"Rock 'n' Roll Train" is a song by Australian rock band AC/DC. It is the first track on the album ''

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'' to receive radio airplay. The band released a 7-inch vinyl single that featured the song "Rock 'n' Roll Train" on Side A, and "War Machine" on Side B. The 7-inch single came in a sleeve with its own unique artwork. The 7-inch vinyl was also made available in the United States through some independent record shops. As with the success of the ''

'' album, the single was released to huge success. It was used in many television advertisements, more often being used as

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sports bumpers. It hit No. 1 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, staying there for over three weeks. The song was also the first by AC/DC to chart on ''Billboard'' Alternative Songs chart. With the exception of new material from an album they are touring behind, this is one of the only two songs released after "

For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" is a song by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. The song was first released on AC/DC's eighth studio album ''For Those About to Rock We Salute You'' in 1981, and later as a single in 1982. The single' ...

" that the band still performs live in concert, the other being " Thunderstruck".

Background

Originally composed with the title "Runaway Train", the song was first heard by fans on 15 August 2008, at the shooting of its music video in London. The song is notable for the novel way it was leaked online when one Scottish fan at the video shoot memorized the riff and sung it on

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, with other YouTubers adding vocals and further guitar parts.

Angus Young Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and only remaining original member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, schoolbo ...

initially conceived the song, and his brother Malcolm Young created the

backing vocal A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

harmony of the chorus ("Running right off the track"). The song is also centered around guitar riffs and elemental drum beats. On 27 August 2008, close to midnight, the single was uploaded to AC/DC's official website and AC/DC's MySpace. It made its worldwide radio debut on at 17:00 New Zealand time on The Rock radio station. Many Australian stations played the song straight after their news services. The song later made its way onto

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prima ...

radio stations Planet Rock,

Absolute Radio Classic Rock Absolute Classic Rock is a semi-national digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. Its music output is non-stop classic rock hits. Formerly known as Virgin Radio Classic Rock, it originally was an ...

Radio Caroline Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly ...

radio2XS radio2XS was re-branded in 2018 a2XS Rocks It is programmed and edited in Sheffield, England and uses the on-air slogan "A.Different.Music.Mix.". Playing "New Music, Live Sessions and 60 Years of Rock’n'roll", the station was formed in 2002 i ...

and

Rock Radio Rock Radio was a brand of radio stations in the United Kingdom owned by GMG Radio. 96.3 Rock Radio was the first station in the network. It operated in West Central Scotland. The station was launched on the frequency which was formerly used b ...

in the UK. The song made its North American debut on on

CKQB-FM CKQB-FM (106.9 FM, ''Jump! 106.9'') is a radio station licensed to Ottawa, Ontario. Owned by Corus Entertainment, it broadcasts a Top 40/CHR format. CKQB's studios are located at 1504 Merivale Road in Nepean along with sister station CJOT-FM, ...

in Ottawa,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. "Rock 'n' Roll Train" debuted at number one on the Canadian rock chart for the week ending 5 September. On 30 August 2008, the first Saturday of the U.S. college football season, the song was played extensively on

and ABC college football broadcasts as intro and bumper music, along with other AC/DC songs " Thunderstruck" and "

". It was also played on a promo for

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's ''

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''. It peaked at number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. In November 2008 the song became AC/DC's first song to enter the U.S. dance chart. Throughout the month of November, the

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and va ...

website featured the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "Rock 'N' Roll Train", as well as the song "Spoilin' for a Fight", which was the theme to the Survivor Series 2008. The song was used to open shows on the ''Black Ice'' tour. A cartoon was played on the giant video screen above the stage; at the end of this cartoon a life-sized train came crashing out onto the stage. It is at this point that the band came out on stage and proceeded to play the song. The song "Rock 'N' Roll Train" was also used in an episode of ''

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'' titled "Knight to King's Pawn".

Track listing

#"Rock 'n' Roll Train" – 4:21 #"War Machine" – 3:09

Music video

On 15 August 2008, AC/DC filmed the

to accompany the song in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where 150 contest winners and their guests were present. The video premiered on 19 September on the band's official website. On 23 October 2008, the band released the music video online in

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art in a

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spreadsheet format – the first music video to be produced in such format. The video also featured clips of the short film "London to Brighton in Four Minutes".

Awards

In 2009, "Rock 'n' Roll Train" was nominated for a Grammy award for

Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1980 and 2011. The award was discontinued after the 2011 award season in a major overhaul of Grammy categories. Beginning in 2012, all solo or duo/group ...

. It also won an APRA Award for Most Played Australian Work Overseas. In 2018 "Rock 'n' Roll Train" was voted number 6 by Absolute Radio listeners in their "Song of our Decade" poll.

Chart performance

References

External links

Video clip on YouTube
* {{Authority control 2008 singles 2008 songs AC/DC songs APRA Award winners Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer) Songs about trains Songs written by Angus Young Songs written by Malcolm Young