Watch Brian Johnson in His Pre-AC/DC Band Geordie
Brian Johnson is now entering his fifth decade as the singer for AC/DC, but he did have a career prior to landing the gig replacing the late Bon Scott. Johnson toiled in several bands but the one that eventually caught the attention of AC/DC was a group called Geordie, and Johnson just posted some footage from his pre-AC/DC band on his YouTube site.
The first clip is for a song called “All Because of You” that appeared on their debut album Hope You Like It. The video was shot in 1973 and Johnson admits they were “trying to compete with such British glam rock outfits as Slade and Sweet.” Note the look with multiple members rocking platform shoes. The song did hit the Top 10 in the U.K., giving the band a promising start.
The second video came in 1975 with the band playing “Goodbye Love” on a German music program titled Pop ’75. It feels very much in the vein of the harder rock going on during that period with a galloping rock vibe.
The final video offering finds Geordie sharing the stage with FOGG performing a medley of the classic rock singles “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Long Tall Sally,” songs made famous by Elvis Presley and Little Richard. The performance was taped for the music TV series Geordie Scene in March of 1975.
Geordie released four albums between 1973-1978. Earlier this year, Johnson revisited the story of how he came to join AC/DC after the demise of Geordie. The singer revealed that he was initially hesitant to come audition for the band after his experience with Geordie. “I’ve already been bitten by the music bug in Geordie and three years in Geordie and I came away with not a penny in me pocket. I’m not gonna do it again,” said Johnson of his initial reaction to being asked to travel to try out for the group.
But as the story goes, not long after he was asked to travel to London for an audition, another friend had contacted him with a significant financial offer to sing for a vacuum ad. Since the timing lined up with the ad taping, he reconsidered and agreed to meet with AC/DC and the rest is history.