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On the efficiency of AC/DC: Bon Scott versus Brian Johnson.

Article Excerpt
We use tools from experimental economics to address the age-old debate regarding who was a better singer in the band AC/DC. Our results suggest that (using wealth maximization as a measure of "better") listening to Brian Johnson (relative to listening to Bon Scott) resulted in "better" outcomes in an ultimatum game. These results may have important implications for settling drunken music debates and environmental design issues in organizations. (JEL C7, C9, D6, Z1)

I. INTRODUCTION

The band AC/DC is considered one of the most influential hard rock bands, often compared to Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath in influencing many subsequent hard rock and heavy metal bands. Indeed Christie (2003) argues that AC/DC was a "key common denominator" in the new wave of heavy metal emerging from Britain in the 1970s and influencing all genres of rock & roll through the 1980s and 1990s. The band was formed in 1973 by Angus and Malcolm Young, who took the band's moniker from the back of their sister's sewing machine. In its 35-yr history, the band has sold more than 150 million albums, including 42 million copies of the 1980 album Back in Black, making Back in Black the highest selling album by any rock band. Of the 19 albums the band released, Eddy (1991) classifies eight of these albums in the top 500 heavy metal albums in the universe and in 2003 the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Given all this, it is no wonder that AC/ DC has such a rabid fan base and, as discussed below, faces an epic debate regarding its line up.

Among musicologists, researchers of popular culture, and rock and roll lovers of all ages there exists a common debate. That is, with respect to the rock band AC/DC, who is the better vocalist: Bon Scott or Brian Johnson? The band's original vocalist, Scott, performed on seven of the band's albums (excluding live albums and compilations) before dying in 1980. Brian Johnson joined the band in 1980, serving as vocalist on nine albums (excluding live albums and compilations). Since 1980, there has been near constant contention regarding who was the better singer. (1)

In this paper, we explore this issue. Since it is difficult to ascertain which vocalist was better given the...

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