So far this week I’ve covered artists who came just short of a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 without quite reaching the milestone.
Today’s band never even got close. Their highest ranking song on the chart peaked at #23 and they’ve had only two other titles in the top 40. But I’m including them because they managed that while releasing the second highest-selling album in music history.
AC/DC’s 1980 album Back in Black is second only to Michael Jackson’s Thriller in total worldwide sales. Twenty-five million copies were sold in the U.S. alone, but the record also failed to reach the top of the album chart (it’s the highest-selling album to not reach #1).
The title track and ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ reached #37 and #35, respectively, while other singles ‘Hells Bells’ and ‘Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution’ failed to chart at all. And yet Back in Black marched along, quietly moving copies until it made rock history.
Of the artists behind the top ten best-selling albums, AC/DC is one of only two acts to never land a #1 hit. The other was featured earlier this week: Shania Twain.
Meanwhile, the band’s top-charting single didn’t come from their most popular album. ‘Moneytalks,’ from the 1990 album The Razors Edge, returned the band to the top 40 a decade later, reaching #23.
Tailored suits, chauffeured cars
Fine hotels and big cigars
Up for grabs, all for a price
Where the red hot girls keep on dancing through the night
[Pre-Chorus]
The claim is on you, the sights are on me
So what do you do that’s guaranteed?
Hey, little girl, you want it all
The furs, the diamonds, the paintings on the wall
[Chorus]
Come on, come on, lovin’ for the money
Come on, come on, listen to the money talk
Come on, come on, lovin’ for the money
Come on, come on, listen to the money talk
[Verse 2]
A French maid, foreign chef
A big house with king-size beds
You had enough, you ship them out
The dollar’s up, down, you better buy the Pound
[Pre-Chorus]
The claim is on you, the sights are on me
So what do you do that’s guaranteed?
Hey, little girl, you break the laws
You hustle, you deal, you steal from us all
[Chorus]
Come on, come on, lovin’ for the money (Moneytalks)
Come on, come on, listen to the money talk (Moneytalks)
Come on, come on, lovin’ for the money (Moneytalks)
Come on, come on, listen to the money talk
[Bridge 1]
Moneytalks
Yeah-yow!
[Guitar Solo]
[Bridge 2]
Moneytalks
B.S. walks
Moneytalks
Come on, come on
[Chorus]
Come on, come on, lovin’ for the money (Moneytalks)
Come on, come on, listen to the money talk (Moneytalks)
Come on, come on, lovin’ for the money (Moneytalks)
Come on, come on, listen to the money talk (Moneytalks)
[Outro]
(Come on, come on, lovin’ for the money) Moneytalks
(Come on, come on, listen to the money talk) Money talk, talk, talk
(Come on, come on, lovin’ for the money) Oh, hear it talk
(Come on, come on, listen to the money talk) Yeah, yeah-yeah!
Money talk!
Meet Me In Montauk 
Even during their heyday, heavy metal artists seldom had popular hit songs and, when they did, the songs were more pop/commercial, such as KISS with “Beth” and “I Was Made for Loving You” or Van Halen with “Jump.” AC/DC never “sold out” their heavy metal sound or crossed over as so many country artists did, so the fact that their songs charted as high as they did is actually quite an accomplishment.
Shows how little the long-term value of a #1 hit can be. “Back in Black” and “You Shook Me All Night Long” get a great deal more airplay than I lot of #1 songs that have disappeared into the ether.