AC/DC played a steamy rendition of “The Jack,” singer Bon Scott’s ode to STDs, when the band appeared on the Dutch TV show Countdown on July 13th, 1979. Dressed only in jeans and shoes, Scott caressed his mic and peered out at the packed crowd as he sang sexual innuendos, leading them in a sing-along accompanied only by the drums. Angus Young, also shirtless, plays his own seedy guitar solo midway through the bluesy number.
“The Jack” originally featured on the 1975 Australian release of T.N.T. and the international release of High Voltage the following year. The title is a reference to gonorrhea. “We were living with this houseful of ladies who were all very friendly and everyone in the band had got the jack,” Scott told Sounds in 1976, according to SongFacts.com. “So we wrote this song and the first time we did it on stage they were all in the front row with no idea what was goin’ to happen. When it came to repeatin’ ‘She’s got the jack’ I pointed at them one after another.” Angus Young added, “After that, wherever we did the song the girls in the audience would run to the back of the hall.”
The footage, which comes after the release of the band doing “Highway to Hell” on the same day, was originally included in the group’s Plug Me In DVD box set. They’re now releasing the videos on YouTube to mark the 40th anniversary of their Highway to Hell album (their last with Scott), which came out on July 27th, 1979. Scott died of alcohol poisoning on February 19th, 1980.
As for the band in its current form, AC/DC have been keeping mum about their plans for a follow up to 2016’s Rock or Bust. By the end of the tour in support of the record, the group was in a fractured state. Scott’s replacement since his death, Brian Johnson, left the group mid tour due to hearing issues. Malcolm Young exited the group prior to the album’s release due to dementia and was replaced by his nephew, Stevie Young. And drummer Phil Rudd was facing legal issues in New Zealand. That said, Johnson and Rudd have been photographed with bassist Cliff Williams outside a studio in Vancouver leading to speculation that they may be making a new album.