I was listening to the 666th episode of This American Life the other day, which is appropriately about Satan. The first act of the show features a story about longtime ultra-Christian radio preacher and televangelist Bob Larson’s research mission back in the late 1980s, when he went on tour with metal legends, Slayer, to find out what these “devil music” concerts are really like. In the 1980s I was definitely a Slayer fan, not a megafan, but they were represented by a small patch on my denim jacket. And ironically, in the early 1990s while living in Nashville, TN, I would record Bob Larson’s goofy show off of the a.m. radio dial to use as samples in the more experimental demos I was creating. I never knew that those two paths had crossed, but it does make sense as the country was winding down from The Satanic Panic that pitched middle American Christian thinking against the “dangers” of heavy rock music that was hypnotizing the youth of the day and brainwashing them into worshipping the devil. Oh, the horror! Anyway, if you lived through this time as a fan of heavy metal or just have an interest in a bizarre period of American culture clash and fearmongering, I do recommend that episode of This American Life, particularly this segment.
While I was reminiscing about this formative time of my youth, I looked up what I consider to be the Super Bowl of Satanic Panic specials from that golden era. It was Geraldo Rivera’s “Devil Worship: Exposing Satan’s Underground” that aired on NBC in October 1988. Enjoy!
And while you’re enjoying this throwback, here’s Slayer’s epic classic album Reign in Blood from 1986.