Well, Godfather certainly picked a well-worn show to reissue, and one from the Bon Scott era. According to the AC/DC boot site Bad Boy Boogie (www.badboyboogie.de) the Columbus broadcast has seen at least seven prior bootleggings, a couple of them partial-shows issued on vinyl. Among the more recent CD issues are a limited edition Russian title on the Jack label, Bon Scott Forever V, and a domestically-released pro-CDR from Electric Shock Productions, Stronger Current. However, as both of those titles included a tenth song (“Let There Be Rock”) from Columbus, it’s likely that Godfather copied an earlier nine-track title such as Alternating Current, from 1992 on Australia’s Turtle label. (Dontcha love this kind of detective work? Maddening, yes, but for the discriminating anal retentive such as myself, always fun.)
Not having heard any of those, it’s hard to say what Godfather’s actual source was. At any rate, note that the song “Rock And Roller” is simply titled “Rocker” on all other titles. Also, it’s far from a superb FM recording, as there are some recurring tape head misalignment flaws (whooshing) at make for a rough ride in a few places, notably during the middle of “Rock And Roller” and – most severely -- throughout most of the eight-minute “Bad Boy Boogie.” Hence my downgraded sound grade; a flaw like that, in my book, should pre-empt any release until it has been corrected, and if it can’t be cleaned up, well…as the Godfather himself might growl, fuhgeddaboudit!
For the Boston bonus material three songs from another popular, oft-booted show were selected; best as I can tell it was originally a nine-song, hour-long broadcast (given its high ratings and length, I’m betting it was a professionally recorded show broadcasted over a syndicated radio network). There’s a chance it is slightly speeded up; Scott sounds a bit helium-ized or “squeaky” during his between-song comments!
The sturdy cardboard stock sleeve opens up tri-fold, like an old triple album but, here, with just one pocket. The artwork is gorgeous, full color photos plus band credits and tracklistings. (No booklet, however.) The disc comes in a cello-lined paper sleeve of its own.
--OSWALD
