AC/DC's co-founding guitarist Angus Young shed light on how he developed his signature schoolboy stage garb during a recent appearance on BBC Radio. Ultimate-Guitar.com transcribed some of Young's chat in which he gave the backstory to one of rock's most unique outfits. The guitarist credited his sister for encouraging him to don the schoolboy blazer, coat, cap, and tie when he hit the stage: “She always thought it was cute because I'd come home from school — in Australia, you had little uniforms that you wore to school, so she always thought I look really cute sitting there in my little school uniform with a big guitar, playing in my bedroom. So, she thought it was a cute thing at the time.”
He went on to recall, “When (my brother) Malcolm asked me if I would join him, he was putting together a new band, and if I would play in it, my sister says, 'I've got a great idea for Angus — you got to put him in his school suit!' She said it'd be a great gimmick. 'Just put him in that school uniform!'”
Angus went on to admit the uniform has taken on a special significance over the decades: “I feel strange if I'm playing away. When I've got the school uniform on, I feel complete. If you're going to see Spider Man in a movie, he's got to have the spider suit on him.”
Angus Young told us a while back why the band never shies away from playing its biggest hits in concert: “You wanna play what people expect of you, y'know? When I was young and you and I would go see someone, y'know, I wanted to hear what I knew and what was, you know, my favorite tracks, y'know? And I think it's the same for us, y'know? If I went to see something like the (Rolling) Stones, y'know, I want to hear, y'know, (the) 'Jumpin' Jack Flash'-es, and I want to hear their hits. And I would suppose it would be the same for the Beatles in their time, y'know? So, I've always viewed it as that.”
