AC/DC ( B3 )

The Big Freeze of 1963 was the worst winter on record in Scotland with snow eight feet (2.4 m) deep. A TV advertisement at the same time offered assisted travel for families for a different life in Australia. Fifteen members of the Young family left Scotland by plane in late June 1963. Before moving into a house at 4 Burleigh Street in the suburb of Burwood they initially stayed at Villawood Migrant Hostel (a site later developed as Villawood Immigration Detention Centre) in Nissen huts, where George Young befriended another migrant, Dutchman Harry Vanda.

George was the first to learn to play the guitar. He became a member of the Easybeats, one of the most successful Australian bands of the 1960s. Malcolm followed in George's footsteps by playing with a Newcastle, New South Wales, band, the Velvet Underground (not to be confused with the New York-based Velvet Underground). Their older brother Alex Young remained in Great Britain to pursue musical interests. In 1967, Alex formed and played bass in the London-based band Grapefruit with three former members of Tony Rivers and the Castaways: John Perry, Geoff Swettenham, and Pete Swettenham.

The band's logo was designed in 1977 by Gerard Huerta. It first appeared on the international version of Let There Be Rock.

Malcolm and Angus Young developed the idea for the band's name after their sister, Margaret Young, saw the initials "AC/DC" on a sewing machine. "AC/DC" is an abbreviation meaning "alternating current/direct current" electricity. The brothers felt that this name symbolised the band's raw energy, power-driven performances of their music. "AC/DC" is pronounced one letter at a time, though the band are colloquially known as "Acca Dacca" in Australia. The AC/DC band name is stylised with a high voltage sign separating the "AC" and "DC" and has been used on all studio albums, with the exception of the international version of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.

Formation

In November 1973, Malcolm and Angus Young formed AC/DC with bassist Larry Van Kriedt, vocalist Dave Evans, and ex-Masters Apprentices drummer Colin Burgess. Gene Pierson booked the band to play at Chequers nightclub on New Year's Eve, 1973.

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