Song of the Day 11/25: AC/DC, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”

The theme song for the Republican ratfucking brigade.

This tune goes back to the Bon Scott days, a reminder that Brian Johnson could take his place but couldn’t really replace him. It was recorded and released in 1976 in Australia and the U.K., but not until 1981 in the States, a year after Scott’s death. Only the oldest Boomers would recognize the source of the title: the cartoon show “Beany and Cecil,” in which the villain, Dishonest John, carried business cards with the phrase. “It was Angus that came up with the song title,” Malcolm Young said. “It was based on a cartoon character that had the phrase as his calling card. Then Bon stuck in the line ‘I’m dirty, mean, mighty unclean’ from an advert for mosquito spray that was running on Aussie TV at the time. Yes, we were always a very topical band.”

Joan Jett, who made a career of turning cover songs into hits, took the song to No. 36 in 1990, 11 spots higher than AC/DC’s original.

In case you’ve ever wondered what “Dirty Deeds” would sound like done in a jazz-vocal style, British comedy-vocal trio the Lounge Kittens, who recently broke up, answered that question a few years back.