Culture

Rumors of Rock'n'Roll Satanism

Jesse Walker talks about rock-music conspiracy theories on KUER.

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Today at 1 Eastern, 12 Central, 11 Mountain, 10 Pacific—take your pick!—I'll be on the Utah public radio station KUER, talking about rumors of rock'n'roll Satanism:

And then I took so many of those drugs that I forgot which decade Mötley Crüe came from.
Jack T. Chick

In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, there were a lot of rumors about the dangers of rock music. If you played The White Album backwards, was John Lennon really saying "turn me on dead man"? Did Led Zeppelin have hidden messages in Stairway to Heaven? Ministers preached and albums were burned to protect against communism, secret societies, and the occult. Tuesday, we're talking with folklorist Lynne McNeill and journalist Jesse Walker about the era of backmasking paranoia and asking what it reveals about our fears.

You can listen live here.

Related: "The Great Rock'n'Roll Conspiracy," "Moscow Girls Make Me Sing and Shout," and "Illuminati Defector Tells All!"

Update: For a podcast of the show, go here.