“Highway to Hell” by AC/DC

"Highway to Hell" kicks open AC/DC's 1979 album of the same name, and the single and the album both hit the shops on 27 July 1979. The title wasn't just a pose: Angus Young had taken to calling the band's endless, punishing grind of touring a highway to hell, and the phrase stuck.

Angus, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott wrote it together, with Angus credited for the riff, and what a riff it is, a few chunky chords that swagger rather than sprint, landing like boots on a tavern floor. Malcolm locks in beside his brother, Cliff Williams and Phil Rudd keep the backbeat bone simple, and Scott sneers his way through the whole thing like a man who has read the map and likes where it goes.

Robert John "Mutt" Lange produced it, with Mark Dearnley recording and Tony Platt mixing, and the sound is lean and punchy: the band's bar-room clatter comes out built for arenas without losing a drop of its sweat. Atlantic put it out, and rock radio has been blaring it ever since.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.