AC/DC singer to publish book

AC/DC singer Brian Johnson has told Sarasota, Florida's Herald Tribune that he has signed a deal with Penguin Books to publish a collection of anecdotes, stories and thoughts he has jotted down over the years. Johnson explained that humor and cars will be a big part of the book, saying, "I like humor a lot, and cars have been a big part of my life. I'm lucky enough that I'm able to buy some of the exotic ones. Instead of doing drugs, I did motorcars. I'm not sure which one is more expensive."

Johnson gave one example of the kind of tale we might find in the book: "There's one story about me buying my first car, a Ford 100E. It was a rust bucket, obviously. I got in the car and drove about 100 yards and the seat went through the floor. I sat there on the road, and the guy who had sold it to me said '(Bleep), you've just fallen through the (bleeping) floor. Ahhhh, you should've checked that before you took it, me son.' That was me first hard lesson in motorcars."

Johnson had a job putting vinyl roofs on cars when he got his gig with AC/DC back in 1980. He told us about the first time he went down to audition for the group: [ Click to listen if you have a backstage pass] "I just went down and sang a couple of songs with the lads, but I remember I never thought I'd ever gonna get the job, you know, it was just a big thrill to go down. And I remember turning to the boys and saying, 'Hey, well, lads, I've got to get off' -- it was like 9:30 at night and I had to drive about 270 miles back home and start work the next morning, you know. So off I went, and Mal (Malcolm Young, guitarist) phoned us the next day and asked us if I fancied coming down and having another shot."

Johnson's latest album with AC/DC, Black Ice, has sold more than 1.6 million copies since coming out as a Wal-Mart exclusive in October.

The group has yet to sell Black Ice or any of its music online at iTunes or any other digital outlet.