𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
August 15, 1983 — ACϟDC released their eighth internationally released studio album (and the ninth to be released in their native Australia), Flick of the Switch via Atlantic Records. (Listen)
Background:
The album was deemed a commercial disappointment after it failed to match the sales figures of the band's two previous releases, 1980's Back in Black and 1981's For Those About to Rock, and its release represented the beginning of the band's commercial decline.
Despite this, opinions of Flick of the Switch have been quite positive in the years since its release, and the album has often been mentioned as one of the best releases of 1983.
The third ACϟDC album to feature lead vocalist Brian Johnson, the album is also the last to feature drummer Phil Rudd before his eleven-year break from the band.
ACϟDC returned to Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas to record their ninth album, the same studio where they had recorded Back in Black with Robert John "Mutt" Lange in 1980. Lange had produced ACϟDC's three previous releases but this time the band chose to produce themselves. On the recorded commentary on the album for the Live at Donington DVD, the band members state that the album was an attempt to make the band raw again, and were happy with the result.
In the book ACϟDC: Maximum Rock & Roll, ACϟDC engineer Tony Platt recalls;
“𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙵𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙹𝚘𝚑𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚆𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙼𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚢 𝚆𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝙱𝚘𝚢? 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗‘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢.”
The album is notable for its "𝚍𝚛𝚢" sound, with very little of the polish that is evident on their previous effort For Those About to Rock. In a 1983 interview that appears on ultimateguitar.com, Angus Young said of the LP, "𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚠 𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎. 𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚕, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚒𝚐, 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜. 𝚆𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗‘𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚋 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜."
However, the album's birth was a troubled one; after having problems with Malcolm as well as drugs and alcohol, drummer Phil Rudd was fired midway through the album's recording sessions, although he had completed his drum parts.
According to Murray Engleheart's band memoir ACϟDC: Maximum Rock & Roll, Rudd had been struggling for some time; tour manager Ian Jeffrey recalls getting a phone call from a strung-out Rudd at four in the morning when the band was playing in Nebraska on the Back in Black tour and finding the drummer in his hotel room in a state of disorientated agitation.
Eventually Rudd broke down crying and begged Jeffery "𝙳𝚘𝚗‘𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚖." Jeffery also reveals that Malcolm punched the drummer after he showed up two hours late for the band's show at Long Island's Nassau Coliseum and was unable to play the last song of the encore. "𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐, 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎" Jeffery remembers. "𝙷𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝."
Malcolm later explained to KNAC.com in August 2000. Former Procol Harum drummer B.J. Wilson was hired to help complete the recording if needed, but his contributions were not used. Platt later recalled to band biographer Jesse Fink, "𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗‘𝚝 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝. 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑, 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢.“ The drum position was eventually filled by future Dio drummer Simon Wright after more than 700 auditions were held in the U.S. and UK.
Simon Kirke of Free and Bad Company fame, and Paul Thompson of Roxy Music were two of the drummers auditioned. Wright appeared in the videos for Flick of the Switch (Watch video), Nervous Shakedown (Watch video), and Guns For Hire (Watch video). A second video for Nervous Shakedown (Watch video) was also shot at a pre-show rehearsal at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. He also toured for the album, and is seen in the pro-shot video recordings from that period. The videos, which were shot in an aircraft-hangar sized area, seemed to reflect the stripped-down sound of the album and flew in the face of the growing infatuation that the music business was developing with the glitz of MTV.
The songs on Flick of the Switch contain much of the outlaw bravado (Guns For Hire, Badlands) and sexual innuendo (Rising Power, Deep in the Hole) that fans had come to expect from the Australian rockers. Badlands features guitarist Angus Young playing slide guitar, a rarity on record.
(𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚜 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐, 𝙽𝚈𝙲 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟹)
The song Bedlam in Belgium was inspired by the band's appearance at Kontich when a riot nearly broke out when police tried to close down the show after the band allegedly ignored a strict 11 p.m. curfew. On tour in support of the album, Guns For Hire was the set opener. The tour resulted in more upheaval in the band's inner circle when Malcolm, frustrated by mixed reviews for Flick of the Switch and dwindling audience numbers in certain cities, fired tour manager Ian Jeffrey.
In his Bon Scott memoir Highway to Hell, author Clinton Walker observes;
“...𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝙰𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟹, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝙵𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗‘𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚍 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚝𝚘 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜, 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚙 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎. 𝙸𝚝‘𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚜𝚢𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚎: 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚙𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝙼𝚊𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢.
𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢: 𝙼𝚞𝚝𝚝 𝙻𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎, 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑; 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝙿𝚑𝚒𝚕 𝚁𝚞𝚍𝚍; 𝙿𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙼𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚌𝚑, 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝙼𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚎𝚕 𝙱𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚎-𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚁𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚝 𝙴𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚁𝚞𝚍𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝙴𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚂𝚒𝚖𝚘𝚗 𝚆𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗‘𝚝 𝚊𝚗 𝙰𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚗-𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍.”
The Flick of the Switch cover features a simple, pencil-drawn picture of Angus, illustrated by artist Brent Richardson, that he himself had originally sketched out to reflect the simple, raw approach of the album, and Atlantic Records hated it. Angus had also wanted the album graphics to be embossed the same way that Back in Black had been but, according to Ian Jeffrey, Atlantic did not want to spend the money because they believed the album contained no hit singles.
Recorded shortly after their 1982 European Tour at the beginning of 1983, the album was originally released with little promotion in the US on August 15, 1983. The album reached No. 4 in UK and No. 15 in the US, and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. In his original Rolling Stone review, David Fricke noted, "𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍, 𝙵𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚒𝚜𝚗‘𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟶’𝚜 𝙱𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚠𝚊𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚜' 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏-𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚖 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜."
Steve Huey of AllMusic observes, "𝙰𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍'𝚜 𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚕𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚌 “𝙸 𝙻𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚁𝚘𝚌𝚔”, 𝙰𝙲ϟ𝙳𝙲 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝."
Malcolm Young later said of the LP, "𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔. 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗‘𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖...“
• Official live video for Guns For Hire (Band Rehearsals, Westwood Studios, Los Angeles, California, October 15, 1983) via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/music-video/guns-for-hire-band-rehearsals-los-angeles-october-1983/685266517
• Official live video for Guns For Hire (Live at Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan, November 17, 1983) via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/music-video/guns-for-hire-joe-louis-arena-detroit-mi-november-1983/681467069
• Official live video for This House Is On Fire (Live at Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan, November 17, 1983) via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/music-video/this-house-is-on-fire-joe-louis-arena-detroit-mi-november/685256361
• Official live video for Bedlam In Belgium (Live at Capital Center, Landover, Maryland, December 12, 1983) via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/music-video/bedlam-in-belgium-capital-center-landover-md-december-1983/667833275
• Official live video for Flick of the Switch (Live at Capital Center, Landover, Maryland, December 12, 1983) via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/music-video/flick-of-the-switch-capital-center-landover-md/1114234580
Notice: Any reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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