On the high way to hell in a Renault 5

It's 1979 and Bon Scott lead singer of the famous rock band AC/DC sang a song, Highway to hell, which talk about the hard life on the road traveling from a gig to the other and as voices says, inspired by Scott’s road trips to reach his favorite pub at the Raffles hotel of Fremantle, Australia.

The Perth - Fremantle highway, is a double carriage way, four lanes road, where smash the throttle, it’s an invite to run fast and taste freedom, at the end after a downhill, which make the car go even faster and feel the fizzle of danger, the real one, cause this road costed through the years the life of some incautious drivers, there's fun and of course beer and friends waiting in the pub of the Hotel. Or this is how I like imagine it in the seventies, Google is a master at kill the romance actually.

The album which carry the same name of this song, is as well the last one recorded by Bon Scott, who took a different Highway to Hell in 1980.

But let's start from the begin :

Ronald Belford Scott was born in Scotland, when he was still a child his family moved to Australia where he grown up in Fremantle. Bon wasn't exactly a boy scout, yet in his early days he had trouble with the law, he's been a guest at Fremantle prison for a short period and spent a nine months “holiday” at the Riverbank juvenile institute for giving false generalities to the police, escape custody, stole petrol and for unlawful carnal knowledge. Not a surprise after this interesting curriculum the Australian army rejected his request to join.

Scott did several works, postman, truck packer, bartender, he played drums and occasionally sang in various bands before join AC/DC in 1974.

The combination with the Young’s brothers, Angus and Malcolm, fellow Scottish was a perfect match, the band recorded six studio albums, High Voltage, TNT, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Let's there be rock, Powerage and Highway to hell, the last with Scott at the voice.

A Renault 5 and an addiction to drugs and alcohol put an end at his career and life.

Some facts about the car:

vintage advertise - photo credits http://storm.oldcarmanualproject.com/renault/Renault501.j

vintage advertise - photo credits http://storm.oldcarmanualproject.com/renault/Renault501.j

The Renault 5 or R5 was designed by Michel Boué in his spare time, at Renault they liked so much his work they decided to put it on production immediately. Produced from 1972 to 1984, the R5 was a top seller car in France until 1986. Imported also in the UK it became a valid adversary on the market for Mini and Chrysler Europe's Hillman Imp.

Now back to the story.

It's February 19 of 1980, after a night out to the Music Machine club (called KOKO nowadays) with some friends, heavy drinking and not only that, Scott is in the car of his friend Alistair Kinnear, a Renault 5, they drive around London for a while, probably in search of drugs and at the end of the night they arrive at Kinnear's flat, at the 67 of Overhill in East Dulwich. Bon is so done, he's unconscious on the passenger seat, the man leave him inside the Renault, some say Scott was already dead when his mate left, some say he died in the sleep through the night suffocated by his own vomit, the police will archive the case with an heavy alcohol poisoning and death by misadventure. No one will know the truth, all that we know is, a Rock legend died in a Suburban street of London in a French car.

67 Overhill Road East Dulwich photo credits - free

67 Overhill Road East Dulwich photo credits - free

AC/DC are one of my favorites band since my childhood, when the heavy riffs of Back in Black blasted out the cassette player in my dad's car, growing up I discovered the other albums and their first lead singer Bon Scott and with all the respect for Brian Johnson, fantastic performer and petrolhead, my favorites album are the ones with this crazy Scotsman at the voice. The power, the energy his voice transmitted, that cockiness as he sang TNT, I can't not love him. What a pity he did his last car journey in a Renault 5, in a lonely street of London, instead of under the Australian blue sky, traveling on a different highway to hell.

#smalltribesrule