Satanic backward masking changed 1980s rock (but not in the way you think)

“There are the actual facts of what was happening in popular culture in the 1980s — and then there was this tantalizing notion that music played backwards was going to seed our minds with evil. Which was scary, but also kind of cool to a certain kid-like way of thinking. You can almost see a book like Backward Masking Unmasked as young-adult literature.” — Rolf Potts

In this episode of Deviate Rolf delves into another musical mystery — the idea of “backward masking” in rock music, and how it came to influence notions of “Satanic Panic” in America over the course of the 1980s. Returning to the show for this musical deep-dive are Jedd Beaudoin (@JeddBeaudoin), who hosts the syndicated music show “Strange Currency,” and Michael Carmody (@Carmody68), a musician, record collector, and donut shop entrepreneur.

Together they discuss preacher Jacob Aranza’s underground-classic 1983 anti-rock book Backward Masking Unmasked and its idiosyncratic take on popular music (4:00); the history of rock and roll and American culture that led up to Satanic Panic in the 1980s (31:10); how rock acts exploited the idea of Satanism to sell records just as preachers, politicians, and pop-journalists fixated on its supposed dangers to attract followers (42:10); and the legacy of Satanic Panic and the seeming lack of evil in today’s popular music (1:05:45).

Rock and roll curiosities mentioned

• Backmasking (audio technique)
• Gene Simmons’ Tongue (Snopes article)
• Blood in KISS Comic Book (Snopes article)
• Paul is Dead (Beatles urban legend)
• Aleister Crowley (English occultist)
• Robert Johnson sold soul to the devil (blues myth)
• Sign of the horns (rock hand gesture)
• Eddie (zombie-like Iron Maiden mascot)
• Dark Side of the Rainbow (movie/album mashup)
• Acid rock (psychedelic rock subgenre)
• Judas Priest suicide lawsuit
• Ozzy Osbourne suicide lawsuit
• Norwegian black metal (extreme metal genre)
• Classic rock is not dead. Classic rock is undead (podcast episode)
• Hammer of the Gods (controversial book about Led Zeppelin)

Movies and TV shows mentioned

• CHIPs “Rock Devil Rock” episode (1982)
• The Decline of Western Civilization (Penelope Spheeris documentary)
• Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (documentary)
• Rosemary’s Baby (horror movie)
• The Exorcist (horror movie)
• Trick or Treat (horror movie)
• Manic Pixie Dream Girl (stock movie character)
• Dream Deceivers (Judas Priest suicide trial documentary)

Other people, institutions, and events mentioned

• Satanic Ritual Abuse (moral panic)
• Day-care sex-abuse hysteria (moral panic)
• James Vicary (subliminal advertising researcher)
• James Watt (Interior secretary under Reagan)
• Tipper Gore (senator’s wife and anti-rock crusader)
• Captain & Tennille (soft-rock artists)
• Bette Midler (singer-songwriter)
• Church of Satan (religious organization)
• Transcendental Meditation (spiritual practice)
• Dada (avant-garde art movement)
• 1 Samuel 15:3 (genocidal Bible verse)
• West Memphis Three (wrongfully convicted ritual-murder suspects)
• Shout at the Devil (Motley Crue album)
• Columbine High School massacre (mass shooting)
• The weird history of America’s national anthem (podcast episode)
• Manson murders (cult killings)

Rock Devil Rock CHiPs TV clip

Quincy punk-rock episode clip

This episode was engineered by Torin Andersen of KMUW studios in Wichita. The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.