A councillor is to launch a campaign for a permanent memorial to AC/DC in Glasgow, The Herald can exclusively reveal.
Thomas Kerr, leader of the Conservative Group on Glasgow City Council, will put forward a motion at the next meeting of the full council for a lasting tribute to the iconic rock band's co-founders Angus and Malcolm Young in the city of their birth - and hopes to gain cross-party backing.
Malcolm and Angus Young, who formed the Australian rock band in Sydney back in 1973, spent their early years living in a tenement flat on Skerryvore Road in Glasgow’s Cranhill area.
Angus was aged just eight and Malcolm was aged 10 when they emigrated with their family - including six siblings - to Australia on the so called “ten-pound-pom-ticket - a scheme which saw over thousands of Scots take up the offer of a new life Down Under and a chance to escape post-war rationing and a housing shortage.
Cllr Kerr believes that somewhere in the vicinity of the Cranhill water tower would be "the ideal location" for the permanent memorial.
Mr Kerr told The Herald: “AC/DC’s incredible worldwide success would simply not have been possible without the Youngs’ formative years in Cranhill.
“The story of Malcolm and Angus growing up in Skerryvore Road is one that is sadly not sufficiently well-documented.
"Having grown up in Cranhill myself, I wholeheartedly support any plans to celebrate the Youngs’ heritage in Glasgow’s East End.
“This would bring a world-wide attraction to the area and help put a community that many feel has been forgotten back on the map. It would also give many of the young people growing up in this community hope. It shows them that no matter your postcode or background, anyone can make it in life with hard work and graft.
READ MORE: Kevin McKenna: Glasgow tribute to AC/DC and the Youngs is long overdue
“In September, I’ll be putting forward a motion at the next meeting of the full council for a lasting tribute and hope to gain cross-party backing.”
Cllr Kerr’s campaign for a permanent tribute to the Young brothers has already received the support of Tom Russell, one of Scotland’s most influential rock DJ presenters.
The DJ told The Herald: “It's long overdue that the birth city of the Young brothers was internationally recognised with the obvious tourism potential. It would be a no-brainer if it were any other city in the world.
Mr Russell often features the music of AC/DC on his Thursday night rock show on Celtic Music Radio.
He added: “I also think that any other city that had produced the amount and quality of music that Glasgow has would have built a museum of music celebrating this heritage. As well as AC/DC, Glasgow has produced Simple Minds, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Maggie Bell, The Bluebells, Jack Bruce, Del Amitri, Primal Scream, Gun, Mark Knopfler, Marmalade, John Martyn, Frankie Miller, Eddie Reader, Jimmy Sommerville, Midge Ure and countless others.
“My first interview with Angus Young was in the early 1980s. I asked him about his childhood memories of growing up in Cranhill and he replied that his main memory was regularly coming home from school and being sent to his bedroom to do his homework. He would then shut the bedroom door, lie on his bed and play his guitar whilst looking out at the Cranhill water tower, which he could see clearly from his bed.
"Another interview a few years later, Angus told me that every time he came to Scotland to play with AC/DC he would always meet up with family and go for a drive round Cranhill, just to remind him where he came from.”
Cllr Kerr's campaign comes a few years after Frank Docherty, former Labour councillor for Cranhill, attempted to have their Glasgow connection recognised by conferring on them the Freedom of the City.
Last year also saw Scottish radio presenter and DJ Jim Gellatly back calls for a memorial - ahead of the 50th anniversary of the band.
However, rather than in Cranhill, the DJ believes that the ideal place for a memorial would be in Glasgow city centre near to where Scotland’s premier rock venue The Apollo once stood.
It was a 1978 concert at the venue that was used for the live tracks for AC/DC’s first live album If You Want Blood You've Got It , a concert which is regarded as being one of the best of their career and one which saw the band dress in Scotland football strips for the encore to paying homage to the homeland of both Youngs and Scott.
He said: “There should be something, even like a paving stone. The ideal place for it would be round about where the Apollo was rather than sort of where they grew up because it would get lost out there.”
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