Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Tuesday Tuneage
AC/DC - "Problem Child"
1976

In my ongoing quest to find The Song Of Summer 2014, which for some reason in my head is to find an old song I dig and have a hip-hop crew sample it and make something exquisite and funky for me to blast on my iPhone while I sip on a Sierra Nevada Kellerweis or a Bell's Oberon Ale or a Bud Light Lime-A-Rita (finances might dictate this one) and stare out my kitchen window into the sunshine and imagine what people do outdoors when the temperature gets above eighty degrees. (Me? I end up blasting the AC at some point and watching The Wire on Amazon Prime.)

My latest candidate to be turned into a hip-hop wonder is AC/DC's "Problem Child", the song so fine that they put it on both their Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap and Let There Be Rock albums. (Research indicates that this is the result of international releases having different tracks than AC/DC's home Aussie releases, but that's no fun. Part of me thinks the Young brothers said: "F*ck it, we're putting 'Problem Child' on this LP also!")

Bon Scott throws rap-worthy challenges all over this one. He starts out with a "cop this" (BEGGING SOMEBODY in the future to use it!), tells us he's "cold as ice", then offers up this:

man in blue
it's up to you
the seed is sown
what I want is stash
what I don't I smash
and you're on my list
dead or alive I got a .45
and I never miss

Later, Bon assures us that "even my mother hates me"! Go Stagger Lee!

The tune has an awesome beat, a simplistic-yet-killer riff … and after the song seems to be over for some reason they tack on a low-fi recording of the beat and riff as if they are looking into the future and BEGGING SOMEBODY to sample it! Who dares offend the memory of the late Bon Scott? I demand a rap-rock "Problem Child" remake! My birthday is in August!