Their attorney told the Chicago Tribune that the song's 36-24-36 digits were followed by what to his clients sounded like an "8", thus creating the couple's phone number.
In 1981, after the album was released in the U.S., Norman and Marilyn White of Libertyville, Illinois filed a $250,000 lawsuit in Lake County, Illinois Circuit Court against Atlantic Records and its distributors because, they alleged, their telephone number was included in the song, resulting in hundreds of prank phone calls. This was also backed by author Dave Rubin, who stated in his book Inside Rock Guitar: Four Decades of the Greatest Electric Rock Guitarists that Bogart's movies served as the basis for the album. Special rates for Sundays and holidays." On the Live on Donington DVD, Malcolm and Angus explained that the concept of the album was to base it as a Bogartian mystery scenario. One of the cartoon's characters was named Dishonest John, and carried a business card that read, "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap. The term "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" is an homage to the cartoon Beany and Cecil, which Angus watched when he was a child. Situations in which he offers assistance include those involving lewd high school headmasters, and significant others who are either adulterous or who persistently find fault with their partners. Its narrator invites people experiencing problems to either call him on 36-24-36, an actual phone number in Australia in the 1960s (then properly formatted as FM 2436 - 36 translated to FM on the rotary dial or keypad), or visit him at his home, at which point he will perform assorted unsavoury acts to resolve said problems. The title track would become one of the band's most famous songs. However, hampered by visa problems and a lack of interest from Atlantic Records in the US, the band returned to Australia to finish their third album.Īlso according to AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll, years later, Stephen King convinced the band to do the soundtrack for his film Maximum Overdrive (the soundtrack released as Who Made Who) by putting "Ain't No Fun" on the record player and singing along to the entire song line-for-line in order to prove how much of a fan he was of their music.
High Voltage was released in the United States in 1976. German band Accept later released it as a single, and named their second album after it. This song was never released by AC/DC, and remains in Albert Productions' vaults. A song titled " I'm a Rebel" was recorded at Maschener Studios as well, with music and lyrics written by another elder Young brother, Alex Young. Only "Love at First Feel" was used for Dirty Deeds, but not for the Australian release. "Carry Me Home" later appeared in 1977 as a B-side to Dog Eat Dog, while "Dirty Eyes" remained unreleased and was later reworked into " Whole Lotta Rosie" for 1977's Let There Be Rock. According to the book AC/DC: Maximum Rock & Roll, Vanda and Young travelled to the UK to record several songs with the band at Vineland Studios for a scheduled EP, which was eventually scrapped. In April 1976, the band went on their first tour of the UK, where " It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" was released as a single. AC/DC began recording Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap in December 1975 at Albert Studios with Harry Vanda and George Young (elder brother of guitarists Malcolm and Angus) producing.