Marching to the beat of his own drum: The Sicilian who turned down the chance to be a member of AC/DC

And the term “rock star” is no exaggeration.

The pizzeria’s founder, Tony Currenti is the drummer behind AC/CD’s 1975 debut album, ‘High Voltage’, recording all of its hits except the cover of ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’ by big Joe Williams.

While we let that sink in, let’s go back to where it all began.

Tony was born and raised in the small Sicilian town of Fiumefreddo, in the province of Catania.

Fresh from his sixteenth birthday, Tony migrated to Australia with his parents in 1967.

It didn’t take long for the young Sicilian to settle in, and he began his life in Australia with a twelve-month stint as a spray painter.

“During that time I was walking along King Street in Newtown and I heard people playing music in the Methodist Church of all the places,” Tony laughs.

“The drummer was trying to sing as well but he wasn’t able to do both, so they asked me if I’d like to drum with them...I was better than him so they kept me!”

Just like that, Tony was a drummer in a band, and the most astonishing part of the story is yet to come.

Prior to this experience Tony had never played the drums. Ever.

As a five-year-old he was gifted a piano accordion by his father in true Sicilian style, but it was the drums that the young Tony really wished for as he grew into his teens.

“At 16 years old I still couldn’t play even one song on the piano accordion,” Tony says.

“But I did manage to ruin all of the seats my mum had in the kitchen by hitting them like drums!”

While some may not consider beating chairs to their death an adequate training method for a musician, it seemed to work for Tony.

He didn’t stay with the church band for long though.

“They had a great guitarist who played in another band and after a month he asked me if I’d like to replace their drummer who’d left,” Tony says.

And so, Tony performed on the TV talent show, ‘New Faces’ with the Tin Soldiers, before he and the band’s guitarist went on to form a new group in 1968.

This “band of wogs” as Tony fondly refers to them, was originally called Inheritance, before changing its name to Grapevine, and definitively, Jackie Christian and Flight.

Just a year after Jackie Christian and Flight came together, they released their first single.

As Tony and his two Greek band mates officially launched themselves onto the Sydney music scene, his parents, struggling to find work and struggling to break through the language barrier, decided to return to Sicily.

Tony chose to stay.

“I’d just turned 18 and was no longer obliged to return with them so I stayed...I had uncles and aunties here so it’s not like I was left completely alone,” he says.

“It was a dream for me, coming from a small Sicilian town in the 1960s and having never stepped outside of Sicily before then.”

I assumed that being 18-years-old, with all the freedom in the world and a rock band at his flank, Tony was in for a pretty good time!

Something about his cheeky chuckle down the other end of the phone line tells me that I had guessed correctly.

Five years on from Jackie Christian and Flight’s genesis, Tony and his band mates had released four singles, and played in various venues across Sydney alongside the likes of The Easybeats, Sherbet, and Bon Scott’s then band, The Valentines.

“The 1970s were wonderful because there were lots of places to play and lots of groups at an international level,” Tony says.

“The Vietnam War was happening at that time and the American soldiers filled all of the locations on Kings Cross, so it was really fast-paced and exciting.”

It was in 1973 that Tony’s life reached an incredible crossroads; Tony and his band mates were invited to record two songs penned by Harry Venda and George Young of the Easybeats.

Once the recording was over, Young asked Tony if he’d like to hang around as his younger brothers were coming into the studio at midnight to work on a new project.

As it turns out, the group needed a new drummer to finish the project, as Peter Clack hadn’t reached their expectations during the recording of the cover track, ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’.

“I stayed behind and it was only later that I found out the recording session was for the ‘High Voltage’ album,” Tony says.

“I also had no idea that Bon Scott was the singer of the band because I’d already met him in 1968 when he played with The Valentines, and again in 1971.”

On the first night of recording, George Young told Tony that the album had to be finished as soon as possible, as they’d already lost quite a bit of time recording ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’.

“Because George was part of the Easybeats, there were lots of expectations for AC/DC to become great as quickly as possible,” Tony says.

The group then spent four consecutive nights working from midnight to dawn to record eight more songs.

It was during those late-night sessions that the band asked to Tony become their permanent drummer, not once but twice.

Tony refused AC/DC’s first offer out of pure loyalty to his own band, Jackie Christian and Flight.

“I didn’t feel comfortable saying yes because six years was a lot of time to pass with a group of other guys who had the same dream as me,” Tony says.

Tony had to reject the band’s second offer because of his birthplace, of all things.

Given that the band planned to travel to England as soon as ‘High Voltage’ was recorded, Tony couldn’t have gone with them even if he wanted to.

“Having an Italian passport, I couldn’t leave Australia because I would’ve had to return to Rome and I would’ve been conscripted for military service in the army,” Tony says.

“Until I was 39 years old I couldn’t even go to Italy to see my parents for the same reason!”

And so, the band went and he stayed.

While AC/DC went on to become an international icon and make millions, Tony stuck it out with Jackie Christian and Flight for another few months until the group slowly dissolved.

“I tried playing with other bands, but in the end I decided to get married and have a family because I didn’t have fun like before,” Tony says.

“I’d already played at the highest level imaginable, so to go backwards just wasn’t the same.”

Two children and a pizzeria later and Tony is as happy as ever, recently reclaiming his rock star status.

In 2014, after 38 years, Tony returned to the stage for the 40^th anniversary of ‘High Voltage’, performing the album’s title track with The Choirboys before devoted fans.

“It was a beautiful moment because I never expected to play the song again,” Tony exclaims.

Since his momentous revival, Tony has gone on to tour Australia and Europe with AC/DC tribute bands, and played before thousands at Bonfest in Scotland this May.

“I never dreamed of drumming again but now I’m having fun continuing what I started 40 years ago,” Tony says.

Tony never got a mention on the ‘High Voltage’ album and never made one cent off the millions it made (apart from the $35 an hour he was paid during the recording sessions).

Furthermore, his name has often been either misspelt in AC/DC biographies, or worse, left out altogether.

While that may be enough to send some into a spiral of resentment, the warm Sicilian has no hard feelings and has never regretted the decision he made 42 years ago.

“My only regret is that I’ve tried several times to meet up with the Young brothers and I haven’t been able to,” Tony says.

“I’ve tried with lots of people who are in contact with them but the doors remain closed for me, and I’m not sure why.”

Despite his desire to reconnect with the iconic band he was once an inch away from becoming a part of, Tony wouldn’t change a thing, not even trading in his Sydney pizzeria for the money or the fame.

“I’ve never been interested in lots of money, and the pizzeria has always been enough for me,” Tony says.

“I have a beautiful family and I don’t have any regrets.”

Tony’s humility is overwhelming, while his easygoing nature is contagious.

That in itself has won him fans the world over, while his musical talent is just an added bonus.