What do you get if you combine backwards masking and the Third Eagle of the Apocalypse?
Hidden satanic messages.
In other news, The Third Eagle of the Apocalypse sent me his book (I asked for it on YouTube). He didn’t personally sign it. But he did touch it. If I can be bothered.
You can get a bin full of your ashes in a 45… that’s the best intro I could come up with for this post, and if you remember a Cornershop song from the late 90s (possibly), and know that the 45 refers to the 45rpms a conventional 7 inch record had to be played at to produce music as intended, then you’ll think it’s brilliant.
I’ve posted, in the past, some creative way to ensure your ashes stay on in a really novel way. You can become a set of pencils, or a diamond ring, or an urn shaped like your head, if that’s not your cup of tea (though it might be Keith Richards’), you can get ashes mixed with tattoo ink, and now, thanks to “And Vinyly” you can become a final vinyl. They’ll cast your ashes into the mix, and cut you a bunch of records of your favourite song to be distributed to your friends and loved ones. Or perhaps your enemies.
You can even record a message. Backmasking is a real possibility. I’d get the Beatles Revolution 9 recorded backwards on my album – so that you’d hear “turn me on deadman” in the normal direction, and atonal LSD inspired experimental music (it’s not my favourite Beatles song) in reverse. You can set the record straight on any long running family feuds. You can dig the needle in just one last time… the puns, and possibilities, are endless.
Wired has a story. Here’s a quote about the process.
“How does it work? The process of setting human ashes into vinyl involves a very understanding pressing plant. Basically the ashes must be sprinkled onto the raw piece of vinyl (known as a “biscuit” or “puck”) before it is pressed by the plates. This means that when the plates exert their pressure on the vinyl in order to create the grooves, the ashes are pressed into the record.”
What songs would you pick?
Well readers, I apologise for the delay between drinks on the Backwards Masking front. There’s life in that dead horse yet, and today my new horse arrived in the mail – “More Rock & Country Backward Masking Unmasked. Which promises, at the outset, to be just as edifying. But comes without the signature of a member of the QTC faculty on the inside front cover. Sadly. Though I may ask our principal to sign it. The first one will be worth dollars on ebay. Tens of dollars. If we ever launch our “Brisbane Presbyterian Relics” store…
But I digress.
Before moving on to book two, I promised to tell you why Olivia Newton-John is to be avoided, and I don’t feel like I’ve done justice to book one yet… here is a bit of Jacob Aranza’s story – the last chapter in the book.
I can never really remember not being around music. My sisters sang, and so did my brother. My sisters were even going to record an album at one time, but my dad thought it would lead to their dropping out of school, so he didn’t let them. They dropped out anyway! As far back as I can remember they were listening to Frankie Valle, Neil Sadaka and others playing similar music. I was always more influenced by my brother who was listening to the Beatles, Poco, Jefferson Starship and the Rolling Stones. He once spent the night outside a concert hall just to get tickets to a Rolling Stones concert.
The crowd that I ran with was just beginning to get into people like Janis Joplin, Black Sabbath, The Guess Who, Led Zeppelin and, my favourite, Jimi Hendrix. Although I had never seen him in concert I treasured every picture, poster of album that I had of him.
What we’re dealing with here people is the genuine article. A convert from the clutches of the dark and dangerous Rock and Roll.
I believe we could have titled it the “Age of Black Lights.” Because of the fluorescent lighting fad we bought black light t-shirts, black-light posters, black-light pants, black-light shoes… you name it and we either had it or could get it!
Awesome man. Black light fever.
Psychedelics were in and words like “far out, heavy, solid and wow” were in their prime. It seemed like the whole world was taking acid, snorting THC, and dropping mescalin.
It may be that this book doesn’t translate well from the 80s – but hearing someone talk about the words that used to be cool when they used to be cool is always fodder for laughs… it’s a cheap shot. But it’s hard to imagine “solid” ever being the height of rock and roll rebellion.
“With rock and roll in my ears, and drugs in my mind, I was trying to understand my role in this messed up world… I was living with my dad and stepmother who was a ‘backslidden Pentecostal woman preacher.’ My friends and I were into the street gangs and we thought stealing and violence were where it was at.”
But it gets worse. Much worse.
As if all this wasn’t bad enough, they had just started integration in the schools. Because our school was 90% Mexican a lot of integration was to come its way. By the time it was all over we ended up with a school that was 60% Mexican, 39% Black, and 1% white! Our school already had problems with drugs, sex and violence. All integration did for our school was put the match to the fuse of a bomb that was already there.”
You know what it was. It was the white people. That one percent. They must have introduced the school to rock and roll…
But then a preacher arrived, took control of a chaotic situation. And converted 1,000 troubled teens within a week.
“Our school turned into a revival center! instead of carrying knives and chains, they began to carry Bibles! You could see T-Shirts throughout the classrooms that read “Read your Bible – It’ll scare the hell out of you.”
I can’t help but think that shirt would have been better off capitalising the Hell.
Aranza converted, but faced Mormonism at home, he moved out, to live with his mum. Who ran a pub. He poured beers. But started preaching to the patrons. And “God kept me straight every day that I lived there.” He didn’t get drunk, or listen to rock and roll once.
Olivia Newton-John
Aranza doesn’t like our (Australia’s) Liv. How dare he.
“Olivia Newton-John who had been looked on for years as a clean pop singer, set pornography to music with her recent hit “Physical.” A segment of the song says “I took you to an intimate restaurant, then to a suggestive movie, there’s nothing left to talk about unless it’s horizontal.”
In case you’re confused, at this point, Aranza helpfully lets you know that horizontal means “laying down”…
These lyrics are basically the reason young people were experimenting with sex in the early 80s.
To close, here’s Aranza’s take on some of your favourite bands – Twitter style…
AC/DC: Sexually charged, on a highway to hell.
Adam and the Ants: Adam, leader of the group, represents rebellion, absurd fashion, and bisexuality.
Aerosmith: Singer impregnated his girlfriend, married her, was arrested for drugs in high school, and their fans get carried away.
Allen Parsons Project: Have a pyramid on their album cover, which causes an out of body experience, and they wrote an album about VD.
America: Singer found God, quit band, lost record deal because the record company said “your fans don’t want to hear about Jesus”…
Beach Boys: Involved in meditation, believe in reincarnation, sing about girls.
The Beatles: Drugs, sex, the occult and a messiah complex. Have children out of wedlock. Sponsored Monty Python.
Bee Gees: Look wholesome, but like drawing naked people. Swear lots. Believe in reincarnation, smoke pot.
Black Sabbath: Satanic name and imagery, including the “rock and roll”/devil salute (incidentally popularised by their singer – who replaced Ozzy Osbourne – James Dio, who died this week).
Blue Oyster Cult: Have the word “cult” in their name. Believe in aliens. Question the cross with their logo.
Richie Blackmore (formerly Deep Purple), Rainbow: Conducts seances, records his music in a haunted castle. “Blackmore’s music and message are certainly not that of a rainbow but rather a “lake of fire.”
Blondie: Bimbo, drug addled, sex addicts.
David Bowie: Gay man, married to a lesbian, drug addict. Says “rock is the devil’s music”.
Eric Clapton: Former heroin addict, world’s greatest guitarist. Treated drug addiction with acupuncture.
Captain and Tennille: Vegetarians, believe in reincarnation and karma.
Alice Cooper: Eats animals, sings about dead people, named after a witch.
John Denver: Messiah complex, looking for meaning in spirituality.
Doctor Hook: Sing about perverted sex, and drugs, and sex and drugs.
Eagles: Satanic, friends of satanists. Give drugs to teenagers. Based on media reports, conspiracy theories, and hearsay.
Earth, Wind, and Fire: Believe in reincarnation. Have a spiritual ritual. Think all religions are the same.
Fleetwood Mac: Sing about witches, especially a “witch in Whales(sic)”. Not Jonah. The country.
Pink Floyd: Encourage rebellion (we don’t need no education) – “Mind control? They have it over the minds of millions of young people as they encourage rebellion against authority in the school classrooms.
The Grateful Dead: Used to be called “the Warlocks.” Sing about destructive habits. Do drugs. Confusing lyrics. “I’m sure some people will be grateful when their music is dead”…
Hall N’ Oates: Possibly gay, like witches. Not wholesome.
Jimi Hendrix: Drugs. Plays guitar with his teeth. Sets things on fire. Likes to “hypnotise” people with music. More drugs. Thinks rock is fun. Died from drugs.
Billy Joel: Does drugs, compares music to sex.
Jefferson Starship: Singer named bastard child ‘god’, did drugs, called rock “church,” sing about drugs. Warning to those wanting to fly in the Starship: “Flight pattern ends in death.”
Jethro Tull: Suggested Jesus doesn’t like denim, but prefers corduroys. Swear when singing about Jesus.
Elton John: Sings about rebellion, disguised as wholesome music. Sings about prostitution and sniffing glue. Possibly gay. Outed by Bob Larson (the exorcist? Possibly).
Janis Joplin: Born in Texas. Died of a drug overdose (possibly related?).
Judas Priest: Bad name. Incorrect message of salvation.
Kiss: Evil, wear makeup. Sex addicts. Possibly satanic.
Led Zeppelin: Delved into occult. Use backwards masking.
Meat Loaf: Thinks rock is supernatural and claims to be possessed on stage.
Bette Midler: Likes pot, flashed her audience.
Iron Maiden: Playing with occultic fire.
Barry McGuire: Started “protest music,” starred in Hair, became a Christian.
Jim Morrison: Messiah complex, died at 27, flashed his audience, promiscuous.
Nazareth: Into the occult and demons.
Ted Nuggent: killed a raccoon, scraped it off the pavement, cooked, and ate it. (This is literal, not a metaphor).
Ozzy Osbourne: Claims the help of the Devil. Treated for rabies after eating a bat.
The Police: Take drugs, sing about Zen. “Watch out for the Police.”
Prince: A man who wears a bikini. Swears. Sings perverted songs.
Queen: Name comes from homosexual slang, Freddy Mercury wears makeup and tight pants.
Patty Smith: Sings about horses. Probably a lesbian. Doesn’t want Jesus to have her sins.
REO Speedwagon: Sings about infidelity. Got into music to meet girls. Claim to have a “cult following”…
Rolling Stones: Equate sex with dancing. Do drugs. Talk about the Devil. Singer has rubber lips.
The Who: Break their guitars. Follow eastern religions. Do drugs. Have fans.
Well firstly, Ben drew me this.
And found Jacob Aranza’s Twitter account…
And now…
Jacob Aranza’s Rock History
If I were to come into your home and tell you to worship Satan I wonder what your response would be. I presented this question to a crowd of young people I was to speak to about rock and roll. Their response was one of complete shock. It sounded as removed from rock and roll as the subject of sex might seem. Yet sex is just as related as Satan is to rock and roll.
This passage doesn’t quite equate sex with satanism. But it gets pretty close.
In 1954 a Cleveland Disc Jockey by the name of Alan Freed was searching for a name to describe a new music fad pioneered by men such as Gene Vincent, Chuck Berry, and Elvis Presley. Freed finally found a name he borrowed from the ghetto term describing premarital sex. The name was rock and roll.
I’m just glad we have guys like Jacob who can equip us with the facts – so was one seventeen year old girl, who told her teacher after one of Aranza’s rallies:
“Many people have come and given us their opinion on rock, but finally we have heard the facts.”
Rock is bad. M’kay. The Beatles claimed to be bigger than Jesus (probably statistically true if you consider Beatles album sales to the crowds Jesus preached to – though not if you consider total converts). Just when we thought we were safe – post Beatlemania – we got Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. Who wanted to do drugs, drugs and more drugs. Drugs are bad. M’kay.
The worst, according to Jacob Aranza, was not the “son of a Mormon preacher” Alice Cooper, but KISS (Kids in Satans Service).
Rock and roll magazines call them fire breathing demons from rock and roll. Former member Peter Criss declares “I find myself evil”… Gene Simmons says “I’ve always been interested in what human flesh tasted like, and I have always wanted to be a cannibal.”
“Marvel Comics produced a special edition dedicated to KISS. Blood samples were taken from the group and smeared on the [printing] plates so they could say literally that the comic was printed in the blood of the band. Marvel editor Steve Gerber aimed the magazine directly at eight- to nine- year olds”
But don’t despair.. just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, it did…
Still the road to rock would be paved with many other groups to come. Everyone waited. What next? I was in Europe in 1978 and saw the new beginning. I was speaking in an open market place in England when, in the middle of my message, a teenager came and stood across from me. I tried not to stare. But it was difficult. His hair appeared like a long crew cut. It stuck straight up in the air, uneven and jagged in many places. I had never seen anyone with safety pins stuck in their face before, or leopard skin pants on. Maybe it was the pink, red, orange, blue and blonde hair that caught my attention.
After I finished speaking he walked over to me and said, “hey, what’s wrong with you man?” I couldn’t believe it… He was asking what was wrong with me?
This was my first encounter with what was to come, namely, punk rock. When I found out what he represented I laughed to myself and said “The kids in America will never go for this!” But they did.
The Religion of Rock and Roll
Veteran rocker Leon Russell said in an interview “I’d like to say the religion of Christianity has done more harm than any other single force I can think of in the world.” When asked what an alternative would be he suggested “the religion of rock and roll.”
Still surprised? You can see why rock has had such a devastating effect on America and the entire civilised world.”
That’s right people. Lock up your children. The religion of rock and roll is coming to get them. And for those of you who think this is just scaremongering. Think again. Here are the three things that change when somebody joins a religion (or cult) according to Aranza:
Here is what Aranza has to say about more of your favourite bands (and some you might not like)…
The Beatles
The Beatles are living legends. Their music brought with it a tidal wave of drugs, sex and the occult.
The Beatles PR guy, Derek Taylor (who might have been doing some PR at the time) convinced Aranza when he said:
“They’re completely anti-Christ. I mean, I am anti-Christ as well, but they’re so anti-Christ they shock me which isn’t an easy thing.”
Also George Harrison was a leading backer behind the movie “The Life of Brian” (which was a mockery of Christ).
The Bee Gees
A first look at the Bee Gees would leave the impression that they are quite wholesome, a look into their private lives would expose the unwholesome values that they have.
Robin Gibbs admits to a hobby or pornographic drawings and all three members of the group lace their comments with obscenities.
They also do drugs.
Eric Clapton
Eric has been given the title of the world’s greatest living guitarist. But he fell into a period of heroin addiction. He was finally treated with acupuncture for his addiction.
Alice Cooper
Vincent Furnier, a Mormon preacher’s son from Arizona received his stage name while playing with a Ouija board. The board spelled out Alice Cooper and promised him world fame if he would change his name to the name of that 17th century witch, Alice Cooper. He later claimed to be the reincarnation of that witch.
Summary of the next bit: He does bad stuff on stage.
“Albums include Billion Dollar Babies and Alice Cooper goes to Hell. All these hellish and sexual overtones that Alice uses don’t make it hard to believe that he is going to hell and taking many others there along with him.”
For those not in the know – Alice Cooper is now a “born again” Christian (and a Sarah Palin fan), one can only hope Aranza was man enough to write him an apology. Cooper said this about his faith:
“It’s really easy to focus on Alice Cooper and not on Christ. I’m a rock singer. I’m nothing more than that. I’m not a philosopher. I consider myself low on the totem pole of knowledgeable Christians. So, don’t look for answers from me.”
…and later…
“Drinking beer is easy. Trashing your hotel room is easy. But being a Christian, that’s a tough call. That’s real rebellion!”
Yeah. Rock on Alice.
Tomorrow: Why Olivia Newton John is evil.
I’m a sucker for cheap books. Especially cheap Christian books. Especially dodgy cheap Christian books at a library fire sale because nobody has ever borrowed them… I’m building quite a collection. With the intention of inflicting them on you dear reader blogging my way through all of them.
First cab off the rank is Jacob Aranza’s “Backward Masking Unmasked” published in 1984. The book features an opening letter from a Senator of Louisiana. Senator Bill Keith describes the sinister nature of Rock’n’Roll as one of the “burning issues of our time” – in hindsight I think it’s fair to say that Keith was not a modern day prophet.
Jacob Aranza is described in his cover blurb as being one of the outstanding young ministers of America. And someone who was involved deeply in the drug/rock culture of Houston, Texas at the age of nine. He was obviously uniquely placed to provide insight into the evils of such bands as AC/DC, the Beatles, the Bee Gees, Blondie, John Denver, Bette Midler, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, and Eric Clapton.
The book only briefly covers the cover issue. Backwards Masking. It features spurious quotes from lobby groups, a weird blend of quotes from disparate psychologists seemingly cherry picked to build a case, and a bunch of conspiracy theory like links between various bands and a particular Satanist. If anybody has seen John Safran’s Music Jamboree it’s a bit like watching him build a case against something – only Aranza is serious. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Safran had read this book – it also accuses the Beatles of adopting backmasking techniques in order to further their own conspiracy theory that Paul McCartney is dead (which featured on the show).
In future posts in this series I’ll be sharing some insights into the bands you shouldn’t be listening to. But let me close with a passage from the introduction.
“If you don’t think this music is affecting the values of young people then listen to a few letters that were written in response to the subject of backwards masking being used satanically by rock groups. These letters were taken out of Hit Parader magazine. Hit Parader is a very popular rock magazine read by young people between the ages of 8 to 18:
“In a recent Hit Parader, a coupe of your readers wrote about rock bands and Satanism. Big fricken deal! The listened to Stairway to Heaven backwards, I’ve heard it too. But I still listen faithfully to Led Zeppelin.” – Gary Walker, Washington.
“All these Satan/Rock comparisons are driving me up a wall. I’m a good Catholic, but I also love rock.” Stan Lapinski, Florida.
“The people who say that rock and roll music and the various groups are devil worshippers are ignorant, and don’t know what rock music is all about. It’s just music! It relieves people from all the everyday problems. If anything it helps people.” – Steve Crocker, Florida
You can plainly see that backward masking and the forward messages of rock have taken tremendous toll already by the responses of these young people. The statement they are making is clear, “Don’t confuse me with the facts.””
This introductory chapter concludes: “So hold on to your earphones, here we go!”
If you have a favourite 80s band you think might be satanic let me know in the comments and I’ll include them in subsequent posts.