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Cliff Williams leaves AC/DC

#81
As for Cliff Williams, I wish him well. Somebody mentioned that he was close with Brian? That would make sense. If he and Angus were best buds then sticking around would make more sense.

Angus likes to play, and at this stage keeping the AC/DC name going keeps him playing, so good for him.

But now AC/DC is going to be like Lynard Skynard, which if I recall has only one original member left as well.
 
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#82
ERIC31 said:
Speaking of that subject, he's not a bassist but POISON' original guitarist, Matt Smith came out to Hollywood with them in 83. The grind became too much for him and he left in late 85 back home. The band got CC Deville in and proceeded to become rich, famous rock stars a couple years after that. I wonder how Matt felt when that happened. I think I would have flipped out and been bitter as f**k if that happened to me!
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Yeah, especially because he didn't get paid!
 
#85
RedVee said:
After the litigation ?
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toddsterbassist said:
I don't think Mark got paid much. He certainly missed out on the later success. Dealing with that would have been tough.
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Well he just sold a house for $1.32 million AUS and I haven't heard about any time in his life where he worked at a regular job. I don't know much about the litigation and I guess he's under a gag order, but he was fairly well paid when he was in AC/DC from all accounts.
 
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#86
JimmyM said:
Well he just sold a house for $1.32 million AUS and I haven't heard about any time in his life where he worked at a regular job. I don't know much about the litigation and I guess he's under a gag order, but he was fairly well paid when he was in AC/DC from all accounts.
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Don't get me wrong, he's certainly doing better than me. I just think it'd be devastating losing a gig like that, especially in a band on the rise. It certainly became more lucrative after his departure.

It seems you know quite a lot about him. I was unaware of any litigation or gag order. I mean he got fired in what 77 or 78? That's a long time ago. He sort of layed things out in his book but I don't recall any money being mentioned...but I didn't expect to. I'm surprised the band was such a moneymaker back then for a non songwriter.
 
#87
JimmyM said:
Well he just sold a house for $1.32 million AUS and I haven't heard about any time in his life where he worked at a regular job. I don't know much about the litigation and I guess he's under a gag order, but he was fairly well paid when he was in AC/DC from all accounts.
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Unfortunately in Sydney or Melbourne $1.32m is just a standard suburban house. That's why I live 50+ kms out from where I grew up.
 
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#88
toddsterbassist said:
Don't get me wrong, he's certainly doing better than me. I just think it'd be devastating losing a gig like that, especially in a band on the rise. It certainly became more lucrative after his departure.

It seems you know quite a lot about him. I was unaware of any litigation or gag order. I mean he got fired in what 77 or 78? That's a long time ago. He sort of layed things out in his book but I don't recall any money being mentioned...but I didn't expect to. I'm surprised the band was such a moneymaker back then for a non songwriter.
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Well to be honest, someone else mentioned litigation, I Googled it, and saw that he settled before trial and there was an NDA regarding the settlement. That's all I really know. At any rate, the songwriters did make the most money, but all those old albums sold huge after the fact, and he had 3 years of gigs where they weren't huge but were working pretty much every night doing theaters and large clubs as headliners and opening acts at arena shows. I have no idea how much Mark made, but Cliff and Phil never wrote and became extreme multimillionaires from AC/DC, so I don't think they cheaped out with Mark, although he certainly couldn't have made what Cliff did.

RedVee said:
Unfortunately in Sydney or Melbourne $1.32m is just a standard suburban house. That's why I live 50+ kms out from where I grew up.
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Still a lot of money!
 
#89
He seems to have done well for himself either way and how many people can say they have played in AC/DC? He is still active and seems to hang with the likes of Angry Anderson so life is good. Cliff has definitely done well for himself and I agree he has obviously been paid well. In both their cases they have achieved a level of success and notoriety that eludes most of us.
 
#90
toddsterbassist said:
He seems to have done well for himself either way and how many people can say they have played in AC/DC?
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What I gather from this thread, quite a few actually. :roflmao:

toddsterbassist said:
Cliff has definitely done well for himself and I agree he has obviously been paid well. In both their cases they have achieved a level of success and notoriety that eludes most of us.
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Celebrity Net worth has Cliff at $100M US. Not bad for 40 years of rock-n-roll.
 
#91
JimmyM said:
Well to be honest, someone else mentioned litigation, I Googled it, and saw that he settled before trial and there was an NDA regarding the settlement. That's all I really know. At any rate, the songwriters did make the most money, but all those old albums sold huge after the fact, and he had 3 years of gigs where they weren't huge but were working pretty much every night doing theaters and large clubs as headliners and opening acts at arena shows. I have no idea how much Mark made, but Cliff and Phil never wrote and became extreme multimillionaires from AC/DC, so I don't think they cheaped out with Mark, although he certainly couldn't have made what Cliff did.


Still a lot of money!
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Too much for me!
 
#93
JimmyM said:
Well to be honest, someone else mentioned litigation, I Googled it, and saw that he settled before trial and there was an NDA regarding the settlement. That's all I really know. At any rate, the songwriters did make the most money, but all those old albums sold huge after the fact, and he had 3 years of gigs where they weren't huge but were working pretty much every night doing theaters and large clubs as headliners and opening acts at arena shows. I have no idea how much Mark made, but Cliff and Phil never wrote and became extreme multimillionaires from AC/DC, so I don't think they cheaped out with Mark, although he certainly couldn't have made what Cliff did.


Still a lot of money!
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Re the litigation, from the books I have (I have a few on AC/DC & Bon) - there has been a suggestion that once you are out "you are out"; and that due payments to ex-members are not high on the AC/DC (The Youngs?) priority list. IE you need to fight for them.
From reading, no first hand knowledge at all. So take with how many grains of salt that you like.
 
#94
1stnamebassist said:
I imagine a good bit of that was from wise investments along the way. Someone here local told me recently he had a property for sale in a very upscale subdivision close by. Don't know if its true however.
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It probably is. He does live in Ft. Myers.

RedVee said:
Re the litigation, from the books I have (I have a few on AC/DC & Bon) - there has been a suggestion that once you are out "you are out"; and that due payments to ex-members are not high on the AC/DC (The Youngs?) priority list. IE you need to fight for them.
From reading, no first hand knowledge at all. So take with how many grains of salt that you like.
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Could be. And he did. And apparently won.
 
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#95
1stnamebassist said:
Someone here local told me recently he had a property for sale in a very upscale subdivision close by. Don't know if its true however.
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It's true - here's his pad that was/is on the market:

Clifford-Williams-House-630x420.png
 
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#98
JimmyM said:
I don't think I'd want a house like that even if I could afford it. Then again, how would I know? :D
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When I was a Land Surveyor we used to do what was called a final survey. When a new house has been built we have already measured and mapped the location of the slab and staked the lot corners. The final is to check measurements and tie in some building corners again and draw and measure improvements like pool decks driveways etc... It would normally take 30 to 60 minuites to do.My boss sent me out to do a final one day. Gave me the package of info and the address and said it was a larger home. Yeah he wasn't kidding! It had 55 rooms, was monsterous, had all kinds of walks and gardens and pools and multiple AC pads! That final took me 3 days to complete! It was a nightmare trying to measure every nook and cranny! So yeah Ft Myers has some massive homes and Naples is even worse! I know the Dr who built the house. He took care of my wife when she had cancer. One of the nicest most down top earth guys you would ever want to meet! I for the life of me can't see the need in something like that however! I'm good with 3 bedrooms 2 baths and a half acre!
 
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