AC/DC - Let There Be Rock

Between 1976 and 1981, one band pretty much single-handedly changed the world of rock and roll as we knew it – though at the time you might not have known it given that their eighth studio release, 1981’s For Those About To Rock We Salute You was their first to reach number one in the USA.

It goes to show, doesn’t it? Now one of the biggest sellers in any corner of the music world, let alone rock, AC/DC are about as much of a staple of the scene as it’s possible to be. You can’t sneeze in a record shop without some of it landing on the ridiculously popular back catalogue that AC/DC have put out in the nearly 50 years they’ve been doing it and they managed it while being named after a sewing machine and also having one of their members dressed as a schoolchild. The rest of us have no excuse not to succeed in whatever we work at with those odds in consideration.

The band have always had a bit of a multi-cultural feel to them – formed in Sydney, Australia in 1973 by two Scottish brothers, they’ve had plenty of members from plenty of countries. After the tragic death of their second lead singer Bon Scott the band settled into the groove most of us know them for, when Englishman (though he is a Geordie, so your mileage may vary on whether what he says is English or not) Brian Johnson took over shouting about pretty women and guitars.

We’re going back to a time a few years before that, though – the golden brown days of 1977, when the band released our pick for the Rock Song of the Week, Let There Be Rock. A romantic look at the history and evolution of rock and roll music, the song is one of their underrated gems in my mind, despite being covered by bands like the Foo Fighters in recent years in their live shows. It’s punchy, it’s fun, it’s mildly informative, too – all a perfect mix of ingredients to mix together and make a fantastic track. I urge you, faithful listener, to take the song at its word and let there be rock. You won’t regret it if you do.