Metal Mixtape: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap Australian album cover

AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" has taken up literally hours of my life. It's strange for a single - the breathing sounds on beats 2 and 4, rare singing by Malcolm Young, ridiculous lyrics about being a contract killer. When I tracked down covers of the song, I discovered that AC/DC tribute records are a huge cottage industry. (See here for an exhaustingly exhaustive list.) I have not included every cover of "Dirty Deeds" below, as there are far too many mediocre rock versions. Instead, I've highlighted some of the coolest, strangest, and worst covers. First, the original for reference.

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (AC/DC)

Bay Area thrashers Exodus covered the song as a bonus track on 2004's Tempo of the Damned. It's a surprisingly good fit; Steve "Zetro" Souza's sneer slots in nicely between Bon Scott's and Brian Johnson's. Trixter's version is as bad as you'd expect. It comes from the Undercovers collection, which also takes on Nine Inch Nails' "Terrible Lie" and the Beastie Boys' "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)." I have not dared to go there.

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Exodus)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Trixter)

Oddly, two women have covered this song. Interestingly, both are avowed/alleged lesbians. (Note how each alters the line "For a fee, I'm happy to be your back door man.") Girl group icon Lesley Gore ("It's my party and I'll cry if I want to") does a rather bubbly version. It appears on the compilation When Pigs Fly: Songs You Never Thought You'd Hear, which includes, among other things, a duet by Ani DiFranco and Jackie Chan on Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable." Joan Jett's cover kept me awake many nights during my adolescence. It's hands down the best cover of "Dirty Deeds," amplifying the menace of the original with over-the-top reverb, keyboards, and a friggin' sax solo. That vocal melisma at 2:47 is so hott.

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Lesley Gore)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Joan Jett)

Even more oddly, "Dirty Deeds" has yielded not one but two bluegrass versions. The first, from the Back in Bluegrass tribute, is a yawn. However, Hayseed Dixie's cover on A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC is a barnburner. (The rest of the album is worth a listen; "Hells Bells" translates surprisingly well to bluegrass.) I've also included an acoustic version from If You Want Strum, You've Got It. (Tribute album titles kill me.) It's a coffeehouse rendition that bowdlerizes the third line to "You want to graduate, but not this bad." Lame!

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Back in Bluegrass)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Hayseed Dixie)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Acoustic)

"Dirty Deeds" has also inspired a fair bit of schmaltz. A recent cover on Lullaby Renditions of AC/DC (from the Rockabye Baby! series that includes infant-appropriate versions of Tool, The Ramones, and Metallica) hides the melodies in a miasma of flatted and sharped thirds. On the other hand, a holiday version on Hell's Bells of Christmas is straightforward. The as-advertised cover on The Rock-A-Billy Tribute to AC/DC is enjoyably bouncy.

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Rockabye Baby!)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Christmas version)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Rockabilly version)

Electronics and "Dirty Deeds" don't mix well. Buddha Lounge Renditions of AC/DC has a bhangra-style take that isn't too far from the "Macarena." 16 Volt turn in an industrial metal atrocity that so wants to be Nine Inch Nails. Even worse is the cover on 2005's Hip-Hop Tribute to AC/DC. It's just the song with the lyrics poorly rapped. Who greenlighted it???

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Buddha Lounge)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (16 Volt)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (Hip-hop version)

Finally, parodies. Seattle radio personality Bob Rivers did a lovely piss-take called "Dirty Deeds Done With Sheep." Queercore icons Pansy Division didn't cover the song, but they spoofed the album's artwork on their Dirty Queers Don't Come Cheap 7".

Dirty Deeds Done With Sheep (Bob Rivers)

If you've gotten this far, you might as well download the whole shebang. You know you want to hear 54 minutes of "Dirty Deeds."

Metal Mixtape - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap [79.0MB .zip]