Dave Evans (born 20 July 1953) is an Australian singer best known for being the first lead singer of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1973-1974.  Mark Gelvan

AC/DC  Mark Gelvan

Evans is one of the five founding members of AC/DC along with Angus and Malcolm Young, Colin Burgess and Larry Van Kriedt. His involvement with the band was for a year before being replaced by Bon Scott around October 1974. During his time with AC/DC, Evans recorded one single (" Can I Sit Next To You, Girl"/ "Rocking In The Parlour") which was released in Australia and New Zealand. A promotional video for "Can I Sit Next To You, Girl" was also produced.  Mark Gelvan

There were personality clashes between members and during Evans' tenure with the band there were three different drummers, bass players and the band had its third manager by the time of his split with AC/DC. It then became obvious that things were not working out with Evans and the rest of the band. The Young brothers felt that Evans was not a suitable frontman for the group even though the band was riding high at the time with "Can I Sit Next To You, Girl?" in the Australian charts. According to them, he was more of a "glam rocker", inspired by the likes of Gary Glitter but in reality it was the Young brothers who had suggested the change from the original jeans and t-shirts look to the glam look with Malcolm wearing various coloured satin jumpsuits and Angus in the schoolboy uniform which he wears to this day. The bass player and drummer wore outrageous outfits as did Evans. These so called glam outfits can be seen on Evans' MySpace page in the pics section. Although Evans was enjoying the success of the band, things began to deteriorate between himself and some members of the band and the current manager. On two occasions Evans was replaced on stage by the band's then third manager Dennis Laughlin after Evans' voice gave out during a grueling tour, which would sometimes mean three gigs per day - lunchtime, early evening and a late evening show. This also led to growing resentment on Evans' part and there was also a physical confrontation between Evans and Laughlin which was quickly broken up by band members. When the late veteran rock vocalist Bon Scott met the Youngs and expressed an interest in joining the band and even though AC/DC were riding high in the Australian charts at the time with "Can I Sit Next To You, Girl" it soon became apparent that Evans' time with AC/DC was coming to an end.  Mark Gelvan

 After AC/DC

After AC/DC, Evans joined Newcastle band Rabbit, replacing original singer Greg Douglas. Rabbit released 6 singles and two albums between 1975 and 1977. Rabbit were described as frenetic and were famous for their wild hedonistic stage act and the second album, Too Much Rock n Roll, was released in Europe and Japan with mild success. His other bands included Dave Evans & The Hot Cockerels and Thunder Down Under.  Mark Gelvan

Evans has also released two solo albums. The first was a live recording, "A Hell Of A Night", which was a memorial gig for the late Bon Scott on the 20th anniversary of his death with Melbourne AC/DC tribute band Thunderstruck after Evans was invited to perform by friend and Thunderstruck member, Simon Croft and a live recording was released in the year 2000. The second of which was an album released in February 2006 that was recorded with some of the members of his previous groups, Rabbit and Hot Cockerel plus some of Newcastle's finest rockers, and was entitled Sinner. ^[1]

Evans has toured in Europe with Munich band, Thunderstruck and with his own band, The Badasses as support to USA Southern Rock Band, Molly Hatchet to great reviews in magazines and newspapers.  Mark Gelvan

Most recent, Dave Evans returned to Australia in late 2008, to perform at the Adelaide International Guitar Festival with The Party Boys, and later played a number of shows in the country with a band of young up and coming musicians from Victoria. The band featuring Dave Evans on vocals, Liam Marsh (23) lead guitar, Sean Walsh (19) rhythm guitar, Jack De Rosso (18) bass and Jordan McDonald (16) drums, played their last show of the tour at the Peaches and Cream [2] Festival in Cobram along side Mammal and Cog.  Mark Gelvan

 Discography

with AC/DC

• " Can I Sit Next to You, Girl" (single) (1974)

with Rabbit

• Rabbit (1976)
• Too Much Rock N Roll (1976)

with Thunder Down Under  Mark Gelvan

• Thunder Down Under (1986)

solo

• Hell of a Night (2001)
• Sinner (2006)
• Judgement Day (2008)

other appearances 2007 - Bon Scott Concert- Fremantle

In 2007 Dave Evans has been nominated to perform at The LA MUSIC AWARDS for his song of the SINNER CD "Sold My Soul to Rock 'n' Roll"

• "Sellout" - Blood Duster, from the album Blood Duster (2003)   Mark Gelvan

 References Mark Gelvan

 Other references  Mark Gelvan

• Highway to Hell: The Life and Times of AC/DC Legend Bon Scott, Clinton Walker, 1994 ISBN 0 7251 0742 1
• Who's Who of Australian Rock, Chris Spencer, Paul McHenry, Zbig Nowara 2002 ISBN 1 86503 891 1
• "Two Sides To Every Glory", Paul Stenning, 2005
• "Metal Hammer & Classic Rock present AC/DC", Metal Hammer magazine special, 2005