AC/DC has always managed to stand out as one of the most uncompromising bands in the world of hard rock. They never attempted to soften their sound for mass consumption. Considering that, it’s a small miracle that they ever hit the pop charts at all.
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As it turned out, their biggest US Top 40 hit would also be their last one. And it came via a song that snuck in a little social commentary with its rock heft.
Bon to Brian
AC/DC wore its rebelliousness with pride when they came storming out of Australia in the mid-70s. The thunderous guitars of Angus and Malcolm Young always seemed to be revved up for maximum impact. And lead singer Bon Scott always seemed to have another mischievous, lascivious double entendre at the ready.
Considering that formula, no one would have ever expected them to do much on the US charts in the middle of the soft-rocking late 70s. Yet they also packed more hooks into their songs than most pop bands. As a result, they started to make progress in the crossover arena, reaching No. 47 with “Highway To Hell” in 1979.
Unfortunately, that album would be their last with Bon Scott, who died that same year. The band didn’t hesitate in carrying on with their hard rock mission, enlisting Brian Johnson as Scott’s replacement. Johnson’s style was different from Scott’s but suited enough to the AC/DC attack that he’d assist them on their biggest success yet.
After ‘Black’
Back In Black, Johnson’s first album with the band, arrived as a ready-made classic. The production of Mutt Lange streamlined the sound in such a way that made it palatable to a much wider audience. Lo and behold, AC/DC scored a pair of US Top 40 singles in 1980 with “You Shook Me All Night Long” and the title track.
It would take them another decade to get back to those commercial heights. The band’s popularity among hard rock aficionados never wavered much during that stretch. They just had a harder time renewing the progress that Back In Black had fostered on the pop charts.
Brian Johnson had always contributed lyrics to AC/DC songs upon joining the band. On AC/DC’s 1990 album The Razor’s Edge, Johnson, preoccupied with divorce proceedings, didn’t come up with any lyrics. Malcolm and Angus Young would write all the words and music for the album, which included their biggest pop hit.
On the “Money”
Most people now consider “Thunderstruck”, with its indelible guitar riff, one of the band’s finest efforts. Surprisingly, it didn’t make any dent on the pop charts. But it did clear the way for the album’s second single, “Moneytalks”.
“Moneytalks” might seem like an upbeat song when you just consider the music. But the lyrics in the verses take aim at corporate greed. “Up for grabs, up for a price,” Johnson sneers at one point. The chorus doesn’t sound quite so celebratory when you consider the barbed commentary of the verses.
Whatever the reason, the formula worked like a charm. The song made it all the way to No. 23 on the US pop charts. They’d never again come too close to the US Top 40, with “Big Gun”, at No. 65 in 1993, their nearest approach. At least, with “Moneytalks”, AC/DC delivered a sharp message to pop audiences who might not have been that familiar with their work.
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