Senile rock-n-rollers
BBC mentions that a famous Rock-n-Roll worker (who apparently calls himself AC-DC or something like that) is now suffering from Alzheimers, and is doing odd destructive things.

In the '60s, did any pundit predict that Rock-n-Rollers would still be performing after they grew senile? Did anyone predict that Rock-n-Rollers would be trashing hotel rooms because they're senile?

I seriously doubt it. The normal and rational assumption was that Rock-n-Rollers would either die young or grow out of it. Many of them did die young, but the durable ones didn't grow up.

Too bad the assumption didn't hold.

Incidentally, this fellow's pseudonym AC-DC is a fine indication of the geriatric nature of Rock-n-Roll.

In the early days of electric power some systems ran on DC and some on AC. The Edison-Tesla thing is overrated; there wasn't a grand battle. DC systems were still around in rural areas in 1950.

Vacuum-tube radios need several different voltages for filament, plate and bias, so most used a transformer with several secondaries. AC comes in at 110v, and the secondaries yield 6v for filaments, 250 for plate, maybe 40 for bias. But how do you get those voltages if the household power is DC? The solution was to make special tubes with somewhat higher filament voltage and lower plate voltage requirements. Wire the filaments in series across the 110 DC; and use the full DC line voltage in parallel for plates.

Radios that could handle both AC and DC were quite popular from 1940 to 1960. They were pretty much the standard for basic household receivers, and they were DANGEROUS. Because the chassis was connected directly to one side of the mains, you could get a deadly shock by opening up the back of the receiver, or by taking off one of the knobs and touching the shaft.

Thus: American baby-boomers were familiar with AC-DC as a description for a gadget that could "swing both ways", and could kill you if you weren't careful. Ideal term for a publicity-minded performer.

Anyone born after 1960 knows AC-DC only as the disconnected name of this Rock-n-Roll employee.
  ¶ 3:00 AM