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Black Ice is Number 1 in 29 countries

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As AC/DC tear up the charts worldwide with Black Ice, there are numerous music lovers who still don't 'get' what AC/DC are all about.

So here are MusicRadar's 13 AC/DC facts you really need to know….

1. Angus Young: schoolboy?

Early AC/DC publicity info claimed Angus Young was born in 1959 - to help his 'schoolboy' image. He was actually born in 1955 – otherwise he would have been gigging with AC/DC aged 14. Angus Young was 18 when AC/DC released debut album High Voltage.

2. Pre-AC/DC Angus

Angus and Malcolm Young both play on Tales Of Old Granddaddy, by the Marcus Hook Roll Band. Not a recommended buy.

3. Let there be sock!

Malcolm Young's iconic 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird guitar was originally red, given to him by AC/DC's early producer Harry Vanda. The guitar had the neck and middle pickups removed. Young later removed the red paint and, for a while, placed his socks in the pickup cavity to stop feedback. Gretsch produce a signature version (pictured below)... without the holes or socks.

4. Costume drama

If it is preposterous that Angus Young is still dressing as a schoolboy aged 53, thank yourself he didn't persist with other stage outfits from early in AC/DC's career - Zorro, Spider-Man, a gorilla suit, or a custom 'Superman' suit (known as SuperAng).

5. Let there be roof!

Brian Johnson was in UK band Geordie, we know, but after they split – and before he got the gig with AC/DC - Johnson ran a vinyl car-roofing business in the north east of England.

"Every flower I see, I cement it." Angus Young is not a tulip farmer

6. Breast in show

Malcolm Young's first job after leaving school was as a machine maintenance engineer for a bra company. Rock music saved him from a life of smutty jokes, obviously.

7. Angus Young is not a tulip farmer

One of rock'n'roll's longest-running and most bizarre urban myths is that Angus Young owns a tulip farm in Holland. It's a lie.
"Sorry about that," Angus says. "Every flower I see, I cement it."
But Angus does have a home in Holland. That much is true.

8. Why do AC/DC still sound the same after 34 years?

Malcolm Young: "Most people, when they progress, they progress right up their asses." That told you.