WHILE the pollies gathered under AC/DC singer Bon Scott’s statue to mark what would have been his 80th birthday with commemorative bars from the Perth Mint, octogenarian Helen Griffiths quietly remembers the concert that hooked her as a fan.

She thinks it was around 1977, but can’t recall exactly where they played.

Although they were already bonafide stars in Australia thanks to albums like TNT and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, but it wouldn’t be until Highway to Hell two years later that they would conquer the world (or at least Europe and the United States).

• Helen Griffiths remembers catching an AC/DC concert back in 1977, while Simone McGurk and Ben Lawver check out Greg James’ statue in Fishing Boat Harbour. Photo by Steve Grant

“Brilliant!” was her instant recollection of the concert.

“It was just the music generally, while Bon Scott was a brilliant showman; he was sexy.”

Fremantle MP and creative industries minister Simone McGurk said while Scott himself probably wouldn’t have expected to be celebrating his own 80th birthday, she was happy to celebrate his “amazing legacy”.

“He was full of energy, he was full of life, but he was clever and we celebrate that today on his 80th birthday.

“Many of the rock legends that we think about, really, their music died away after a number of years, but when you look at the sort of music that AC/DC – but particularly those early years up until the 1980s that Bon Scott was responsible for, and the front man for, they’re still going on today, and that is an amazing legacy.”

The mint has released small gold and silver bars for Scott’s birthday, while anyone wanting to get an Acca Dacca overload can head to0 Little Creatures where their hits will be pumping through the weekend.

by STEVE GRANT