AC/DC Frontman Lands New Gig Hosting Radio

AC/DC is undoubtedly a staple of rock radio, played regularly around the world. Now, their frontman Brian Johnson, is getting a chance to swap roles by launching his own radio program in the UK.

British paper, The Sunday Sun reports that the 64-year-old singer was given his very own show on BBC Radio 2 that combines his two main passions in life – music and motors.

The new six-week program, which will begin airing from Thursday August 30, is based on Johnson’s own ‘Automotive Autobiography’, Rockers And Rollers, a book of tales that combines musical memories with Johnson’s avid car collecting knowledge.

“My memory is terrible, but cars always help me remember things. If someone asked ‘What’s the name of the girl you went out with when you were 19?’ you couldn’t remember, but you’d remember having a Mini Cooper,” say Johnson.

The AC/DC vocalist believes the link between music and motors is ingrained in the culture, ”cars started to get cool and groovy when rock and roll started – when Ike Turner brought out Rocket 88 it was about his car, the thing he loved. The thing you wanted when you were a young man was a car because it was freedom!”

The new radio program, also called Rockers and Rollers, will feature similar tales from Johnson’s life, featuring a soundtrack of rock classics from Led Zeppelin to ZZ Top and Queen – just to name a few; but the veteran rocker also admits that putting the show together wasn’t as easy as belting out AC/DC numbers.

“Everyone thinks doing radio is just sitting down, you put a mic in front of you and just waffle, but it’s not that easy,” Johnson explained. “I sat in this studio with a big black mic in front of us and not an idea. Thankfully (BBC producers) Ben Jones and Dan Cocker helped me out. I have to thank those two.”

Brian Johnson also spoke earlier in the year about the possibility of a new AC/DC record. Guitarist Angus Young however, explained that his fellow bandmate might have jumped the gun on the original plans to release the follow-up to 2008′s Black Ice this year.

“You know what Brian’s like,” Young explained, “he just says things and then walks away. It’ll be a little while – a year or two anyway.”

In the meantime we have the prospect of the new Bon Scott biopic that covers the original AC/DC frontman’s formative years is entering pre-production.

Sadly, it may not feature a scene where a computer virus rocks an Iranian nuclear facility by blasting ’Thunderstruck’ at deafening volumes. Some things are just stranger than fiction.