The Lost AC/DC Track You’ve Never Heard—And How a German Metal Band Got Their Hands on It First

 The Hidden AC/DC Song German Band Accept Released Before AC/DC Ever Did: The Story of “I’m a Rebel”

Back in the late 1960s, Alex Young—the older sibling of AC/DC’s Angus and Malcolm Young—was already making a name for himself in the music world. He was penning songs for bands like Grapefruit, Tramp (which once featured Mick Fleetwood), and collaborating with British singer Gerry Marsden. By the late ’70s, he had written a song that would become part of AC/DC lore: “I’m a Rebel.”

The band reportedly recorded a rough version of the track in 1976 while in Maschen, Germany, during sessions for what would become Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. But this was no ordinary AC/DC recording. Instead of Bon Scott on lead vocals, Alex Young took the mic—allegedly because Scott was too intoxicated at the time. Scott ended up providing backing vocals and even played drums, while regular producers George Young and Harry Vanda weren’t present for the session.

The song’s lyrics were a straightforward, fist-pumping anthem about being a misunderstood outsider:

I’m a rebel, rebel, don’t you just know it?
And they’re all laughing at me…

Despite the raw power of the song, Alex Young requested that the band not release it—and they honored his wishes. At the time, AC/DC were focusing on creating original, in-house material for their upcoming albums.

How Accept Ended Up Recording It Instead

A few years later, in 1979, German heavy metal band Accept was searching for a more radio-friendly sound after their debut album. In a twist of fate, their publisher Rudi Holzhauer introduced them to a demo of “I’m a Rebel.”

“I’ve got a song that might suit you,” Holzhauer told guitarist Wolf Hoffmann. “It was written for AC/DC, it’s catchy, it’s heavy.”

Accept recorded the song and used it as both the lead single and the title track for their 1980 album I’m a Rebel. It became the band’s first minor hit and earned them a spot in the broader hard rock conversation—thanks in part to the music video that accompanied the release.

“This was our attempt at getting some radio traction,” Hoffmann recalled years later. “That track was the only one we ever covered—and it had AC/DC DNA written all over it.”

Alex Young, credited under the alias George Alexander, even visited Accept’s studio to help shape the final version. According to Hoffmann, despite their efforts, AC/DC’s unreleased demo still sounded better.

The Version You’ll Probably Never Hear

Despite being a track with undeniable appeal and historic value, AC/DC’s version of “I’m a Rebel” never appeared on their Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap album, nor on later rarities collections like Bonfire (1997) or Backtracks (2009). However, rumors persist that the 1976 recording is still locked away in the archives of Albert Productions, AC/DC’s former label.

“I think the track was brilliant,” Hoffmann said in 2021. “I actually remember hearing the original demo—it had a magic we couldn’t quite recapture. Sadly, it’ll likely never be released. It’s locked away, and the person who had a copy on his iPhone passed away.”

Still, the song lives on in some form. Former Accept frontman Udo Dirkschneider revived “I’m a Rebel” with his band U.D.O. on their 1998 album No Limits, and again as a live version on their 2001 album Live From Russia.

As for AC/DC’s version? It remains one of rock’s great buried treasures—one we may never get to hear.