Highway to Hell is a famous 1979 song by generic rock band AC/DC. The song is famous for being about highways, Hell, and hedonistic rock and roll lifestyles. It is an okay song.

But did you know there was a 1980 single called Highway to Hull? It’s about the debauched, depraved lifestyles of those whom are heading to the port city of Hull in East Riding of Yorkshire. Truly, it is a modern day masterpiece.

Satan and Northern England in Highway to Hull

Hull, arguably one of the UK’s most underrated cities, which is way it the song was written by Hull-based thrash metal band ABCD. Look at these incredible lyrics:

No stop signs, speed limit,
Nobody’s gonna slow me down,
Like a wheel, gonna spin it,
Nobody’s gonna mess me around,
Hey, Satan, payin’ my dues,
Playin’ in a rockin’ band,
Hey, mama, look at me,
I’m on the way to the promised land, woah,

I’m on the highway to Hull,
Highway to Hull,
I’m on the highway to Hull,
Highway to Hull.

Some contemporary critics noted the lyrics were exactly the same as AC/DC’s song (Highway to Hell), apart from the change of the location (from the place of punishment in the afterlife, to the sleepy city of Hull in Northern England).

However, the band ABCD rejected such a claim.

Pale and malnourished English people lapped the song up, storming it into the UK charts into 25th, before peaking at 23rd, then back to 25th, then up to 24th the following week, back up to 23rd the week after that, then it plummeted out of the charts for good.

It was to be ABCD’s biggest ever UK hit, although the song did storm to No. 1 in the charts over in Barbados (for unknown reasons to this day). As of August 2026, the band live off royalties the song makes, which is enough to afford them all a lifestyle of cheap cigarettes, low-quality lager, and a single bedroom apartment with mould on a wall in Hull.

The Infamous ABCD Live Stubbed Toe and Satan Incident

Notoriously, in a September 1980 performance of the song Highway to Hull, backing vocalist and bassist John Smith stubbed his toe. It hurt so much he began a barrage of obscene swearing, including the f bomb amongst others, but also uttered the word “hell”.

This immediately triggered Satan to directly contact AC/DC and issue a complaint of plagiarism of their song.

Armed with Satan Himself as a legal guardian and demonic defence lawyer, the Australian rock band came down like a tonne of bricks on ABCD, Hull, and its various highways. Many in the region were raised in the subsequent carnage.

Indeed, to this day there’s no direct motorway into the city limits of Kingston upon Hull.

Instead, the city endures merely one primary strategic trunk highway (the A63). This acts as the location’s only lifeline connecting it to the UK’s national motorway network.

This devious act was named the 135th most demonic thing Satan has ever done in the history of time.