“Bon downed about two bottles of bourbon and says, ‘Right, I’m ready’. And he was, too”: Why the best thing AC/DC released in the mid ’80s wasn’t an album – it was an EP of 10-year old songs

AC/DC posing for a photograph in 1976.

In 1984, between the releases of Flick Of The Switch and Fly On The Wall, the insatiable thirst in America for all things AC/DC-related saw the release of ’74 Jailbreak, an EP of vintage Bon Scott-era garage rock material. Jailbreak itself, which had already been released on the Australian (but not the British or US) version of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was backed up with other material only previously available on Antipodean versions of the High Voltage album. The album was a particular treat for die-hard fans who were used to hearing the band play these songs – especially the title track – live.

The album came out at an interesting point for the band in America, as AC/DC were a bigger live draw than ever before and people were still interested in the history of the band. However, the recent albums were not quite the draw that Back In Black and For Those About To Rock, We Salute You had been in terms of sales.