The 1976 song that made Rick Rubin fall in love with his favourite rock band
Rick Rubin has never been a man who limits himself to one genre, equally as infatuated with thrash metal as he is with hip-hop.
The endlessly broad music taste of the New York-born producer and Def Jam founder is perhaps responsible for the expansive range of projects he has been involved in over the years. From working alongside Johnny Cash to fostering the early days of hip-hop excellence with Def Jam, Rubin’s talents seemingly know no bounds. Throughout it all, though, one group in particular has always stood out for the producer.
Hard rock originated in the post-hippie years of the late 1960s, but it came to define the landscape of the wider rock scene during the following decade, thanks to artists like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and AC/DC. The latter, in particular, represented the abrasive new generation of rock and roll music. Their formation in Sydney in 1973 marked the beginning of the group’s five-decade stint of pure rock chaos, and a young Rick Rubin was a disciple of the band from its very early days.
Growing up in New York during the 1970s, Rubin had a wealth of diverse and incredible music on his doorstep. After all, the ‘Big Apple’ fostered both the defiance of the punk rock age and the groovy sounds of early disco, too. While Rubin did embrace punk music during his teens, his taste tended to be more mainstream during those years. High school is the place where music tastes turn into rivalries, but Rubin’s taste tends to set him apart from the rest of his classmates.
Revealing his tastes during those teen years, Rubin once told Rolling Stone, “When I was in junior high, my classmates all liked Led Zeppelin. But I loved AC/DC.” Although both of those groups could readily be put into the same hard rock category, AC/DC always tended to be a little wilder than their British counterparts. In fact, the band received almost as much publicity for their anarchic offstage antics as they did for their trailblazing heavy metal music.
Rubin was first exposed to the infectious sounds of Australia’s finest via a late-night television programme in the States. “I got turned on to them when I heard them play ‘Problem Child’ on The Midnight Special,” he shared. Explaining their appeal, the producer continued, “Like Zeppelin, they were rooted in American R&B, but AC/DC took it to a minimal extreme that had never been heard before. Of course, I didn’t know that back then. I only knew that they sounded better than any other band.”
That early connection speaks volumes about Rubin’s instincts as a listener long before he became a tastemaker. Where others were drawn to the grandeur and mystique of Led Zeppelin, Rubin gravitated towards something leaner, more direct, and arguably more primal. AC/DC’s stripped-back approach, rooted in groove, repetition, and raw energy, would later mirror Rubin’s own production philosophy, which often prioritises feel over excess.
It also highlights a recurring theme throughout Rubin’s career: a fascination with artists who distil music down to its essential components. Whether working with hip-hop acts, metal bands, or country legends, Rubin has consistently sought that same sense of immediacy he first heard in AC/DC.
Included on their 1976 album Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, ‘Problem Child’ is a definite highlight of AC/DC’s early period. Featuring a particularly good vocal performance from the late Bon Scott, the frontman once joked that he wrote the song about guitarist Angus Young – though the band later attested that it could have been written about any one of them. Perhaps Rick Rubin identified with the lyrics of a difficult child.
Much later in his career, Rick Rubin got the chance to work with his hard rock heroes, producing their 1995 record Ballbreaker. Famously, this collaboration was not quite as successful as the Def Jam founder might have hoped for, with the band not overly appreciative of Rubin’s production methods. Reportedly, he demanded as many as 50 different takes for some parts of the record, leading to a pretty tiresome and conflict-ridden production period.
Although Rubin and AC/DC might not have gotten on very well while working together, the producer still remains a dedicated fan of the heavy metal progenitors. The attachment he had formed to their music during his high school years has stuck with Rubin, becoming one of very few constants, throughout his long and diverse career in the music industry.
