"High Voltage" is a song by Australian

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

. It was first released in Australia as a single in July 1975, though it is the eighth track of their second Australian album '' T.N.T''., the release itself was issued as a stand alone single. The song was written by Angus Young,

Malcolm Young Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian musician who was the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter of AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was with the band from its beginn ...

and Bon Scott, and peaked at #48 on the UK Singles Chart in 1980. In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "High Voltage" was ranked number 95.

Background

"High Voltage" shares its name with the band's first Australian and international albums. It is the ninth and final track on the international version, released in May 1976. "High Voltage" was also released as a single in the UK and various countries in Europe in 1976. Although Phil Rudd is erroneously credited with recording the song, the drums were actually recorded by a session drummer

Tony Currenti Tony Currenti (born 26 June 1951) is an Australian drummer of Italian descent, best known as a session drummer for Australian hard rock band AC/DC (1975 debut album ''High Voltage'', the "High Voltage" single, and 1984 album '' '74 Jailbreak'') ...

, not long after recording sessions for the debut album '' High Voltage''. "High Voltage" is one of AC/DC's most popular songs, and has been included on four of the band's five official live releases: '' If You Want Blood You've Got It'' (sung by Bon Scott, 1978), '' Live: 2 CD Collector's Edition'' (sung by Scott's replacement

Brian Johnson Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Rol ...

, 1992), ''

Live from the Atlantic Studios ''Live from the Atlantic Studios'' is a live album by AC/DC released on the ''Bonfire'' box set. The album was recorded live at the Atlantic Recording Studios in New York, on 7 December 1977 and all tracks were remixed by George Young. This w ...

'' (Scott, 1977), and '' Let There Be Rock: The Movie – Live in Paris'' (Scott, 1979) – the latter two being released in 1997 as part of the ''

Bonfire A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used either for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration. Etymology The earliest recorded uses of the word date back to the late 15th century, with the Catho ...

'' box set. In concerts, this song has evolved into

sing-a-long Sing-along, also called community singing or group singing, is an event of singing together at gatherings or parties, less formally than choir singing. One can use a songbook. Common genres are folk songs, patriotic songs, kids' songs, spirituals ...

with the crowd. The bridge where Scott sings 'I said high, I said high', has been extended with Scott (and later Brian Johnson) repeating the word 'high' in increasing loudness and high pitch, to which the crowd responds with "high" louder also. That is followed by a backing rhythm for several minutes while Angus Young improvises on the on the guitar. During the 2010 Black Ice World Tour, images of Scott were projected onto the stage screens during the performance of the song's chorus to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his death.

Personnel

* Bon Scott – lead vocals * Angus Young – lead guitar *

– rhythm guitar, backing vocals *

George Young George Young may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Young (filmmaker), Australian stage manager and film director in the silent era * George Young (rock musician) (1946–2017), Australian musician, songwriter, and record producer * Geor ...

– bass guitar *

– drums (uncredited)

Production

*Producers – Harry Vanda,

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:High Voltage (Song) AC/DC songs 1975 singles Songs about rock music Songs written by Angus Young Songs written by Bon Scott Songs written by Malcolm Young Song recordings produced by Harry Vanda Song recordings produced by George Young (rock musician) 1975 songs Albert Productions singles