The Daily Telegraph, Sydney, 26 August 1997
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IT'S OFFICIAL - AUSTRALIA POST'S A WILD ONE THE idea is enough to make AC/DC's wildman Bon Scott turn in his grave - bandmate Angus Young's school uniform-clad rear gracing an official Australian postal stamp. But The Dailv Telegraph has learned the unthinkable will become a reality early next year, when Australia Post launches a series of new 45c stamps commemorating local rock'n'roll. The secret initiative, devised by the same Melbourne-based department of the post office responsible for the Don Bradman stamps earlier this year, will see a set of at least 10 new stamps released by May Everyone involved in the project has signed a confidentiality agreement and was unable to comment. But some of the legendary local rock artists to feature in the set include I Johnny O'Keefe, Normie Rowe, the Easybeats, Russell Morris, Daddy Cool, Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, Masters Apprentices, Skyhooks, Sherbet and AC/ DC. The Johnny O'Keefe stamp will coincide with the 20th anniversary of the singer's death. O'Keefe is also the only artist whose image appears on any of the provisional designs. Although Australia Post recently changed its policy of not depicting living people on stamps in order to honour Bradman - the royal family previously was the only exception to the rule - none of the other performer's faces is shown. The rest of the designs in the set are loosely based on images conjured up by particular songs. Russell Morris's The Real Thing is depicted by an astronaut playing an electric guitar. Skyhooks' Horror Movie shows a black and white television image of a screaming girl. The only other musician who comes close to getting his head on one of the stamps is Angus Young: the AC/DC issue features a boy in a school uniform playing a guitar. Stuck on his school bag is a big sticker reading: "It's A Long Way To The Top".
