"T.N.T." is a single recorded in 1975 by the hard rock band AC/DC, taken from their Australian album T.N.T. and the international version of High Voltage. The song was written by Bon Scott, Angus Young and Malcolm Young. It peaked at No.11 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart.^[1]

A slightly modified line from the song, "Lock up your daughters", was used as the title of AC/DC's first headlining tour of Great Britain in 1976 after the band's move from Melbourne, Australia, to London, earlier that year. "T.N.T." later appeared on Live and the Live: 2 CD Collector's Edition, with Brian Johnson providing vocals.

In the media[link]

• The song was played in commercials for Napoleon Dynamite.
• The song appears on the soundtrack to the game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4.
• After the September 11 attacks, the song was included on a widely circulated Clear Channel employee's list of potentially upsetting songs.^[2]
• The song appears in the Christmas episode of That '70s Show.
• The song is used by several sports teams, including the San Francisco Giants, the Ottawa Senators, the Cleveland Indians, the San Jose SaberCats, the Fremantle Dockers, the Wisconsin Badgers, Los Angeles Kings, the Portland Winter Hawks, and the Prince George Cougars.
• The song was used as ring entry music by British professional wrestler Mark "Rollerball" Rocco (Mark Hussey) on non-televised shows for All Star Promotions in the 1980s and early 1990s. A current wrestler for this same promotion, Robbie "The Body" Dynamite (Rob Berzins) has also been using this as his ring entry music since the early 2000s.
• The song was played in the movies Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Shiner.
• Vancouver radio station "Classic Rock 101" created a song parody titled "PNE", to reflect on the exhibition's fair event.
• The song is used by the Atlanta Braves when Peter Moylan (like the band, an Australian) comes into the game to pitch, and is also the entrance music of Baltimore Orioles catcher Taylor Teagarden.
• American death metal band Six Feet Under recorded a cover version of the song for their album Graveyard Classics.
• The song has been used in several promotions of the American channel TNT in the mid 1990s and also for their NASCAR Summer Series since 2010.
• This song is featured in the AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack.
• Kid Rock alludes to part of the song's lyrics, "I'm T.N.T., I'm dynamite", in the song "Welcome 2 the Party (Ode 2 the Old School)" from the album Devil Without a Cause.
• Bob Rivers wrote a parody called "CNN", which is about a person who is addicted to the news network. This version also contains pieces of lyrics from the original song.

Personnel[link]

• Bon Scott – lead vocals
• Angus Young – lead guitar
• Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar
• Mark Evans – bass guitar
• Phil Rudd – drums

• Harry Vanda – producer
• George Young – producer

References[link]

T.N.T. is the second studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in December 1975. Seven of the album's nine songs were written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott. "Can I Sit Next to You Girl" was written by Young & Young prior to Scott's involvement in the band, and "School Days" is a cover version of a Chuck Berry song.

It was originally released on Albert Productions, and was never reissued by another label. However, most of its contents were included on Atlantic Records' High Voltage album, which was released internationally in May 1976.

Overview[link]

T.N.T. marked a change in direction from AC/DC's debut album, High Voltage, which was released in February 1975. Whereas High Voltage featured some experimentation with the styles of its songs and had a variety of personnel filling multiple roles, T.N.T. saw the band fully embrace the formula for which they would become famous: hard-edged, rhythm & blues-based rock 'n' roll. They also simplified their personnel system, and would use it from then on out, which was Angus Young strictly playing lead guitar, Malcolm Young strictly playing rhythm guitar, and the drummer and bassist being the only ones to play drums and bass guitar on the albums. T.N.T. contains some of the band's best-known songs, including the title track, "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", "The Jack", "Rocker", and "High Voltage".

Three singles were released from the album – "High Voltage" (July 1975), "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" (December 1975) and "T.N.T." (?March 1976). "High Voltage" was the first song written and recorded for the album, the title inspired by that of the previous album. Issued as the first single before the T.N.T. sessions began, many fans thought it was from High Voltage. Chris Gilbey of Albert Productions later claimed this caused a late surge in that album's sales.^[1] T.N.T. was released in a gatefold sleeve, with the inside depicting the various members on mock-ups of police identification cards, listing apparent aliases and partially obscured personal details including birthdates (only Bon Scott's is readily visible and Angus Young's birthyear is shown as 1959 (not 1955) in keeping with his schoolboy persona as this made him appear 16 instead of his real age of 20).

T.N.T. also led to more AC/DC appearances on Australia's Countdown music programme, following those in support of the Australian High Voltage album. These appearances included a live performance of the song "T.N.T.", as well as a music video for "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)". Filmed on 23 February 1976, the video featured the band's then-current lineup, along with members of the Rats of Tobruk Pipe Band, on the back of a flat-bed truck travelling on Swanston Street in Melbourne, Australia.^[2] On 1 October 2004, Melbourne's Corporation Lane was renamed ACDC Lane as a tribute to AC/DC, with the decision being based in part on this video.^[3]

International release[link]

T.N.T. is the only Australian AC/DC studio album for which there is no international counterpart. However, seven of its nine songs comprise the international version of High Voltage, released in May 1976. The other two, "Rocker" and "School Days", saw worldwide release as part of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap's international version (1976/1981) and the Bonfire box set (1997) respectively.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link

Track listing[link]

All songs credited to Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott, except where noted.

1. "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" – 5:15
2. "Rock 'n' Roll Singer" – 5:04
3. "The Jack" – 5:52
4. "Live Wire" – 5:49
5. "T.N.T." – 3:34
6. "Rocker" – 2:55
7. "Can I Sit Next to You Girl" (Young, Young) – 4:12
8. "High Voltage" – 4:22
9. "School Days" (Chuck Berry) – 5:23

Original release vs. remastered release[link]

The original 1975 LP release featured longer versions of "Can I Sit Next to You Girl", "High Voltage" and "Rocker" compared to the versions heard on later CD releases:

• "Rocker" originally cuts out abruptly at 2:55 as the riff hits its peak, but on the 1986 CD release and the 1995 remastered CD release the song fades out at 2:51 before the cut.

• "High Voltage" originally finished with a sustained guitar note followed by a single hit of the snare drum. This version was included on the 1986 CD release, however the 1995 remastered CD release contains the version heard on the international High Voltage album release, which has the song fade out before the sustained note. This was how the original single release finished.

Both of these original versions were finally released worldwide on the 2009 box set Backtracks, but actually, both songs only fade out later than the international versions, not being the complete Australian releases.

Songs[link]

The version of "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" was edited down from an extended jam by producer George Young. The inclusion of the bagpipes was his idea, to add an extra dynamic to the track. Bon Scott had played in a pipe band in his teens, so George suggested he play bagpipes on the song, not realising that Scott had been a drummer, not a piper. Regardless, Scott – who knew how to play the recorder – learned the instrument and went on to play them on stage with the band for several years.

The lyrics of "The Jack" (sometimes titled "(She's Got) The Jack") were developed by Scott who was inspired by a letter Malcolm Young received during a tour of Adelaide. The letter, from a woman in Melbourne, implied that Malcolm had given her a venereal disease, however he claims that when he got tested, he was clean.^[1] Scott's original lyrics were far more explicit than those on the album, which he deliberately toned down in case the song got played on radio.

The chanting in "T.N.T." was added after George Young heard Angus Young ad-libbing the "oi" chant to himself, and suggested he record it.^[1]

"Can I Sit Next to You Girl" features a different arrangement and slightly different lyrics from the original version that was released in 1974 as the band's first single with Dave Evans on vocals. It also runs almost a minute longer than the first version.

Sales chart performance[link]

Album

Personnel[link]

• Bon Scott – lead vocals, bagpipes on "It's a Long Way to the Top"
• Angus Young – lead guitar, backing vocals on "T.N.T."
• Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Mark Evans – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Phil Rudd – drums, percussion

with

• Harry Vanda – production
• George Young – production

References[link]

Covered[link]

Canadian punk rock band Dayglo Abortions covered "The Jack" from this album for the tribute to AC/DC entitled A Punk Rock Tribute to AC/DC. Also, Canadian thrash metal band Annihilator covered "Live Wire" on a recorded live concert on the album Bag of Tricks.

External links[link]

• Lyrics on AC/DC's official website