Where did AC/DC get their name?

An AC/DC vacuum cleaner

There it is. The source of the name of the band AC/DC. Other websites may give a bit of the story about the origin of the band name, but only my blog has a picture. Think about this the next time you go looking for karaoke and music related information.

Ok, so this isn't the actual vacuum cleaner that inspired the name, but it is the same type of vacuum cleaner. Maybe.

But I get ahead of myself.

The Wiki entry on AC/DC has a section on the origin of the name. According to Wiki, the band was started by two brothers, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their older sister, Margaret, saw the letters AC/DC on a sewing machine. The brothers thought that the name was a great symbol of the raw energy of their band, so they took the name on. Evidently, the brothers were right about the power of the name. AC/DC is one of the highest grossing bands of all time, having sold over 70 million albums.

I'm kinda doubting the part about the sewing machine bit, though. Lemme explain.

A product is called "AC/DC" if it can be run from an AC power source as well as a DC power source. An AC power source is, of course, a normal wall outlet. A DC power source generally refers to a car battery. In other words, an AC/DC appliance could be run from a wall outlet or from the cigarette lighter in a car.

Why would someone want a sewing machine that you can run in a car?  In case you rip your pants while on a picnic? I am guessing that such a product is unlikely. Or, so I thought until I found one offered for sale on Amazon. But please note that (at least at the time of this writing), the item is listed as "currently unavailable".

I think I really need to get to the bottom of this.

The Wiki article references a website on band name origins as the source of their information that the band was named after a label on a sewing machine. This website talks about sewing machines, but it has no references, so we can't fact check that any further.

There is another website that sounds a bit more authoritative. On this website, the appliance in question was a vacuum cleaner. That sounds a bit more plausible to me. (I mean, my wife thinks I could use an AC/DC vacuum cleaner in my car. Once I clean out all the Starbucks cups.) As for this website, it is not the official AC/DC website (as was claimed in Yahoo answers), but it does have a lot of AC/DC stuff. 

The official AC/DC website unfortunately does not provide us with any information to help determine the important question: sewing machine or vacuum cleaner?

The authoritative-sounding website that is regardless not the official AC/DC website does give us a reference, so I followed up on that. This authoritative-sounding website says that its information came from a book called "Shock to the System" by Mark Putterford.

I could buy a used copy of this book for $5.88 (plus $3.99 shipping) through Amazon. It does appear that the book is authoritative. The single review on Amazon gives the book five stars, and says that it is very credible. I guess the book must really be credible. I don't think I'm gonna buy it though. I am not quite making enough money on this blog to justify $10. 

Then again, maybe I should take the word of Malcolm Young, one of the brothers that started the group.
 "The sewing machine had AC/DC on the back of it, and we were tossing around names for weeks and she [their sister Margaret] just said it one night and we all went 'that's, that's good!'". 

AC/DC - VH1 behind the music part 1, about 7:00 in.

I still dunno why a sewing machine would be AC/DC.


Bisexual connotation?
I can't hardly write a blog about the name AC/DC without mentioning that AC/DC is slang for a person who plugs in to both the AC kind of sex and the DC kind of sex. The band was actually surprised to hear about this slang when they opened for Lou Reed (who is bisexual). Whoops.

Satanic origin?
There is a widespread rumor that the band name is of satanic origin. Here are some possible abbreviations:

After Christ Devil Come
Anti-Christ Devil's Children
Anti Christ/Devil Child
Alameda County Death Cult
After Christ-Devil Conquered

How silly.


More origins of band names
More still