A new book is to come out this week, High Voltage: The Life of Angus Young, by Jeff Apter. As the name says, it is a bio of Angus Young of Acca Dacca and, from the excerpts I have read and the interviews I have seen, it makes a facsinating and riveting read. It is subtitled AC/DC’s Last Man Standing.
To go with that book release, here is some AC/DC trivia. . .
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- One of the group's best-loved works, Back In Black, has achieved RIAA 'Double Diamond' status, for sales in excess of 22 million copies in the United States, and is America's fifth largest-selling album ever.
- Brothers Angus and Malcolm Young of Australia formed the group in 1973. Their older sister Margaret saw the initials AC/DC (which stands for "alternating current/direct current") on a sewing machine. The brothers thought this name summed up their energy. The band is popularly known as 'Acca Dacca' in Australia.
- A 1976 review of AC/DC's first album in Rolling Stone declared, "Hard Rock has unquestionably hit its all-time low." They finally appeared on the cover in 2008.
- In 1989, the US military blared AC/DC music at General Manuel Noriega's compound in Panama for two continuous days. The dictator surrendered.
- Lead singer and co-songwriter Bon Scott died on 19 February 1980, after a night of heavy alcohol consumption.
- The band have always worn outlandish outfits. Angus Young used to wear school-uniforms on stage as well as Spider-Man, Zorro and gorilla costumes. He has also worn the outfit of Super-Ang, a parody of Superman.
- In 2004, AC/DC ranked No. 72 on the Rolling Stone list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
- AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2003.
- Malcolm and Angus Young attended Ashfield Boys High School, the uniform Angus wears when performing.
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Gallery:
Bon Scott, Phil Rudd, Angus Young and Malcolm Young
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Some Songs:
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It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll):
- First track of the group's album T.N.T., released in December 1975.
- Written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott.
- The song is notable for combining bagpipes with hard rock instrumentation; in the middle section of the song there is a call and response between the bagpipes and guitar.
- George Young (the older brother of Angus and Malcolm), having heard that Bon Scott was in a pipe band, encouraged the use of bagpipes in the song. Scott obliged, although he had actually been a drummer in the band.
- Scott used a set of bagpipes to play the song live until 1976, following an incident where he set them down at the corner of a stage and they were destroyed by fans. Subsequent live performances used a recording of the song's bagpipe part or an extended guitar solo by Angus.
- The music video for "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", was filmed on 23 February 1976 for the Australian music television program Countdown. It featured the band's members on the back of a flatbed truck travelling on Swanston Street in Melbourne, Australia, being followed by members of the Rats of Tobruk Pipe band.
- The song is featured in the film School of Rock (2003).
- 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.
- Some people in Oz sing the chorus as "It's a long way to the top if you want a sausage roll" or even "Chicko Roll," a kind of snack down under.
- AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson doesn't perform this song out of respect for Bon Scott, since the song was considered to be Scott's signature song.
Lyrics
Ridin' down the highway
Goin' to a show
Stop in all the by-ways
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
Lady do the hard sell
Know the reason why
Gettin' old
Gettin' grey
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
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Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap:
- The band's third LP released in Australia and in Europe in 1976 but was not released in the US until 1981, more than one year after Bon Scott's death.
- It is considered by many fans as the strongest and most definitive album of the Bon Scott era.
- All songs were written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott.
- The title track would become one of the band's most famous songs, with the narrator inviting people experiencing problems to either call him on 36-24-36, an actual phone number in Australia in the 1960s, or visit him at his home, at which point he will perform assorted unsavoury acts to resolve said problems. Situations in which he offers assistance include those involving lewd high school headmasters and significant others who are either adulterous or who persistently find fault with their partners.
- The term "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" is an homage to the cartoon Beany and Cecil, which Angus watched when he was a child. One of the cartoon's characters was named Dishonest John, and carried a business card that read, "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap. Special rates for Sundays and holidays."
- 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 come 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.
Lyrics
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
Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap
Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap
Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap
Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap
Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap
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
Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap
Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap
Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap
Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap
Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap
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
Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap
Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap
Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap
Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap yeah
Dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap
Concrete shoes, cyanide, TNT
Done dirt cheap
Neckties, contracts, high voltage
Done dirt cheap
Dirty deeds
Do anything you wanna do
Done dirty cheap
Dirty deeds
Dirty deeds
Dirty deeds
Done dirt cheap
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High Voltage Rock ‘n’ Roll:
- First released in Australia as a single in July 1975.
- Written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scot.
- "High Voltage" shares its name with the band's first Australian and international albums.
- In concerts, this song has evolved into sing-a-long with the crowd. In the bridge where Scott sings 'I said high, I said high', this has been extended where both Scott and Brian Johnson repeat the word 'high' in ever increasing loudness and high pitch, to which the crowd responds with "high" louder also. That is followed by a discreet backing rhythm for several minutes whilst Angus Young does some improvisation on the guitar.
- During the 2010 Black Ice World Tour, images of Scott were projected onto the stage screens during the performance of the song's chorus to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his death.
Lyrics
Well you ask me 'bout the clothes I wear
And you ask me why I grow my hair
And you ask me why I'm in a band
I dig doin' one night stands
And you want to see me do my thing
All you gotta do is plug me into high
I said high
High voltage rock 'n' roll
High voltage rock 'n' roll
High voltage, high voltage
High voltage rock 'n' roll
Well you ask me why I like to dance
And you ask me why I like to sing
And you ask me why I like to play
I got to get my kicks some way
And you ask me what I'm all about
Come and let me hear you shout high
I said high
High voltage rock 'n' roll
High voltage rock 'n' roll
High voltage, high voltage
High voltage rock 'n' roll
Rock 'n' roll
I said high, I said high
Waaaah
High voltage rock 'n' roll
High voltage rock 'n' roll
High voltage, high voltage
High voltage rock 'n' roll
Spotlight, put the lights out, happy hour
High voltage rock 'n' roll
High voltage rock 'n' roll
Wine, women and song
High voltage, high voltage
High voltage rock 'n' roll
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