Bad Boy Boogie

With special guest:

• Jeff Apter
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Bon Scott as his name might suggest was born in Scotland but after his parents signed up to be £10 Poms he arrived in Australia at the age of 6 to a new life. That short life was filled to the brim and Bon provided plenty of his own commentary on his wild adventures before and during his time with the world beating rock band AC/DC.

Our guest today is writer Jeff Apter the author of Bad Boy Boogie, a new book published by Allen & Unwin. Jeff is very familiar with the AC/DC story having previously written about other members of the band the Young brothers and original bass player Mark Evans. When we speak with Jeff again today we are able to go behind the scenes to find out how Bon fitted in so quickly and easily with the Young brothers in their closely guarded troupe. We find out more about the real Bon Scott, his wild side where a party could go on for days but also how many women who came into his orbit described his as a real gentleman.

Bon brought to AC/DC rock ’n roll “cred” living life on the road to excess. But when a spokesman was needed, someone with intelligence and a wicked sense of humour to answer the press questions, everyone looked to Bon. And as part of a match made in heaven Bon had an extraordinary gift of being able to write lyrics that perfectly matched the volume of music produced by the Young brothers. Bon was a great rock ’n roll singer and Jeff tells us about the bond he had with guitarist extraordinaire Angus Young. Strangely Bon would seem to have been at different ends of the spectrum from Angus in all aspects of their lives when off the stage.

Bon Scott left us too soon at the age of only 33 and has been dead for over 40 years. But his legacy lives on with his replacement in the band still regarded as the new boy after all these years and annual events in his old home town of Fremantle.

There is no avoiding that Bon was on a highway to hell but while we enjoy his one of a kind music we are surprised to hear the other side of Bon that Jeff describes with his usual eloquence.

Jeff Apter

Jeff Apter is the author of more than 20 music biographies. His subjects include Johnny O’Keefe, Keith Urban, the Bee Gees, the Finn brothers as well as Angus and Malcolm Young of AC/DC. As a ghostwriter, he has worked with Mark Evans (of AC/DC) and Richard Clapton. Jeff was on staff at Rolling Stone for several years and has written about legends such as Aretha Franklin, Patti Smith, Robbie Robertson, Bob Dylan, Chrissie Hynde and Lucinda Williams. In 2015, he worked on the Helpmann award-nominated live show A State of Grace: The Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley. Away from music, Jeff has also worked on books with soldiers and diplomats and sports greats such as Michael Slater and Tim Cahill.

Song selection by our guest: Bad Boy Boogie by AC/DC

Note: This program is an encore presentation of the one aired on 25 November 2021.

Podcast (mp3)