It’s a long way to the top.
And though the effort to put rock giants AC/DC at the peak of the Christmas charts fell just short, the fan who spearheaded the campaign has told The Courier it was magnificent, history-making fun.
X Factor winner Sam Bailey’s Skyscraper hit the heights in the weekend chase for the festive No 1, leaving the rockers’ iconic 1979 track Highway to Hell fourth in the race.
The response to a download campaign which gained huge momentum through social media brought AC/DC their best UK singles chart placing and, more importantly for Courier Country fans, fresh focus on the bid to honour one-time lead singer Bon Scott with a statue in Kirriemuir.
In November, The Courier highlighted the hope to have Highway to Hell as the Christmas No 1 through a campaign we can now reveal was sparked south of the border by dedicated fan Steevi Diamond.
The network support analyst said: “This campaign started with a mountain of a goal, and that was to right what we felt was an injustice one of rock’s most influential groups never having a Top 10 hit in the UK.
“We always knew that No 1 was going to be hard to achieve.
“After all, we were a grass roots campaign, with only social media at our disposal.”
He added: “Whilst we were not able to topple the X Factor, Pharrell Williams and Leona Lewis, we were able to secure a very respectable No 4, AC/DC’s highest ever single in their 40-year history, at least in the UK.
“That you could only download this song from iTunes makes the feat even more amazing and this was all down to word of mouth, tireless online campaigning and a dogged determination on the part of the fans.”
Kirriemuir’s DD8 Music, organisers of the Bon Fest celebration, are now hoping AC/DC fans will rally in continued support of their bid to honour the rock star with a statue in the Wee Red Town.