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 day Ya hear it on the radio It ain’t humid, but it sure is hot Down in Mexico A barmaid’s tryin’ to tell me (ha-ha) “Beginning of the end” Sayin’ it’ll bend me Too late, my friend
Riff raff Oh, it’s good for a laugh Ha-ha-ha Riff raff Go on and laugh yourself in half Smile a while
Now, I’m the kinda guy that keep his big mouth shut It don’t bother me Somebody kickin’ me when I’m up Leave me in misery I never shot nobody Don’t even carry a gun I ain’t done nothin’ wrong I’m just having fun
Riff raff Oh, it’s good for a laugh Ha-ha-ha Riff raff Go on and laugh yourself in half Smile a while
When I first saw this video it highly amused me. Seeing Bon Scott in pigtails caught me off guard. They did a great version of this song…I will always turn to Van Morrison’s Them as my definite version, but this one is a lot of fun.
This song appeared on their debut album High Voltage released in 1974. Bon Scott was an excellent singer. He was in a pop band called The Valentines and it’s odd, to say the least seeing him singing in this band. He adapted well to what was asked of him with AC/DC.
The band toured relentlessly in the mid to late seventies and when they released Highway To Hell, it was a milestone for them. They set themselves up for a huge payday on the next album. Scott died in 1980 as they were starting on their new album which turned out to be the mega-selling Back In Black. I think if Scott had lived they would have had just as big of an album. The Highway To Hell album was the key to getting them known worldwide.
Blues great Big Joe Williams is credited with writing this song, but it was developed from a folk song titled “Long John,” which was recorded in 1934 by John and Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress. That recording captures the song sung by black prisoners at Darrington State Prison Farm in Texas. It was a popular tune because “Long John” was about an escaped prisoner on the run from authorities.
Baby Please Don’t Go
Baby please don’t go Baby please don’t go Baby please don’t go down to New Orleans You know I love you so Baby please don’t go
When the man done gone When the man done gone When the man done gone down to the county farm He got the shackles on Baby please don’t go Don’t leave me
I’ll be a dog I’ll be a dog woah I’ll be a dog kiss your way down there When you walk along Baby please don’t go
Baby please don’t go Baby please don’t go Baby please don’t go down to New Orleans You know I love you so Baby please don’t go
No baby please don’t leave me Why must you go away and do this to me baby I want to suffer for you, suffer, suffer Oh baby please don’t go No!
Baby, baby, baby, please don’t go, please don’t go Don’t go and leave me, please don’t go Baby, humm Baby, ahah Oh don’t go, no don’t go Oh don’t go, no don’t go Ah don’t go, don’t go so slow Oh don’t go, no don’t go
Why must you leave me lying on my back Going across left side of the track Found yourself a new man I know So baby please don’t go Baby please don’t go
No no no no Oh please, please don’t leave me I don’t want to be left alone baby Ah don’t go, don’t go, don’t go No!
This song has always reminded me of Midnight Rambler by the Stones. What caught my attention and I listened to it twice to make sure I heard it right. At the end Bon Scott says something and I could have sworn it was what Mork from Mork and Mindy used…Shazbot Nanu Nanu…and it was! Scott was a big fan of the show.
California serial killer Richard Ramirez (The Night Stalker, The Valley Intruder or The Walk-In Killer)talked about how he loved the band and Highway To Hell was his favorite album. One of Ramirez’s AC/DC hats was discovered at a crime scene and put on the news as evidence. That started an uncomfortable link with the band. His killing spree started in 1984, and in 1989 Ramirez was convicted of 13 murders. Around the Los Angeles area, Ramirez would typically sneak into houses at night and rape or murder the occupants…hence the nicknames.
Of course, the band wanted nothing to do with this psychopath. It was rumored that the song “Night Prowler” compelled him to kill. The song describes a man sneaking into a woman’s house. It started the rumors again that the band’s name stood for “Anti-Christ Devil’s Children,” but it was actually something seen on the back of a sewing machine that they thought would make an interesting name. . Years earlier The Beatles were linked to a crazy Charles Manson because of a song also.
It was one of the last songs Scott recorded with the band. It was recorded in the spring of 1979 right before the album was released. After the tour, Scott would die on February 19, 1980, of acute alcohol poisoning.
Highway To Hell peaked at #17 on the Billboard Album Charts, #40 in Canada, #46 in New Zealand, #13 in Australia, and #8 in the UK in 1979.
Angus Young has said the song has nothing to do with stalkers or evil people. The song was credited to the Young brothers and Bon Scott.
Angus Young:“The idea came from when I was young, growing up in suburban Australia; we didn’t have air conditioning, and it was very hot. So if it was a very hot night, I’d open up the window. There was an alleyway next to our house and I used to get all of these animal night visitors. Sometimes they’d jump on the window ledge or attempt to come in. I’d see their shadows on the wall. These animals were always having a party late at night. For me, they were the ‘Night Prowlers’.”
Night Prowler
Somewhere a clock strikes midnight
And there’s a full moon in the sky
You hear a dog bark in the distance
You hear someone’s baby cry
A rat runs down the alley
And a chill runs down your spine
And someone walks across your grave
And you wish the sun would shine
‘Cause no one’s gonna warn you
And no one’s gonna yell attack
And you don’t feel the steel
‘Til it’s hangin’ out your back
I’m your night prowler, asleep in the day
Night prowler, get outta my way
Yeah I’m the prowler, watch out tonight
Yes I’m the night prowler, when you turn out the light
Too scared to turn your light out
‘Cause there’s somethin’ on your mind
Was that a noise outside the window
What’s that shadow on the blind
As you lie there naked
Like a body in a tomb
Suspended animation as I slip into your room
I’m your night prowler, asleep in the day
Yeah I’m the night prowler, get outta my way
Look out for the night prowler, watch out tonight
Yes I’m the night prowler, when you turn out the light
I’m your night prowler, asleep in the day
Yes I’m the night prowler, get outta my way
Look out for the night prowler, watch out tonight
Yes I’m the night prowler, when you turn out the light
I’m your night prowler, break down your door
I’m your night prowler, crawling across your floor
I’m the night prowler, make a mess of you, yes I will
Night prowler
And I’m telling this to you
There ain’t nothing
There ain’t nothing
Nothing you can do
It took me a while to like this band but this song helped. I remember this song in Jr High School and laughing until tears were flowing… I still get a laugh out of it. There is something about the Bon Scott era that I like the best. He had a sense of humor but he also was a really good songwriter and his voice was so different. This one plays on words with a sexual edge. It’s clearly a juvenile song but I mean it in the best way. The way Scott’s posh upper crest voice sings it…I don’t see how he held in his laughter. This masterpiece was written by Bon Scott, Malcolm, and Angus Young.
Sexual innuendo is nothing new in rock ‘n’ roll with songs like Chuck Berry’s My Ding-a-Ling (which reminds me of the spirit of this song) and Jerry Lee Lewis’s Great Balls of Fire. This song was on their Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap album that was only released in Europe and Australia in 1976. Atlantic Records didn’t like the vocals and production on the album so they originally rejected it but wound up releasing it in America five years later. The album was finally released in 1981 in America and Canada after Bon Scott’s death.
The name of the album and title track was based on a reference to a cartoon called Beany and Cecil, which Angus watched as a kid. One of the characters in it, “Dishonest John”, carried a business card that read “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Holidays, Sundays, and Special Rates.”
Dishonest John
The album has been certified six-times platinum in America for sales of over six million copies. It is the fifth-highest-selling AC/DC record behind Back in Black, Highway To Hell, Black Ice, and The Razor’s Edge. According to THIS site, it has sold 7,224,562 copies.
Radio stations would sometimes play Big Balls together with Rocker because it’s right after this on the album and the song starts up right away. The album peaked at #5 in Australia in 1976 and at #3 on the Billboard Album Charts, #1 in Canada, and #20 in New Zealand in 1981.
Malcolm Young:“It was Angus that came up with the song title – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. It was based on a cartoon character that had the phrase as his calling card [Dishonest John in the TV cartoon Beany And Cecil]. Then Bon stuck in the line ‘I’m dirty, mean, mighty unclean’ from an advert for mosquito spray that was running on Aussie TV at the time. Yes, we were always a very topical band. We looked at what was happening in the world [laughing].
“Big Balls was the other one from that record that sticks in the mind. It was just a bit of a joke, a bit of fun. We needed to fill up the album, someone came up with a rumba or a tango, and Bon started writing these hilarious words. Bon loved an innuendo and he was obsessed with his balls.”
Big Balls
I’m upper, upper class high society
God’s gift to ballroom notoriety
And I always fill my ballroom
The event is never small
All the social papers say I’ve got the biggest balls of all
I’ve got big balls
I’ve got big balls
And they’re such big balls
Dirty big balls
And he’s got big balls,
And she’s got big balls,
But we’ve got the biggest balls of them all!
And my balls are always bouncing
My ballroom always full
And everybody comes and comes again
If your name is on the guest list
No one can take you higher
Everybody says I’ve got great balls of fire!
I’ve got big balls
I’ve got big balls
And they’re such big balls
Dirty big balls
And he’s got big balls,
And she’s got big balls,
But we’ve got the biggest balls of them all!
Some balls are held for charity
And some for fancy dress
But when they’re held for pleasure,
They’re the balls that I like best.
And my balls are always bouncing,
To the left and to the right.
It’s my belief that my big balls should be held every night.
I’ve got big balls
I’ve got big balls
And they’re such big balls
Dirty big balls
And he’s got big balls,
And she’s got big balls,
But we’ve got the biggest balls of them all!
And I’m just itching to tell you about them
Oh, we have such wonderful fun
Seafood cocktail
Crabs
Crayfish
Bon Scott was reading a story in the paper about Mark Brandon Reid…otherwise known as Chopper Reid. Chopper was sent to jail for 16 years for murdering a gang leader. After a while, he got fed up with jail life, so a criminal friend of his named Jimmy Loughnan planned an escape. It didn’t go well because of Chopper’s fear of tight places…and he and Jimmy were caught.
Bon Scott and Angus and Malcolm Young wrote Jailbreak. The song peaked at #10 in Australia in 1976. The song appeared on the Australian version of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. The song would not be released to the rest of the world until the 1984 international release of the ‘74 Jailbreak EP.
Mark Evans plays bass on this track and album. Evans would play on one more album, Let There Be Rock, and then he would be replaced by Cliff Williams on the Powerage album. Williams remains with ACDC to this day.
They made two videos for this song, one of them playing on a bunch of rocks as various explosions go on around them and the other which features the band simply playing on a stage.
In the bottom video Bon Scott and Phil Rudd (shirts with arrows) were dressed in blue prisoner uniforms while Malcolm Young and Mark Evans wore guard uniforms.
Jailbreak
There was a friend of mine on murder And the judge’s gavel fell Jury found him guilty Gave him sixteen years in hell He said “I ain’t spending my life here I ain’t livin’ alone Ain’t breakin’ no rocks on the chain gang I’m breakin’ out and heading home” Gonna make a (jailbreak) And I’m looking towards the sky I’m gonna make a (jailbreak) Oh, how I wish that I could fly
All in the name of liberty All in the name of liberty Got to be free
(Jailbreak) Let me outta here (Jailbreak) Sixteen years (Jailbreak) Had more than I can take (Jailbreak)
Yeah
He said he’d seen his lady being fooled with By another man She was down and he was up Had a gun in his hand Bullets started flying everywhere People start to scream Big man lyin’ on the ground With a hole in his body where his life had been
But it was all in the name of liberty All in the name of liberty I got to be free
(Jailbreak) (Jailbreak) I got to break out Out of here
Heartbeats They were racing Freedom He was chasin’ Spotlights Sirens Rifles firing But he made it out
The song was co-written by brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, and lyricist Bon Scott. The title track of and the third track on the band’s fourth album, it was released as a single in October 1977 backed by “Problem Child.”
George Young (Angus and Malcolm’s brother), acted as producer alongside partner and former bandmate Harry Vanda. In a familiar writing and recording process that was fast, furious and inspired, the entire album was completed in a matter of weeks.
The music video for “Let There Be Rock” was filmed in July 1977. It was recorded in the Kirk Gallery church in Surry Hills, New South Wales and featured Bon Scott, Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Phil Rudd, and Cliff Williams, who replaced Mark Evans as the band’s bassist shortly after the Let There Be Rock album was released.
Angus Young:“I remember the amp literally exploded during the recording session. My brother watched it with crazed eyes, and he told me ‘Come on! Keep on playing!’ while the stuff was steaming.”
From Songfacts
Running to a shade over 6 minutes, it was produced by Harry Vanda and George Young.
In spite of its appearing to be nothing more than a typically mindless rock anthem, this is actually quite a sophisticated track:
In the beginning
Back in 1955
The white man had the schmaltz
The black man had the blues
is an allusion to the birth of rock ‘n’ roll. The genre developed from boogie woogie; the first rock ‘n’ roll song is generally acknowledged to be “Rocket 88,” to which Ike Turner was a very unlikely contributor considering the way his music was to develop, but then the two men who gave rock ‘n’ roll to the world in the first instance were if anything even more unlikely. There was the white man – who had performed as Yodelling Bill Haley – and the black man, a qualified beautician named Chuck Berry. Both Haley’s “Rock Around The Clock” and Berry’s “Maybellene” were released in 1955, and as they say, the rest is history.
An anthem for the band, AC/DC has played this song at every concert since 1978. They often play it very fast and the solo can be extended all the way to 20 minutes as Angus rises above the stage and does the “spasm.”
Let There Be Rock
In the beginning Back in nineteen fifty five Man didn’t know about a rock ‘n’ roll show And all that jive The white man had the smoltz The black man had the blues No one knew what they was gonna do But Tchaikovsky had the news He said
Let there be sound, and there was sound Let there be light, and there was light Let there be drums, and there was drums Let there be guitar, and there was guitar Let there be rock
And it came to pass That rock ‘n’ roll was born All across the land every rockin’ band Was blowing up a storm An the guitar man got famous The businessman got rich And in every bar there was a super star With a seven year itch There were fifteen million fingers Learning how to play And you could hear the fingers picking And this is what they had to say
Let there be light Sound Drums Guitar Let there be rock
One night in a club called the shaking hand There was a ninety two decibel rocking band The music was good and the music was loud And the singer turned and he said to the crowd
This book covers the last three years of Bon Scott, the lead singer of AC/DC.
Bon: The Last Highway is a fun read. It gives you more than just a look at Bon Scott. It gives you a peek in the world of Rock and Roll in the 1970s. It was a much more of a loose time then compared to now to say the least…both good and bad. The music business was a completely different ballgame than now.
Although this just covers the last three years of his life…you get to know Bon pretty well. I knew nothing about the guy until I read the book. He seemed to be well read, likeable, and a basically good guy to his friends and fans. O f course he did have substance abuse problems that haunted him.
There are a lot of stories about fans coming up to him and starting friendships. Fink interviewed other bands and most if not all had great things to say about Scott. He did find people who never have been interviewed and got stories that never have been published.
The working relationship between Bon and the Young brothers surprised me the most. Bon wrote the lyrics and they would censor what he wrote. Nothing political or controversial. They didn’t want the formula to be messed with. Offstage they didn’t tend to hang out as much with each other.
I never knew how popular Scott was in Australia even now. His grave site has become a cultural landmark; more than 28 years after Scott’s death, the National Trust of Australia declared his grave important enough to be included on the list of classified heritage places. It is reportedly the most visited grave in Australia.
The two things that author Jesse Fink concentrates on is how Bon died and if Bon did write some or most of the lyrics to the Back In Black album that was released after his death.
As far as the way the man died…Fink has some theories and they center around heroin. He interviewed some that has never been interviewed and got their story around Bon and the ones around him that night. The coroner’s report lists “acute alcohol poisoning” as the cause of death, classified under “death by misadventure.” Fink talked with people with him when he died on February 19, 1980.
The Young Brothers have denied they ever used any of his lyrics on Back in Black…but AC/DC did cut a deal with the Scott family for a share of royalties on the album. In interviews they have denied it but did contradict themselves in others.
Below is an excerpt from the book where more was said about the subject than any other time.
Then in 1998 Elissa Blake of Australian Rolling Stone caught him napping.
BLAKE: Have you ever thought about quitting?
ANGUS: The only time was when Bon died. We were in doubt about what to do but we had songs that he had written and wanted to finish the songs. We thought it would be our tribute to Bon and that album became Back In Black. We didn’t even know if people would even accept it. But it was probably one of our biggest albums and the success of that kept it going. We were on the road with that album for about two years so it was like therapy for the band after Bon’s death.
Bizarrely, before and since, Angus went with an altogether different story.
1981: “Some things we can’t do, you know, that was strictly Bon’s songs, and things.”
1996: “No, we were gonna start working on the lyrics with him the next week [after he died].”
1998: “The week he died, we had just worked out the music and he was going to come in and start writing lyrics.”
2000: “Bon was just about to come and start working with us writing lyrics just before he died.”
2005: “There was nothing [on Back In Black] from Bon’s notebook.”
It’s a line the band now doggedly sticks to despite mounting evidence that Bon’s lyrics were used. As Ian Jeffery admitted to me, cagily: “Not totally certain about Back In Black but I seem to remember a couple of words, lines [of Bon’s being on there]. Maybe not.”
Fink talked to Scott’s ex girlfriends and friends in his life and many claim that he did write many of the lyrics to You Shook Me All Night Long as well as other songs. Others say he had said some of the lines in letters. He basically gives you what he found and lets you make up your mind.
I would recommend this book to rock fans…and to AC/DC fans who mostly only know Brian Johnson as the lead singer.
This song is about as sleazy as you can get but I like it.
AC/DC lead guitarist Angus Young got the song title from the 1962 animated cartoon series Beany and Cecil. The Show first aired on ABC Television and only ran for one season until the 26 episodes shown were cast as repeats for the next five years until it was recreated in 1968.
The specific inspiration for the song name was the cartoon’s main villain, “Dishonest John,” who would carry around a business card that said, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Holidays, Sundays, and Special Rates.”
Norman and Marilyn White, a couple from Libertyville, Illinois, sued the band for invasion of privacy after they were inundated with calls due to this song. Apparently, many AC/DC fans in the area dialed 3-6-2-4-3-6-8 (thinking the “hey!” as “eight”), which was their phone number. The couple claimed they received hundreds of “lewd, suggestive and threatening” phone calls, asking for various dirty deeds at low, low prices. The Whites asked for $250,000 in damages and demanded that the band re-record the song, but a judge ruled against them. The people with the bad luck to have 867-5309 had the same problem but they only had inquiries about Jenny.
The song was written by Bon Scott, Angus, and Malcolm Young. The album was released in Australia and in Europe in 1976. The album was released in America in 1981 after Scott’s death and after the popular Back in Black. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Hits and #47 in the UK.
Lesley Gore, known for ’60s hits like “It’s My Party,” recorded this for the 2002 compilation album When Pigs Fly: Songs You Never Thought You’d Hear. Her version was produced by Mauro DeSantis, who worked with Cevin Soling on the track… I couldn’t find it on Youtube but click on that link. Lesley Gore channels her inner Bon Scott on this one…I didn’t like the music part as much but her singing was spot on.
From Songfacts
This song epitomizes AC/DC’s dangerous and mean sound, with Angus Young’s heavy guitar and Bon Scott’s leering, vocals that would have scared the living daylights out of any unsuspecting teenage Pop fans when this song first hit the airwaves (they did it on a national TV show in Australia called Countdown, which was usually frequented by acts like ABBA and Bucks Fizz).
This was recorded at Alberts Studios in Sydney, Australia in 1976 soon after the sessions that produced the Australian version of their TNT album.
Regarding the lyrics, “Just ring: 3-6-2-4-3-6,” this was an actual phone number in Australia at the time, and it also could describe the measurements of a very shapely woman: 36-24-36. A year later, the Commodores used the same measurements to describe a woman in their song “Brick House.” Sir Mix-a-Lot, however, scoffed at these measurements in his 1992 hit “Baby Got Back,” where he says: “36-24-36? Only if she’s 5’3.”
The ending is one of the most famous screams in rock history. For those wondering, it’s spelled: “Yaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggghhhhhh!”
This was used in the Norm MacDonald movie Dirty Work. It is played while Norm’s character Mitch and his friend Sam are wrecking a building in an attempt to get it condemned.
On a 2008 episode of The Simpsons where they team up on a stakeout, we learn that Homer Simpson and the pious Ned Flanders have some common ground in their musical tastes. Homer likes AC/DC, and Ned likes their Christian tribute band: AD/BC, and their version of this song, “Kindly Deeds Done For Free.”
The song about murder for hire enjoyed a sales spike following drummer Phil Rudd being charged with trying to procure a murder in November 2014. The charge was soon dropped.
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
If you’re havin’ trouble with the high school head He’s givin’ you the blues You want to graduate but not in ‘is bed Here’s what you gotta do Pick up the phone I’m always home Call me any time Just ring 36 24 36 hey I lead a life of crime
You got problems in your life of love You got a broken heart He’s double dealin’ with your best friend That’s when the teardrops start, fella Pick up the phone I’m here alone Or make a social call Come right in Forget about him We’ll have ourselves a ball
If you got a lady and you want her gone But you ain’t got the guts She keeps naggin’ at you night and day Enough to drive ya nuts Pick up the phone Leave her alone It’s time you made a stand For a fee I’m happy to be Your back door man
This one and Highway to Hell are two of my favorite AC/DC songs. The Rolling Stones could have written this song. Great riff and great singing by Bon Scott. The song was written by Bon Scott and Malcolm and Angus Young. I’m going to turn 12 year…this song just plain out rocks!
Years ago I would never pay the Bon Scott era much attention…now it’s rapidly becoming my favorite of the band. That is not a knock on Brian Johnson. Both have one of a kind voices but I like the writing in the Bon era a lot.
This was on their 1979 Highway To Hell album. It was their largest album to this point. It setup their next album Back in Black to be huge.
Highway To Hell was the first AC/DC album produced by Mutt Lange, who worked the band very hard and tried new techniques that made the band’s sound more appealing to the masses without softening their sound. He helped Bon Scott with sharpening his vocals along with Angus Young’s solos.
Lange was an up-and-coming producer at the time, but he would soon become a superstar, launching into the stratosphere with AC/DC’s next album, Back In Black.
Highway to Hell peaked at #17 in the Billboard 100, #40 in Canada, and #8 in the UK in 1979.
The band also would launch into superstar status with their next album but sadly Bon Scott wasn’t part of it. He would die alone in a car Febrary 19, 1980. The official cause was listed on the death certificate as “acute alcohol poisoning” and classified as “death by misadventure.”
His grave site has become a cultural landmark; more than 28 years after Scott’s death, the National Trust of Australia declared his grave important enough to be included on the list of classified heritage places.[33][37] It is reportedly the most visited grave in Australia.
From Songfacts
This lascivious rocker is one of the last tunes written by lead singer Bon Scott, who died six months after the album was released. It’s a classic Bon Scott lyric, as he finds myriad ways of explaining how his woman satisfies him, all while keeping the title squeaky clean and radio-friendly. It was released as a single in the UK and other parts of Europe, but didn’t chart. In America, the song did very well on stations with the Album Oriented Rock (AOR) format.
Note that there is no apostrophe in the title, which implies multiple girls having rhythm. The lyric suggests that an apostrophe is necessary, as Scott is singing about one specific girl, but it’s not likely that anyone challenged his grammar.
Girls Got Rhythm
I’ve been around the world I’ve seen a million girls Ain’t one of them got What my lady she’s got
She’s stealin’ the spotlight Knocks me off my feet She’s enough to start a landslide Just a walkin’ down the street
Wearing dresses so tight And looking dynamite Enough to blow me out No doubt about it can’t live without it
The girl’s got rhythm (girl’s got rhythm) The girl’s got rhythm (girl’s got rhythm) She’s got the backseat rhythm (backseat rhythm) The girl’s got rhythm
She’s like a lethal brand Too much for any man She gives me first degree She really satisfies me
Love me till I’m legless Aching and sore Enough to stop a freight train Or start the Third World War
You know I’m losin’ sleep I’m in too deep Like a body needs blood No doubt about it, can’t live without it
The girl’s got rhythm (girl’s got rhythm) The girl’s got rhythm (girl’s got rhythm) She’s got the backseat rhythm (backseat rhythm) The girl’s got rhythm
You know she moves like sin And when she lets me in It’s like liquid love No doubt about it, can’t live without it
The girl’s got rhythm (girl’s got rhythm) The girl’s got rhythm (girl’s got rhythm) She’s got the backseat rhythm (backseat rhythm) The girl’s got rhythm (girl’s got rhythm)
You know she really got the rhythm (girl’s got rhythm) She’s got the backseat rhythm (backseat rhythm) Rock ‘n’ roll rhythm (rock n roll rhythm) The girl’s got rhythm
For my posts I have no system…no master plan…I just post randomly every day. I do have the occasional series but for the most part I keep it spontaneous. That sometimes leads to late nights frantically searching for songs but it keeps it exciting…and me sleepy during the day.
I ran across this video from a seventies Australia TV show called “Bandstand” with Bon Scott fronting ACDC with bagpipes…I’m on board!!! I just had to post it. Bon was a good musician who could play drums, recorder, and a bit of bagpipes.
Angus and Malcolm’s older brother George suggested using bagpipes in this song. Bon Scott agreed despite having never played them before…Bon did play them on the recording and live until they were destroyed by fans.
This was an autobiographical song for AC/DC describing their struggles as they toured relentlessly trying to make it. At the time, they were just getting started and playing some seedy venues with even worse business associates. The band was sometimes labeled as a punk band…a label they hated. I have never thought of ACDC as a punk band…if you look on the single cover you will see “Original Punk Music.”
The song peaked at #9 in Australia in 1975. The song was written by Bon Scott with Angus and Malcolm Young.
Brian Johnson said he will not sing this out of respect for Bon Scott. Bon Scott’s band was opening for future lead singer Johnson’s band Geordie in the early 1970s. Bon Scott was impressed by Johnson’s performance and told his band about him.
Brian Johnson: “Bon Scott was up on stage singing, and we met and had a couple of beers. He watched us play, and God bless his cotton socks again, when he did join AC/DC he was talking to the boys and he did say something to the effect that the only rock singer that he’d seen that was worth a damn was me, which was really nice of him, and the boys never forgot that.”
Brian Johnson:“I think he embodied everything that was fun, everything that was like ‘never say die, live life to the full.’ And he had a terrible thing happen to him when he passed on. He wasn’t a wild, wild, wild man he was just as wild as the other boys were. He was just unlucky. We’ve all done stupid, dumb things where we’re young, but we got away with it. He didn’t. It was just one of them stupid things that shouldn’t have happened, and it was accidental and it was stupid. And I just won’t have a bad word said against him. We still talk about him like he’s a member of the band in the dressing room.”
From Songfacts
“It’s A Long Way To The Top” really summed us up as a band,” Angus Young told Rolling Stone. It was the audience that really allowed us to even get near a studio.
A study in contrast is the Boston song “Rock And Roll Band,” released in 1976. That song tells the story of a similar struggle, but it was completely made up: Boston was a studio act first and foremost and had immediate success with their first album.
According to Bon Scott’s biographer Clinton Walker, this tongue-in-cheek song “has become an anthem.” Heavy metal tracks are usually dominated by ego-tripping guitar solos; this song is unusual because instead of a lengthy guitar solo it features interplay between Angus Young on lead and Bon Scott on the bagpipes. Ronald Belford (Bonnie Scotland) Scott was born in Scotland – as were the Young brothers. The somewhat older Scott arrived in Australia with his family some 11 years before the Youngs emigrated; he learned recorder and drums, and was a proficient bagpipe player.
The song runs to 5 minutes 15 seconds, which is quite long for a single.
The band made a video to promote the single and the album. This was filmed on February 23, 1976 when they rode through the center of Melbourne on an open topped truck accompanied by three members of the Rats of Tobruk Pipe Band. The most noticeable feature of the video is that the vocalist was really enjoying himself, but, Walker adds, “it’s as if Bon acknowledges he’s living on borrowed time, and luckily at that.” It would not be such a long way to the top for AC/DC, but four years later almost to the day, it would all be over for Bon. On February 19, 1980 he was found dead on the back seat of a car in London, having literally drunk himself to death.
In 2004, one of the streets in Melbourne near where this video was filmed was renamed “ACDC Lane” in honor of the band. The street was formerly known as Corporation Lane.
Jack Black and the School of Rock band play a version of this at the end of the movie School of Rock. The interplay is between the singer and all the members of the band.
It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll)
Ridin’ down the highway Goin’ to a show Stop in all the byways Playin’ rock ‘n’ roll Gettin’ robbed Gettin’ stoned Gettin’ beat up Broken boned Gettin’ had Gettin’ took I tell you folks
It’s harder than it looks It’s a long way to the top If you wanna rock ‘n’ roll It’s a long way to the top If you wanna rock ‘n’ roll If you think it’s easy doin’ one-night stands Try playin’ in a rock roll band It’s a long way to the top If you wanna rock ‘n’ roll
Hotel Motel Make you wanna cry Ladies do the hard sell Know the reason why Gettin’ old Gettin’ gray Gettin’ ripped off Underpaid Gettin’ sold Second-hand That’s how it goes Playin’ in a band
It’s a long way to the top If you wanna rock ‘n’ roll It’s a long way to the top If you wanna rock ‘n’ roll If you wanna be a star of stage and screen Look out it’s rough and mean It’s a long way to the top If you wanna rock ‘n’ roll It’s a long way to the top If you wanna rock ‘n’ roll It’s a long way to the top If you wanna rock ‘n’ roll It’s a long way to the top If you wanna rock ‘n’ roll
It’s a long way It’s a long way It’s a long way It’s a long way
This is song by the one and only AC/DC called Hells Bells.
AC/DC recorded this a few months after lead singer Bon Scott died of acute alcohol poisoning after a night of heavy drinking. The album is a tribute to him, with new singer, Brian Johnson, on vocals.
This is the first track on Back In Black, AC/DC’s biggest album. In tribute to Bon Scott, it starts off with the bell tolling four times before the guitar riff comes in. The bell rings another nine times, gradually fading out. When played live, Brian Johnson would strike the bell.
Back In Black peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada and The UK in 1980.
Brian Johnson on writing the song:“I don’t believe in God or Heaven or Hell. But something happened. We had these little rooms like cells with a bed and a toilet, no TVs. I had this big sheet of paper and I had to write some words. I was going, ‘oh f–k.’ and I’ll never forget, I just went (scribbles frantically as if his hand is possessed). I started writing and never stopped. And that was it, hells Bells. I had a bottle of whisky and I went (generous gulps). I kept the light on all night, man.”
From Songfacts
You don’t honor Bon Scott’s memory with a bell from a sound effects reel, so the band needed a real bell, and a big one. The first attempt to record the bell took place in Leicestershire, England at the Carillon and War Memorial Museum. This proved insufficient, so the band commissioned a one-ton bronze bell from a local foundry that they would also use on stage.
The bell wasn’t ready in time for recording, however, so the manufacturer (John Taylor Bellfounders) arranged for them to record a similar bell at a nearby church. According to engineer Tony Platt, that didn’t go well, as there were birds living in the bell, so when they rang it they also got the fluttering of wings (the birds would retreat back inside the bell after the toll).
They decided to use the bell that was in production, so they borrowed a mobile recording unit owned by Ronnie Laine and wheeled it into the foundry. The bell was hung on a block and tackle and struck by the man who built it.
Because of the harmonics, bells are not easy to record, so Platt placed about 15 microphones with various dynamics in different locations around the foundry to record the sounds. Once it was on tape, Platt brought the recordings to Electric Lady Studios in New York, where he and producer Mutt Lange chose the right combination of bell sounds, put a mix together, and slowed it down to half speed so the one-ton bell would sound like a more ominous two-ton bell. This was integrated into the mix, and the song was completed. Listeners with very sharp ears will notice that the bell when chimed live is an octave higher than than it is on the recording.
This was one of the first songs regularly played as entrance music for a Major League Baseball relief pitcher. In the ’90s, the bells signaled the entrance of San Diego Padres relief pitcher Trevor Hoffman. This bit of home team intimidation was copied throughout the league, most famously by the New York Yankees, who appropriated Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” as Mariano Rivera’s entrance music.
The concept of relief pitcher entrance music was introduced in the 1989 movie Major League, where Charlie Sheen’s character comes in to “Wild Thing” by The Troggs. A few years later, The Philadelphia Phillies played that song when their pitcher Mitch Williams would come in from the bullpen.
There is an all-female AC/DC tribute band in Seattle called Hell’s Belles.
The term “Hell’s Bells” is an exclamation of surprise, although in the context of this song, it is used to conjure up images of the underworld and the feeling of raising hell – something Bon Scott was known for.
The album was produced by John “Mutt” Lange, who also helmed the previous AC/DC album, Highway to Hell. Lange went on quite a run after Back In Black, producing the Foreigner album 4 (1981) and the Def Leppard albums High ‘N’ Dry (1981) and Pyromania (1983).
At University of North Carolina football games, this song is played at the start of the fourth quarter.
Johnson told Q magazine how this song played a part in rescuing imprisoned Black Hawk Down pilot Michael Durant following the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia in 1993. He recalled: “That was the best one. He was shoved in prison, his back was broken. They were kicking him, shooting bullets into him and he was terrified. His pals knew that AC/DC was his favorite band so they hooked up a speaker to the skid of one of the Black Hawks and they were playing ‘Hells Bells’ over the rooftops. He took his shirt off and- cos his legs were broken- he crawled up to the windows and waved his shirt. That’s how they got him out. Ain’t that amazing!”
Since this song specifically is a tribute to the late Bon Scott, it’s probably a good idea to mention that a statue of him was unveiled in 2008 in Fremantle, Western Australia. Here’s a little video tour of the statue.
At the same time, as soon as the first lyric is heard, it is unmistakable that the band could not have found a better replacement than Brian Johnson. Johnson puts a manic rage into every syllable and an unearthly howl on the chorus, making a song with scarily sacrilegious lyrics even scarier. By the way, that hat he wears onstage was his brother’s idea, to help Brian Johnson keep the sweat out of his eyes. His brother loaned it to him and never got it back.
Four years after this song, Metallica released “For Whom The Bell Tolls,” which also opens with a bell. Theirs came from a sound effects library.
Hells Bells
I’m a rolling thunder, a pouring rain I’m comin’ on like a hurricane My lightning’s flashing across the sky You’re only young but you’re gonna die
I won’t take no prisoners, won’t spare no lives Nobody’s putting up a fight I got my bell, I’m gonna take you to hell I’m gonna get you, Satan get you
Hell’s bells Yeah, hell’s bells You got me ringing hell’s bells My temperature’s high, hell’s bells
I’ll give you black sensations up and down your spine If you’re into evil you’re a friend of mine See my white light flashing as I split the night Cause if good’s on the left, Then I’m stickin’ to the right
I won’t take no prisoners, won’t spare no lives Nobody’s puttin’ up a fight I got my bell, I’m gonna take you to hell I’m gonna get you, Satan get you
Hell’s bells Yeah, hell’s bells You got me ringing hell’s bells My temperature’s high, hell’s bells
Yeow
Hell’s bells, Satan’s comin’ to you Hell’s bells, he’s ringing them now Hell’s bells, the temperature’s high Hell’s bells, across the sky Hell’s bells, they’re takin’ you down Hell’s bells, they’re draggin’ you around Hell’s bells, gonna split the night Hell’s bells, there’s no way to fight, yeah
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