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Australian anthems: AC/DC – It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock'n'Roll) Australian anthems: AC/DC – It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock'n'Roll)
(5 months later)
Living in Los Angeles for two years, I was often Living in Los Angeles for two years, I was often surprised by the Australian songs that ended up playing on the radio (loads of early INXS and Midnight Oil), and struck by the songs I felt the strongest desire to hear. More often than not, the latter category included AC/DC’s It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock’n’Roll).
surprised by the Australian songs that ended up playing on the radio Often I dreamed about cruising down Hollywood Boulevard on a flatbed truck, speakers blasting Bon Scott’s strangled bagpipes – though the best I could do was listening to it on my iPod while riding the No 180 bus.
(loads of early INXS and Midnight Oil), and struck by the songs I felt the Perhaps that’s because there’s something about the song that seems so inextricably linked to my hometown, Melbourne. That is, of course, ironic, since the song was recorded in Sydney, and the lyric is concerned with the endless drudgery of being in a touring band. But it’s difficult to hear It’s a Long Way to the Top without thinking of the song's video: that truck drifting down Swanston Street carrying a bunch of robbers’ dogs who’d soon become Australia’s most successful rock exports.
strongest desire to hear. More often than not, the latter category included As the opening track of 1976’s TNT, It’s a Long Way to the Top set the tone for the sound and mood the band would carry through the rest of the decade. Far from the scattershot nature of their 1975 debut High Voltage, TNT showcased a decidedly more focused band. This was R&B-infused hard rock, boiled down to the absolute basics. Indeed, despite what the band’s bloated post-Scott stadium theatrics might have you misremember, the enduring legacy of pre-Back in Black AC/DC was the band’s remarkable efficiency.
AC/DC’s It’s a Long Way to the Top (If Far from being jammed full of face-melting guitar solos and overdubs, It’s a Long Way to the Top is remarkable for its airiness; the space left around Phil Rudd’s determined drumming, Malcolm Young’s relentless rhythm guitar and Angus Young’s occasional moments of sublime filigree. Only Mark Evans’ bass guitar is given free reign to go to town, though he’s pushed so far back in the mix you could be forgiven for missing those triumphant runs as the song fades out.
You Wanna Rock’n’Roll).
Often I dreamed about cruising down
Hollywood Boulevard on a flatbed truck, speakers blasting Bon Scott’s strangled
bagpipes – though the best I could do was listening to it on my iPod while riding the No 180 bus.
Perhaps that’s because there’s something about
the song that seems so inextricably linked to my hometown, Melbourne. That is,
of course, ironic, since the song was recorded in Sydney, and the lyric is concerned with the endless drudgery of being in a touring band. But it’s
difficult to hear It’s a Long Way to the
Top without thinking of the song's video: that truck drifting down Swanston Street carrying a
bunch of robbers’ dogs who’d soon become Australia’s most successful rock
exports.
As the opening track of 1976’s TNT, It’s a Long
Way to the Top set the tone for the
sound and mood the band would carry through the rest of the decade. Far from the scattershot nature of their 1975 debut High Voltage, TNT showcased a decidedly more focused band. This
was R&B-infused hard rock, boiled down to the absolute basics. Indeed, despite what the band’s bloated
post-Scott stadium theatrics might have you misremember, the enduring legacy of
pre-Back in Black AC/DC was the
band’s remarkable efficiency.
Far from being jammed full of face-melting
guitar solos and overdubs, It’s a Long
Way to the Top is remarkable for its airiness; the space left around Phil
Rudd’s determined drumming, Malcolm Young’s relentless rhythm guitar and Angus
Young’s occasional moments of sublime filigree. Only Mark Evans’ bass guitar is
given free reign to go to town, though he’s pushed so far back in the mix you
could be forgiven for missing those triumphant runs as the song fades out.
And then there are the bagpipes.And then there are the bagpipes.
Big brother (literally – Angus and Malcolm are his siblings) Big brother (literally – Angus and Malcolm are his siblings) and producer George Young’s decision to finish off It’s a Long Way to the Top by throwing on some bagpipes ranks as one of rock'n'roll’s most perfect non-sequiturs. Scott was, after all, never a piper – though he’d been a pipe band drummer, and, memorably, played the recorder with prog rock outfit Fraternity – but he approached the task with the demented aplomb that made him one of the best performers hard rock has ever seen, and that piped refrain became a classic.
and producer George Young’s decision It’s a Long Way to the Top may not be not AC/DC’s best song – that honour would likely go, in a three-way tie, to Ride On, If You Want Blood and Kicked in the Teeth – but as a moment of blistering prescience issued just before AC/DC became a relentless touring juggernaut over the next three decades, it’s unmatched.
to finish off It’s a Long Way to the Plus, it brought us the schoolyard variant “It’s a long way to the shops if you want a sausage roll”, and when late last year I returned from the Land of the Free, I went straight to the milkbar to pick up a pastry-wrapped tube of mystery meat – bagpipes blaring.
Top by throwing on some bagpipes ranks as one of rock'n'roll’s most perfect non-sequiturs. Scott was,
after all, never a piper – though he’d been a pipe band drummer, and,
memorably, played the recorder with prog rock outfit Fraternity – but he
approached the task with the demented aplomb that made him one of the best
performers hard rock has ever seen, and that piped refrain became a classic.
It’s a
Long Way to the Top may not be not AC/DC’s best song – that
honour would likely go, in a three-way tie, to Ride On, If You Want Blood
and Kicked in the Teeth – but as a
moment of blistering prescience issued just before AC/DC became a relentless
touring juggernaut over the next three decades, it’s unmatched.
Plus, it brought us the schoolyard variant
“It’s a long way to the shops if you want a sausage roll”, and when late last
year I returned from the Land of the Free, I went straight to the milkbar to
pick up a pastry-wrapped tube of mystery meat – bagpipes blaring.