Appraising AC/DC's volume

AC/DC. Photo / Supplied

Anthony Bozza is an AC/DC fan - and proud of it. He's also a New York Times bestselling author who has written a book about the classic Australian heavy rockers entitled Why AC/DC Matters.

It's a book for true fans, but, reckons Bozza, the millions of AC/DC naysayers and non-believers out there could do with reading it too.

You see, while tens of millions worldwide - and at least 100,000 people in New Zealand who have bought tickets to the band's three upcoming shows - rate the band as music gods, there is a stigma attached to the group. For many their music is mindless and their songs all sound the same. Like hell, says Bozza.

He was first inspired to write the book after working at Rolling Stone magazine in the mid- to late-90s, a publication that virtually ignored the band. During his seven-year stint at the magazine he tirelessly suggested AC/ DC for its regular "best of" issues.

"'What about AC/DC?' I'd say. But the attitude was definitely like, 'Oh, that crazy kid'. And considering Rolling Stone comes out twice a month, and the band had never been given the cover treatment in all that time, there was such a bias there.

"A lot of people just thought they were a novelty act. AC/DC may as well have been as extreme as Iron Maiden in the eyes of the people at Rolling Stone," he laughs.

And when he started researching the book he found this pessimism and resistance to the band was widespread in other media.

"So I just wanted to do it because they deserve it," he laughs again. "And I wanted to prove why they are worth considering as one of the fundamental classic rock bands." This guy knows his stuff, and his music knowledge is vast, having penned best-selling books Whatever You Say I Am about Eminem, Tommyland with Motley Crue's Tommy Lee, and Slash, about the Guns N' Roses guitarist.

Why AC/DC Matters is a staunch and rugged-looking book - like a little black book crossed with a bible. Its mix of trivia, history, and music geek information across five chapters and only 130 pages makes for a good quick read.

Bozza didn't want it to be an extended history of the band, or a prolonged review and analysis from album to album.

"I wanted it to be like a manifest. I wanted to keep it almost like a mirror of the band - small, tough-looking, and a dense, meaty manifest that you could carry with you. I wanted it to be a statement about why they mattered, what they are, and what they mean on every level," he says, sounding a little like a crusader.

Some of the most entertaining bits are the professors of music from Berklee puzzling over just how Brian Johnston and the late Bon Scott - the band's singer in the 70s who died after a night out partying - can physically sing like they do.

"When I listen to Brian Johnston, I'm struck by how amazing and unusual it is that he can have that much power, because I understand that he smokes quite a bit," muses Professor Diane Stewart. "He has achieved a degree of permanent damage to his voice while maintaining his ability to hit notes.

"There is only one way I can think to explain that - there is something that is extraordinary about him and his breath control." As for Bon Scott, Stewart rates him among the greatest rock singers of all time. "He had a wide, varied sound and was capable of a diverse palette of colours as a rock vocalist." Scott was funny too, and the rest of the band have always had a fine sense of humour.

"The thing I miss the most in rock 'n' roll," says Stewart, "is an abundance of people who can laugh at themselves.

Bon Scott and AC/DC could always definitely do that." It's this sort of insight, that even true fans wouldn't know about AC/DC, that distinguishes it from the many other books written about the band.

"I wanted to ride the line between total journalism and total fandom. I always kept bringing my points back to the 'why' of it," says Bozza.

"When I listen to AC/DC, when the music starts I'm always excited, and it's a quick reaction, it's electric.

"There's a reason why at organised sports events there's a pretty good chance you're going to hear an AC/DC song. It's instant excitement. So I already knew I was excited by it, I just wanted to figure out why."

Lowdown

Who: Anthony Bozza, author and AC/DC fan.
What: Why AC/DC Matters, out now.
Live: AC/DC play Westpac Stadium, Wellington, Jan 28, 30; Western Springs, Auckland, Feb 4.