fans come along to your gigs expecting (what? an accadacca Bon Scott era tribute band?) and instead are faced with your finely modulated sensitive pop melodies!

One can only imagine.

Anyway, dear readers, decide for yourselves! Let a thousand flowers bloom, I say!

Here’s Damien’s email:

Hi Lucas

I am a Melbourne musician and about four years ago we put together a group called The Bon Scotts. We sound almost nothing like AC/DC.

However, when we called ourselves The Bon Scotts, it was around the time of the The band craze, The Von Bondies, The Vines, The Hives and The Strokes… Anyway, you get my point. My band and I felt that these bands were stealing something from rock, forgetting about the fun, cheeky side of rock n’roll. Something I think Bon Scott personified, from his humour in his lyrics and the way he would smile at the camera during film clips and live footage.

In our opinion, Bon Scott was one of, if not the single most iconic Australian rock star, I grew up in a county town where almost everyone listened to AC/DC, my first high school band used to cover a few songs. The were independent of major labels, cared little for the trends of the time and wrote damn catchy songs, with clever hooks and fantastic rhythms.

Not knowing who else to speak to about this, I thought, you being the Bon Scott blogger might want to know that we mean absolutely no offence, or dishonour the great man.

We are going to put a blog up about the idea behind the name. I can send you a link when it is up…

Cheers.
Damien
–
THE BON SCOTTS
www.thebonscotts.com
www.myspace.com/thebonscotts

“Lee Wilde” sent the below email through from Perth, where he works on his portraiture. Lee writes: “My work is mainly figurative…female portraits and nudes”.

The above painting, it seems, now hangs proudly in the office of Doug, the president of the WA Bon Scott Fanclub.

Strange that we didn’t meet last year in Perth/Fremantle Lee! - Perhaps next year at the AC/DC concert in Perth?

Here’s Lee’s original message:

Hi Lucas

I was just surfing around some art sites…came across your blog and
thought I’d show you a portrait I painted of Bon Scott last year. It
was bought by the President of the Bon Scott fan club here in Perth.

Feel free to post it on your blog if you like. If you’d prefer one
without the copyright watermark, let me know.

Cheers

Lee Wilde
http:///www.leewilde.com
http://www.facebook.com/lee.esta.wilde
http://shop.ebay.com.au/merchant/wilde-portraits

Just in time for Bon’s 63rd birthday, a new “Bon Scott heritage tram tour” has been launched in Fremantle.

My brother sent through the above article from the West Australian Newspaper. There’s an online version here.

The tour will no doubt be a “must-do” for fans who visit the great singer’s dirty ole town. I imagine these tours might get a bit raucous at times…

Anyway, all the best to you old man. I hope if accadacca are gigging tonight they raise a glass for you.

x x

Thu 11 February - Melbourne - Etihad Stadium (formerly Telstra Dome)
Thursday 18 February - ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Thursday 25 February - QSAC, Brisbane
Tuesday 2 March - Adelaide Oval
Sat 6 March - Perth - Subicao Oval

Tickets can be obtained from
Ticketek
and
ticketmaster

(depending on which gig you want to go to, you have to get your ticket from one or the other of the above links)

Monday 25 May is the day they go on sale. Yikes.

On 19 February 1980 Bon died outside 67 Overhill Road, East Dulwich. Help us persuade the London Borough Council of Southwark to create a plaque as a lasting tribute to Bon’s life.

Mission:
We want to get a blue plaque placed at 67 Overhill Rd, Dulwich. To mark the deathplace of Bon Scott.
http://www.southwark.gov.uk/DiscoverSouthwark/heritageandhistory/BluePlaquesSection//

Here’s a pre-written request if you find you’re stuck with something fitting to write:

“Dear Sir/Madam

It is my understanding that Southwark Council are requesting votes for icons deserving of a blue plaque to be placed in their honour within the borough.

I and others like me would request that you consider a plaque for the legendary lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC who tragically died outside 67 Overhill Road in East Dulwich on 19 February 1980.

We feel Bon is deserving of this reward due to his outstanding contribution to music and is dearly loved and missed by his many fans around the world. This would be a fitting tribute to the life he led.

Yours sincerely

”

Then email that to>>>

vote4icons@southwark.gov.uk

If you haven’t yet seen this great little mini-series on the fans of AC/DC - do! It’s highly recommended viewing. In the first episode (above) fans come from all over America and the world to assemble at Wilkes-Barre - not exactly the centre of the known universe - to see the band return to the stage after a long absence from public performance. This film crew stakes out the carpark to ask fans their stories. Some have come from Italy for this gig, they all reminisce about the first time they met the band, or saw “the boys” play. Invariably they are “fans for life”.

The architecture of this place - a vast carpark outside a walled stadium - is striking. One by one cars, utes, pickup trucks, buses pull up and an enormous family of fans assembles. They are pumped but very orderly - note the tidy queue they form to get into the stadium. They take care of each other, because for all, this is a very special moment.

The other morning I had a dream that someone told me about AC/DC tickets having already gone on sale for their Aussie gigs. In the dream I had a terrible sinking feeling, because I knew that if the word was reaching me in this way it meant that I had for sure already missed the boat… Perhaps it’s because I haven’t posted here for a while, so I was anxious about not having my finger on the pulse.

This week my friend Jim also sent me this very funny video from youtube. I love how this kid is simultaneously so self-conscious (I imagine he is looking at his own image on the computer screen as he performs) and so endearingly innocent. And contagious - his dog and his sister get in on the act…

The respectful air of AC/DC fans who were streaming through the Fremantle Arts Centre testifies to a show that endeared itself to the spirit and not the surfaces of rock-and-roll. This was also Bon’s distinctive contribution to the 1970s, to produce something real in the face of disco and glam, to ‘give the public what they want’, in his own words. Such a real and lived quality is not so far from the best of visual art, which also speaks with heart. This show’s interest lies in the correspondences that it creates between music, culture and art, raising questions about what it is that speaks to us through all of them.

I’ve uploaded the full review in PDF form here. (From page 63 of Eyeline Magazine, issue #67, Jan-Feb 2009)