AC/DC Beyond The Thunder, a podcast which spotlights the influence that AC/DC has had on our culture in extraordinary ways, marks the show's first foray into the true crime genre, revealing a chilling, never-before-heard interview with Philip Carlo, author of The Night Stalker: The Life And Crimes Of Richard Ramirez.
Carlo, an American journalist and best-selling biographer, spoke from his New York City apartment while suffering from (ALS), commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease”. Bound to a wheelchair and breathing only with a respirator, Carlo would pass away not long after the meeting.
The author discusses everything from his traumatic life growing up, being surrounded by organized crime, and then transitioning to becoming an author who writes about crime, eventually drawn to the ’Night Prowler’ story, and interviewing Richard Ramirez for six hours a day logging over 100 hours while awaiting his death sentence at San Quentin prison.
Ramirez's highly publicized home invasion and murder crime spree terrorized the residents of the Greater Los Angeles area and later the residents of the San Francisco Bay Area from June 1984 until August 1985. He used a wide variety of weapons, including handguns, knives, a machete, a tire iron, and a claw hammer - all the while wearing a SONY Walkman listening to his favorite band, AC/DC.
“He loved AC/DC,” recalls Carlo. “The song 'Night Prowler', he felt somehow had been written about him.”
'Night Prowler', the last track off AC/DC’s 1979 album Highway To Hell, and the very last song vocalist Bon Scott would ever record in the studio before his untimely death in 1980, became the killer’s calling card.
The episode includes vintage news clips, excerpts from Carlo’s haunting book, and even an interview with the band’s lead guitarist, Angus Young, “In the case of that song, it’s been completely taken out of context. The story comes from - mainly there was a guy who used to steal underwear off of people’s laundry lines.”
Ultimately, Ramirez would leave behind an AC/DC hat that he was wearing at the scene of the crime. After the police released a photo of his hat from the crime scene hoping to get some leads, a mob of angry Los Angelenos spotted the predator and beat him in the streets, and was said to have been wearing an AC/DC shirt at the time of arrest.
Carlo's take on the connection between Richard Ramirez and his infatuation with AC/DC? “To Richard, it was an anthem. He felt encouraged by it.” Then ponders, “(AC/DC) should be proud of that song - it’s a great song. It’s also macabre and potentially violent.”
The Night Stalker would go on to become a 2016 TV movie staring Lou Diamond Phillips, as well as a 4-part true crime documentary miniseries on Netflix in 2021.
But for the hosts of AC/DC Beyond The Thunder, and connection between the serial killer and the band are best summed up in the inimitable words of AC/DC founder, Malcolm Young: “Did you search his stomach for McDonald’s? If you’re a whacko, you’re a whacko!”
Fans of the podcast can listen to this new episode and more at BeyondtheThunder.com.
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Philip Carlo was an American journalist and best selling biographer whose non-fiction work includes The Ice Man, Gaspipe Confessions of a Mafia Boss, the Butcher, and The Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez (And True Story of America's Most Feared Serial Killer).
Richard Ramirez, a rapist, kidnapper, child abuser, burglar, satan worshiper—and all around menacing figure in American history—was eventually placed on death row for 24 years before his death from cancer in prison in 2013.
AC/DC Beyond The Thunder podcast features professional actors, authors, athletes, chefs, CEOs, comedians, musicians, media hosts, wrestlers, even war heroes, all paying homage to one of the greatest bands of all time, AC/DC. Guests have included Slash, Hall of Fame MLB pitcher Trevor Hoffman, SNL comedian Jim Breuer, US Military War Hero Mike Durant from the film ‘Black Hawk Down’, pro wrestler Chris Jericho, classically trained Croatian duo 2CELLOS, as well as Eddie Trunk, Dee Snider, Dweezil Zappa, Scott Ian, Lemmy, Chris Slade, Mike Fraser, Hell’s Belles, Darryl DMC McDaniels and many more.
AC/DC Beyond The Thunder was created by duo Gregg Ferguson & Kurt Squiers, who both quit their jobs and set out to capture a feature length documentary as the ultimate homage, but failed to secure the band’s approval. Ferguson and Squiers decided to unearth these stories of well-known fans discussing their affinity for AC/DC and harness that energy into a podcast with the help of sound engineer, Eric Kielb. From archival interviews to all new guest episodes, AC/DC Beyond The Thunder is now in its third season with over 165,000 streams.
