(13 On The) Wheels Of Steel: Biff Byford Of Saxon's Favourite LPs | Page 3 of 14 | The Quietus

Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

2. AC DCDirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

I got into them through this album. The rest of the guys had never heard of them. We went to Sheffield University to see them – I took the band; I said they had to see this great groove – and there were about 100 people in there. It was a very eventful night with punks and rock fans together, because I think UK Subs were supporting. I loved the style they had – the repetitive riffs and rolling bass, which was more bluesy than metal. They were very aggressive – Bon Scott had massive presence on stage and he could sing and wrote great lyrics. And the rest of the band loved them as well, and it really affected us – without AC/DC, we wouldn’t have written ‘Wheels Of Steel’. We toured America with them in 1980, when they were doing Back in Black, on Brian Johnson’s first tour. They were really friendly guys – they had a bar backstage so you could get a pint while they were playing.

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