AC/DC – Riff Raff

No big surprise here. No concept album, no reaching for the acoustic, or any subtleties…just Rock and Roll at high volume. It took me years to like this band, and I like both versions, but I favor the Bon Scott era a little more for some reason. 

There’s a certain thrill when you drop the needle on Powerage and let Riff Raff come flying out of the speakers, like being tackled by a denim-clad Marshall Amp! It wasn’t about the hits with this band, it was about raw power. Bombastic and proud of it. They were Chuck Berry on steroids. Angus is on fire in this one, and yet somehow, despite the chaos, it’s never messy. 

There’s something weirdly noble about AC/DC’s refusal to pander. While everyone else in 1978 was busy adding synths or softening the edges for FM radio, these guys doubled down on bar-fight boogie music. And this song is the kind of track that drives the point home for everyone. 

Powerage was released in 1978, and it peaked at #133 on the Billboard Album Charts and #23 in the UK. This was a year before their breakthrough album, Highway To Hell. I have to hand it to them because they never changed, and I can say honestly, never will. Their fans would not expect anything different. 

Riff Raff

See it on television, every dayYa hear it on the radioIt ain’t humid, but it sure is hotDown in MexicoA barmaid’s tryin’ to tell me (ha-ha)“Beginning of the end”Sayin’ it’ll bend meToo late, my friend

Riff raffOh, it’s good for a laughHa-ha-haRiff raffGo on and laugh yourself in halfSmile a while

Now, I’m the kinda guy that keep his big mouth shutIt don’t bother meSomebody kickin’ me when I’m upLeave me in miseryI never shot nobodyDon’t even carry a gunI ain’t done nothin’ wrongI’m just having fun

Riff raffOh, it’s good for a laughHa-ha-haRiff raffGo on and laugh yourself in halfSmile a while

Do it again

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

37 thoughts on “AC/DC – Riff Raff”

  1. Pingback: AC/DC – Riff Raff – MobsterTiger

  4. I hear ya about this band and this song. Who Made Who is my favorite though. From the movie, Maximum Overdrive. Yep. My dad and grandfather, uncles, and cousins, were truckers. So go figure. I hadn’t heard much about AC/DC though until I met an ex husband. He was addicted to them and told me all about Bon Scott. Fast forward many years, after visiting Ireland and Scotland in 2019, I appreciate Bon a lot more.

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  5. I have never owned any of their records, so what I’ve heard is strictly from the radio. Never heard this one. I agree with what you said, they are probably the only group of that type that I could tolerate.

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    1. Yea they stick to basic rock and roll…especially Chuck Berry who is Angus’s influence. They just ramp it up to 11.

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  6. Chuck Berryon steroids’ . I like that. I was pretty into them back around the ‘Back in Black’ era, was of that age for it to really appeal. That was then, this is now., shall we say. But I have to admire their durability and ongoing popularity and grudgingly, their dogged refusal to ever change their sound even a little. I can’t think of anyone else in pop who’s been doing the same thing over and over for 45 or more years and still has a solid following

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    1. Dave…I still like them. It is rock and roll…just at a high volume. I love that they stood their ground and didn’t change to please someone else. Chuck was Angus’s biggest influence and you can hear it…he does a Chuck riff on many of their songs. They always sell out usually when they play. Bailey’s friends are into them as well.

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      2. Yes it does…the difference between now and when we grew up is…kids aren’t fighting as much with parents over music…because I think it was more real…felt more real than modern….and kids can tell a phony.

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    2. Yep I agree with you Dave, though I was less enthralled than appalle- sorry, appreciative. A few songs I do like but almost all they do is very loud. Like-it-or-leave-it pounding rock, as heavy and subtle as a falling brick. But they still work for the fans, who they keep making, year after year.

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    1. LOL…it took me a while to start liking them but yea I do…both versions but I guess I’ve heard more of the Johnson era so these songs have more of a fresh feel for me.

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      2. I’ve heard a little of them before…plus I heard some Brian Johnson commercials he did for I think for Hoover….didn’t sound like the same guy.

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  8. Solid pick dude! Angus just rips your head off on this album. Malcom is the king of rhythm guitar riffs in my world. The whole Powerage record proves that. Bon lyrical is a genius with his words. Yeah I like em haha

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    1. LOL…I’ll have to use that. BTW…I have given up for now on that song. Obbverse if you have ANY other hint about it…that comes up. Please let me know…it kept leading me back to the Reeves song.

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      1. Nah, thanks anyway, and if that song finally resounds in my noggin after laying fallow in my brain for so long I’ll mention it. It nags gently away but just won’t show its shy face.

        Dammit, who was it, Bobby Fuller? No, and no it wasn’t Johnny Rivers either… and I’m damned sure I’d remember if it was Pat Boone…😉

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      2. I love challenges like that…and I’ve won more than I’ve lost…but I must concede this one…I even broke out at work with our paid AI…it came up with the usual suspects.
        You are pretty sure it was 1966…the biggest challenge is…was it a hit?

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      3. To be fair by now I’m doubting almost everything I said! Date-wise I might be off too!

        Damn… Delbert McClinton? Jeez, Porter bloody Wagoner? (Goes away, head down, muttering…)

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    1. Yea…they have had success so they just keep going. I’m happy they didn’t give in and change. They stayed true to themselves. Plus…I can’t imagine Bon Scott breaking into a ballad…BUT…he could really sing.

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