"Touch Too Much" is a song by the Australian

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

. It was released on their 1979 album ''

Highway to Hell ''Highway to Hell'' is the sixth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released on 27 July 1979, by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It is the first of three albums produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, and is the last albu ...

'', their last with lead vocalist

Bon Scott Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer who was the second lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. In the July 2004 issue of ''Classic Rock (m ...

, who died the following year.

Overview

The song was performed by Scott and AC/DC on BBC music show ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'', 12 days before his death. This episode, dated 7 February 1980, was repeated by

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

on 19 February 2015, the 35th anniversary of Scott's death. The band had earlier recorded another song with vastly different words and music entitled "Touch Too Much", but the song was never released. That track would eventually see the light of day in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

when it was included in ''

Volts The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). Definition One volt is defined as the electric potential between two point ...

'', part of the band's ''

Bonfire A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used for waste disposal or as part of a religious feast, such as Saint John's Eve. Etymology The earliest attestations date to the late 15th century, with the Catholicon Anglicum spelling i ...

'' box set. The cover of the single in many territories was released with the band photograph flipped horizontally, incorrectly showing the Youngs and bassist Cliff Williams as playing left-handed. The music video was live rehearsal performance from If You Want Blood Tour 1978-1979, along with "Walk All Over You" on the '' Family Jewels'' DVD compilation. Prior to joining AC/DC on the

Rock or Bust World Tour The Rock or Bust World Tour was a 2015–2016 concert tour by Australian rock band AC/DC, in support of their sixteenth studio album '' Rock or Bust'', which was released on 28 November 2014. This tour had 7 legs around the world lasting more t ...

Axl Rose W. Axl Rose ( ; born William Bruce Rose Jr., February 6, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its inception in ...

said this was his favourite AC/DC song. The song was first performed live on 22 May 2016 in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Reception

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'' called it "high voltage rock...with Bon Scott's gritty vocals and Angus Young's scrappy lead guitar work," and praised the

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Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Personnel

– vocals *

Angus Young Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and the only continuous member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, schoolboy-u ...

– lead guitar *

Malcolm Young Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian musician who was the rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and a founding member of the hard rock band AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was a member of AC ...

– rhythm guitar, backing vocals *

Cliff Williams Clifford Williams (born 14 December 1949) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. He started his professional music career in 1967 and had previously been in the English g ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals *

Phil Rudd Phillip Hugh Norman Rudd (born Phillip Hugh Norman Witschke Rudzevecuis, 19 May 1954) is an Australian musician, best known as the drummer of AC/DC across three stints (1975–1983, 1994–2015, 2018–present). On the 1977 departure of bass g ...

– drums

Cover versions

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band Cactus Jack recorded a version on their live cover album ''DisCover'' in 2002.

References

AC/DC songs 1979 songs 1980 singles Song recordings produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange Songs written by Angus Young Songs written by Bon Scott Songs written by Malcolm Young Atlantic Records singles {{1970s-rock-song-stub