AC/DC Big In Scotland

12/22/08 1:47pm

by Matt Littlefair (CHARTattack)

Veteran rock stalwarts AC/DC have an advocate within the Scottish House Of Parliament, Holyrood, who is campaigning to have the group's musical and cultural contributions to the people of Scotland recognized.

The motion, rather hilariously put to paper as "AC/DC, We Salute You," comes courtesy Scottish parliament member Christine Grahame.

"It is clear [late frontman Bon] Scott had a strong sense of his identity, from the 'Scotland forever' tattoo he had on his arm to his playing the bagpipes on the AC/DC track 'It's A Long Way To The Top,'" Grahame said, according to NME.com.

"I think they have long deserved official recognition from their homeland for that major musical contribution and my parliamentary motion will go some way towards recognizing that."

You may be scratching your head right about now and asking, "Wait, aren't AC/DC from Australia?" Well, kind of. The band formed in Australia, but original frontman and legendary consumer of all things alcoholic Scott and the Young brothers were born in Scotland and moved to Australia in their youth.

In this particular era of economic malaise, it might seem inappropriate to spend parliamentary time feting some wealthy, aging rock gods instead of concentrating on trivial issues like home foreclosures, layoffs and economic recession. Then again, I've never been elected to public office, and you can't deny the goodness of AC/DC.

In related schoolboy-attired band news, AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson has signed a deal with Penguin Books to set his memories to paper.

There's a twist, though. He won't be using the usual "I drank, took drugs and screwed around to hedonistic excess heretofore unseen, but then I hurt someone (either physically like Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx or emotionally like so many others) and consequently found out I'd been a dick for years and now want to make up for it in a public forum like a book" cliché. He'll instead rely on his love of "humour" and fine automobiles to break up his tales of AC/DC's staggering success, excess and all-around rock star awesomeness.