# Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (song)
**"Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"** is a hard rock song by the Australian band AC/DC, written as the title track and opening song of their album *Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap*, released in September 1976.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap-r84/charts-awards/billboard-single) Sung by [Bon Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/bon-scott) and built on a riff by the Young brothers, it presents a comic, menacing figure offering to carry out disreputable tasks for a low fee, and it became one of the band's most frequently performed and covered songs.[2](https://www.setlist.fm/song/acdc/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap-4bd6ef56.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist and album | AC/DC, title track of *Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap*, released September 1976[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap-r84/charts-awards/billboard-single) |
| Recording | January to July 1976; album duration 39:09[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap-r84/charts-awards/billboard-single) |
| Studio and personnel | Recorded at Albert Studios, Sydney; produced by Harry Vanda and George Young, engineered by Mark Opitz[3](https://www.tonedb.co/tones/ac-dc/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap/rhythm-guitar-dbd3) |
| Riff structure | The main riff repeats 16 times across the 3:18 track[4](https://gearstrings.com/music-theory/rhythm-is-king-malcolm-youngs-rock-solid-riffage) |
| UK chart peak | No. 47 on the Official Singles Chart, first chart date 28 June 1980, three weeks on chart, Atlantic label, catalog number HM2[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/acdc-dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap/) |
| Live history | First played 18 September 1976 at the PN Club, Munich; more than 3,000 logged performances by over 200 artists[2](https://www.setlist.fm/song/acdc/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap-4bd6ef56.html) |
## Music and lyrics
The song centers on a short, repeated guitar riff, the device that gives most AC/DC songs their identity. In this track the riff works as what one music-education analysis calls a musical door-opener into a dark but ironically exaggerated world, pairing a stable, driving groove with lyrics about morally questionable offers.[6](https://moocwiki.org/index.php?title=Dirty_Deeds_Done_Dirt_Cheap_AC_DC_Songanalyse) The arrangement is deliberately spare: distorted electric guitars, a steady backbeat, and a rough, storytelling vocal, with few building blocks repeated and varied so the song stays memorable.[6](https://moocwiki.org/index.php?title=Dirty_Deeds_Done_Dirt_Cheap_AC_DC_Songanalyse)
The verses develop the speaker's role, a fixer advertising his services, while the refrain condenses the title phrase into a slogan-like hook that fixes the character in the listener's memory.[6](https://moocwiki.org/index.php?title=Dirty_Deeds_Done_Dirt_Cheap_AC_DC_Songanalyse) AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine describes a real sense of menace in the song, capturing what he calls the seething malevolence of Bon Scott, encouraged by what he calls the maniacal riffs of Angus and [Malcolm Young](https://www.edgepedia.org/malcolm-young).[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap-r84/charts-awards/billboard-single) A published transcription gives the tempo as 138 beats per minute in 4/4 time.[7](https://www.cutawayguitarmagazine.com/visualizar-revista/?num=73)
## Recording and guitar sound
The rhythm guitar tone was recorded at Albert Studios in Sydney, with Malcolm Young likely using a [Gibson SG](https://www.edgepedia.org/gibson-sg) through a Marshall JTM45 amplifier. To get the distinctive crunch, the JTM45 was driven into tube overdrive on its own instead of relying on distortion pedals, and a Shure SM57 placed close to the amp captured the sound.[3](https://www.tonedb.co/tones/ac-dc/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap/rhythm-guitar-dbd3) The album was produced by Harry Vanda and [George Young](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-young-rock-musician), with Mark Opitz engineering.[3](https://www.tonedb.co/tones/ac-dc/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap/rhythm-guitar-dbd3)
Despite its reputation as a beginner-friendly riff, the part demands precise tone, timing, and phrasing; guitar instructor Joshua Ray Gooch, a touring and session guitarist, notes that the main riff repeats 16 times across the 3:18 track yet never feels static, because of small variations in pick attack and dynamic contrast between sections.[4](https://gearstrings.com/music-theory/rhythm-is-king-malcolm-youngs-rock-solid-riffage) [Angus Young](https://www.edgepedia.org/angus-young)'s lead work on the track combines arpeggiated chord progressions, power chords in the main riff, and a solo that moves between legato phrasing and staccato, bluesy bends.[8](https://www.licklibrary.com/learn/courses/learn-to-play-acdc-volume-2)
## Release and chart history
The album appeared in Australia in September 1976 but was not released in the United States until 1981, after Bon Scott's death and after AC/DC had become commercially established; Erlewine suggests the record would have seemed too insurrectionist if it had arrived earlier.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap-r84/charts-awards/billboard-single) The song itself entered the UK Official Singles Chart on 28 June 1980, peaking at No. 47 during a three-week run on the Atlantic label, catalog number HM2.[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/acdc-dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap/) In December 2012 it returned to the UK Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart, peaking at No. 18.[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/acdc-dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap/) A live version from the *Live* album was released as a single in the UK and Europe in 1993, with Kerrang! magazine running a competition for readers to design the UK single cover.[9](https://www.acdc.com/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap-single/)
## Live performances and covers
Setlist records trace the song back to its first documented performance on 18 September 1976 by AC/DC at the PN Club in Munich, Germany. Logged performances now exceed 3,000 by more than 200 artists, with AC/DC itself accounting for over 1,200 of them.[2](https://www.setlist.fm/song/acdc/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap-4bd6ef56.html) Among the most frequent performers of the song besides AC/DC are the tribute acts BACK:N:BLACK and Whole Lotta DC, the [Dropkick Murphys](https://www.edgepedia.org/dropkick-murphys), and the bluegrass parody band Hayseed Dixie.[2](https://www.setlist.fm/song/acdc/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap-4bd6ef56.html) A remix titled "Deadly Deeds" by Deadly Buda appeared on a CD-ROM compilation reviewed in *2600* magazine.[10](https://gbppr.net/2600/bl411/THUD-v1n2.pdf)
## References
1. [Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap-r84/charts-awards/billboard-single)
2. [Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap by AC/DC song statistics, setlist.fm](https://www.setlist.fm/song/acdc/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap-4bd6ef56.html)
3. [Rhythm guitar from "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" by AC/DC, ToneDB](https://www.tonedb.co/tones/ac-dc/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap/rhythm-guitar-dbd3)
4. [Rhythm Is King: Malcolm Young's Rock-Solid Riffage, GearStrings](https://gearstrings.com/music-theory/rhythm-is-king-malcolm-youngs-rock-solid-riffage)
5. [DIRTY DEEDS DONE DIRT CHEAP – AC/DC, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/acdc-dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap/)
6. [Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap AC DC Songanalyse, MOOCwiki](https://moocwiki.org/index.php?title=Dirty_Deeds_Done_Dirt_Cheap_AC_DC_Songanalyse)
7. [Cutaway Guitar Magazine, issue 73 (transcription excerpt)](https://www.cutawayguitarmagazine.com/visualizar-revista/?num=73)
8. [Learn To Play AC/DC Vol. 2, LickLibrary Guitar Lessons](https://www.licklibrary.com/learn/courses/learn-to-play-acdc-volume-2)
9. ['Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap' Single, AC/DC Official Site](https://www.acdc.com/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap-single/)
10. [CD-ROM Reviews, 2600 Magazine, The Hacker Quarterly vol. 14 no. 2](https://gbppr.net/2600/bl411/THUD-v1n2.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Pop, rock, and metal songs › Heavy metal songs*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license