The Guitarist ANGUS YOUNG Once Blamed For Setting ROCK MUSIC Back Two Decades: 'Jeez, It Sounds So Dated'

Angus Young , the longtime AC/DC guitarist, is known for his stripped-down style, blistering riffs, and no-nonsense views on what makes a good guitar player. Over the years, he’s made his opinion clear about effects pedals, tremolo bars, and overly polished guitar work. One name, though, stands out from his criticism: Hank Marvin.

In multiple interviews, Young pointed to Marvin as someone who, in his view, took guitar music in the wrong direction. He even went as far as saying Marvin helped set the music world back two decades.

No frills, just chords

Young’s approach to guitar playing has always been direct. He plugs in, turns it up, and plays. “I just plugged it into the amp and played,” he told Guitar World in 1986. “I never used any of those ‘wangy’ bars or stuff like that. Those things never appealed to me. If I want to get a similar kind of sound, I just de-tune the strings.”

What Young calls “wangy” bars refers to tremolo systems, a popular guitar feature especially in surf rock and early pop. But for Young, these tools weren’t just unnecessary, they were signs of overreliance on tech instead of talent.

He believed that guitar effects and tremolos often date the sound of a song. Once the trend passes, it leaves behind music that feels locked to a specific time period. That’s exactly what he didn’t want with AC/DC.

“You listen to it five years later, and go, ‘Jeez, it sounds so dated,’” he said in a 2003 Guitar World interview. “We never did that.”

The Hank Marvin problem

Young didn’t shy away from naming names. In the same 1986 interview, he brought up Hank Marvin, the lead guitarist for The Shadows and a longtime collaborator with Cliff Richard.

“Cliff Richards used to have this guy in his backing band, Hank Marvin, who used that thing on almost every note,” Young said, referring to the tremolo bar.

To Young, Marvin represented an entire generation of guitarists who leaned too hard on effects and showmanship. “He was like a Buddy Holly clone, he used to do these silly little steps,” Young continued. “Guys like Hank set the music world back 20 years.”

For Young, the issue wasn’t personal, it was about principle. He simply didn’t see value in styles that distracted from the raw feel of the music. “Whenever I saw guys like Hank Marvin, I would always go in the complete reverse of what they were doing.”

Tremolo bars off the guitar

Even when Young owned guitars that came with tremolo systems, he removed them. In a 1983 conversation with Steven Rosen, he admitted he “used to fool around with them” but quickly realized it wasn’t the sound he wanted. “You begin sounding like Hank Marvin,” he said.

To Young, this wasn’t just a matter of taste. It was a line in the sand between what he considered real rock and roll and what he thought was overproduced fluff.

The Marvin legacy

Despite Young’s strong views, Hank Marvin remains a respected figure in British music history. He was a pioneer of the clean, echo-heavy guitar tone popular in the 1960s. Alongside The Shadows, he helped shape hits like Apache, Wonderful Land, and The Young Ones.

Marvin also enjoyed a successful solo career, releasing multiple albums and collaborating with artists such as Roger Daltrey, Paul McCartney, Brian May, and Peter Frampton. His influence stretches across genres and decades, even if Young never bought into it.

His latest project, Foolin’ With The Feds (2023), was a collaboration with Nunzio Mondia and Gary Taylor.

Still a Buddy Holly fan

Interestingly, Young didn’t have the same issue with Buddy Holly, even though he criticized Marvin for sounding like him.

When asked by Rolling Stone about his go-to listening before a gig, Young said:

“I plug into a lot of old rock & roll. Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis. I love all that stuff.”

He described those artists as “good vibe-meters” and said he still listens to them for inspiration. So the problem wasn’t with early rock & roll itself. It was with what Young saw as weak imitations.

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