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Dirty Deeds’ (Almost) Done for Real

An ongoing controversy in the 1980s revolved around whether certain rock bands’ music inspired isolated, unstable listeners to commit heinous crimes. Perhaps the highest-profile of these cases was that of convicted serial killer Richard Ramirez.

Ramirez, who came to be known as the “Night Stalker,” was convicted in 1989 for the murder of 13 people in California. Throughout Ramirez’ trial, much of the press had to do with an alleged connection between these grisly killings and Ramirez’s affinity for the Australian rock band AC/DC. The killer’s moniker was eventually connected to the AC/DC song “Night Prowler” from the band’s 1979 album Highway to Hell.

The band never quite understood the link between their music and Ramirez, a connection that caused the cancellation of some concerts in the late ’80s. Rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young (who has since retired due to dementia) told VH1’s Behind the Music, “I thought it was a joke at first. We just thought, ‘This is crazy.’ I mean, why are we connected, anyway?” He also added, “That song is not called ‘Night Stalker. It’s called ‘Night Prowler’—and it’s about things you used to do when you are a kid, like sneaking into a girlfriend’s bedroom when her parents were asleep.”

It’s scientifically impossible, of course, to prove that a given song’s lyrics might have played a role in influencing someone as obviously sociopathic as Ramirez (who died in prison at the age of 53 in 2013). That said, defenders of artistic license and freedom of speech often respond to stories about the possible influence of a movie, song or book dismissively, rejecting even milder suggestions that perhaps media does sometimes play a limited role in influencing such violent choices.

All of that is a prelude for what I want to focus on today: the tragic case of AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd, and a certain AC/DC song that focuses on hiring a hit man.

Phil-Rudd-AC-DC-blog-middleThe 60-year-old drummer was arrested in New Zealand last November and initially accused of trying to hire someone to murder his manager after his latest solo album bombed. Though that charge has since been dropped, Rudd pled guilty to threatening to kill his manager over the phone. A court summary says that Rudd talked with another associate about wanting his manager “taken out” and eventually called and told him, “I’m going to come over and kill you.”

Rudd’s lawyer, Craig Tuck, has tried to downplay the threat as an ill-advised moment of hyperbolic passion. “This matter essentially revolved around an angry phone call, that was it,” Tuck said. Meanwhile, members of the band are once again in the awkward position of trying to distance themselves from another lurid story. AC/DC’s iconic guitarist Angus Young says of Rudd’s self-inflicted travails, “He’s a great drummer, and he’s done a lot of stuff for us. But he seems to have let himself go. He’s not the Phil we’ve known from the past.”

Despite Tuck’s professional attempts to perhaps minimize his client’s murderous threat, the whole sad story can’t help but remind me of AC/DC’s 1976 song “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” from the album of the same name.

If you’re not familiar with the track, it’s basically an invitation from a hitman to give him a call if you’ve got anyone you need “taken out.” The assassin lists a number of potential targets for a hit: a fellow high-school student (“If you’re havin’ trouble with the high school head/He’s givin’ you the blues”), a cheatin’ ex-boyfriend (“You got problems in your life of love/You got a broken heart/He’s double dealin’ with your best friend”), or a significant other whose only crime is nagging too much (“If you got a lady and you want her gone/But you ain’t got the guts

She keeps naggin’ at you night and day/Enough to drive you nuts”).

For each such situation, the offer is the same: “Pick up the phone, I’m always home/Call me any time/Just ring 36 24 36, hey/I lead a life of crime.”

When it comes to how our hitman does his dirty work, well, he’s fairly creative. His homicidal options include “concrete shoes, cyanide, TNT/ … Neck ties, contracts, high voltage.” In other words, drowning, poisoning, exploding, choking and electrocuting are all in a day’s work for the song’s insidiously intrepid assassin.

So what are we to make of a song like this? And how, if at all, might it relate to Phil Rudd’s current situation?

I think it’s safe to say that “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” is intended as a tongue-in-cheek revenge fantasy, a dark daydream about getting even with someone who’s done you wrong. I suspect if someone ever hired a hit man and later confessed, “I did it because of ‘Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap!’” the band would protest, “It’s just a fantasy. We never meant anyone to take it seriously.”

And yet …

I also can’t help but wonder whether performing a song like this for nearly four decades somehow might have had a desensitizing effect on Phil Rudd. At some subconscious level, did the fantasy of getting violent revenge cross over into dangerous reality for a man who’d lost his moral bearings?

I can’t prove such a theory, of course. But I think it’s within the realm of plausibility, if not provability. When you sing a song about murdering people for 40 years, is it really a huge surprise to find out that one of the people performing that song has perhaps taken it just a wee bit too seriously.

I don’t think so.