How AC/DC’s 1975 debut shocked Australian culture

In February 1975, a gang of scruffy Sydney rockers released their first two albums: High Voltage and TNT. A year later, songs from both records were repackaged into AC/DC’s first international album, also titled High Voltage.

AC/DC’s sound was forged in suburban garages and sticky-carpet pubs, part of Australia’s mid-70s pub rock explosion. The era saw Australian pub rock find its confidence to break from British and American influences. Cheap venues like pubs made live music accessible, while a growing youth culture wanted songs about their own lives.

Economic struggles and social change gave the music grit and honesty. This mix of independence, energy, and realism turned pub rock into a symbol of Australian identity.

Two figures defined AC/DC’s identity in 1975. Lead singer Bon Scott’s raspy howl turned songs into bawdy stories of lust, luck, and life on the road. Angus Young, in his now-iconic schoolboy uniform, blasted riffs that felt like jolts of live current.

Homegrown rock

AC/DC’s roots were in Scotland. Brothers Malcolm and Angus Young migrated to Sydney in the 1960s, while frontman Bon Scott grew up in Fremantle after emigrating as a child. Together they channelled those migrant, working-class roots into the raw energy that defined pub rock.

Songs like Rock ’n’ Roll Singer spoke directly to working-class kids who saw themselves in the band.

Their songs are built around tight, driving guitar riffs – short, repetitive, and instantly recognisable – that create rhythm and momentum rather than melody. This stripped-back sound, powered by Angus Young’s guitar and Phil Rudd’s steady drumming, makes the music physical and direct.

The vocals are equally dynamic. Scott delivered lyrics with grit and humour, capturing emotion through tone and attitude rather than complexity.

The band came from suburban Australia, but their songs avoided specific local references. Unlike bands tied to national imagery, AC/DC’s identity was built on the myth of rock and roll itself.

Australia’s pop culture in the 1970s was defined largely by imports: Hollywood films, British television, American records. For a homegrown band to make international waves was rare.

AC/DC broke decisively into the American and British markets in the 1970s. Highway to Hell (1979) reached number 17 on the US Billboard 200 and number 8 in the UK, earning platinum status and cementing their international fame.

Outsiders and rebels

In Australia, AC/DC’s rise in the mid-1970s was fast, loud and built from the ground up. Formed in 1973, they started playing pubs and quickly earned a reputation for their relentless live shows.

The band’s raw energy, driving rhythm and defiant attitude fit perfectly with the emerging pub rock circuit, a network of working-class venues that became the heart of Australian music culture.

They were promoted heavily by radio stations like 2JJ (later Triple J). Mainstream commercial radio was initially slower to support them. High Voltage and TNT sold strongly, helped by national touring and constant live exposure rather than airplay alone.

In the mid-1970s, AC/DC faced moral and media backlash rather than formal government censorship, though the effect was similar in shaping their rebellious image.

Their lyrics, stage antics and raw sexuality drew criticism from music journalists, radio programmers and conservative commentators, who saw them as crude and offensive.

Some stations refused to play songs like The Jack (1975) because of its sexual innuendo and suggestive lyrics (the titular “jack” is Australian slang for a venereal disease).

Scott’s shirtless performances, drag and swagger on shows like Countdown provoked complaints from parents and conservative groups. Newspapers occasionally branded the band “obscene” or “disgusting”, framing them as bad influences on youth.

A cultural marker

High Voltage is now a cultural marker. The lightning-bolt logo and the sight of Angus sprinting in a school blazer are now shorthand for Australian rock.

It is a testament to their enduring cultural power that, 50 years on, AC/DC stand as the only Australian band to score number one albums in five consecutive decades.

AC/DC’s success defies industry trends. They built one of the world’s biggest fan bases without relying on remixes or collaborations. For decades they resisted digital streaming and still resist greatest hits compilations.

The release of High Voltage in 1975 coincided with broader cultural shifts. Australia was emerging from decades of conservative governments. The newly elected Whitlam government poured A$14 million dollars (worth $122 million today) into the arts, and another 50% on top of that the following year, and established youth radio station 2JJ.

AC/DC were part of a wave of creativity that insisted Australia had something to say, and it didn’t need polishing for overseas approval.

AC/DC’s debut captured a moment when Australian culture stopped waiting for validation and started exporting itself with confidence. AC/DC showed that a band from Australia could storm the global stage. In doing so, they lit the path for a nation’s cultural confidence.

Jo Coghlan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.