During a recent appearance on This Day In Metal, Alex Skolnick named the band that could beat AC/DC back in the day.
“In AC/DC, there was a whole hard rock scene in Australia. They talk about, you know, there’s like a big four of hard rock,” the guitarist said when asked if there were any bands he thought deserved more credit but didn’t get it. “And I think everybody thought Rose Tattoo was going to be the one that was gonna crack America, that was gonna break open America.”
Skolnick continued his words, “You know, AC/DC? Too wild, too Australian, whatever. And they were like in shock when AC/DC was the one that did what they thought would happen with Rose Tattoo.”
In 2016, Rose Tattoo’s Angry Anderson said he would have considered joining AC/DC if they had asked him to replace Brian Johnson on their tour. AC/DC had to cancel the last ten North American dates because Johnson couldn’t perform due to hearing loss. The band finished the European tour with Axl Rose as a guest singer.
“I knew I wouldn’t [be]. I thought it was obvious it would be Axl. The other singer I thought it may be would be Sammy Hagar,” Anderson said when asked by The Rockpit how he felt about not being asked to replace Brian.
When asked if he would have taken the chance to sing for AC/DC, Anderson replied, “Depends on what they were offering. Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
Rose Tattoo and AC/DC were formed in Australia around similar periods. In their early years, they also worked with the same producers, Harry Vanda and George Young. The two groups also worked with Albert Productions.
