Before we get started, this article will reference suicide a lot. It’s okay not to be okay. If you are struggling reach out to someone. If you can’t talk to a loved one, then go here Suicide Hotlines and Prevention Resources Around the World | Psychology Today United Kingdom
When you lose a loved one whether a family member or friend, it’s easy to blame someone. It may be a friend who’s a bad influence on the person or, it could be a TV or internet personality who has warped the mind of a loved one. Generally, the most blamed reason is music. Band x told people to shoot their school. Artist y said that you should rob your local store etc, etc.
Mostly the blame usually ends up in the tabloids and that’s as far as it goes. One case in 1990 went even further than that. It became a media sensation and a six-week court case. This week The Beat Marches On to 24th August 1990 when a judge clears Judas Priest for causing two suicides.
In the 1980s North America was gripped by the Satanic Panic. Many reports came out of small towns where a local store was a front to the occult or satanic rituals. No one was safe, not even McDonalds. The fast-food restaurant was accused of giving its proceeds to the church of Satan. The company had to release a public statement refuting the accusation.
The panic was like the Salem witch trials, where anyone could be accused just purely because they were different or an outsider to the norm. They didn’t even need any proof, all they needed to say was that they thought this person was a Satanist because they were different. Which has always been a thing in North America whether it was the witch trials or the Red Scare in the 1950s.
McDonald’s wasn’t the only company that was accused of worshipping Satan. Proctor and Gamble were thought to have Satanic links. Their logo which had 13 stars to match the colonies in America was the issue. The company had to change the logo and set up a special hotline to assure their customers that they weren’t part of a satanic cult.
The 1980s cartoons such as Thundercats, He-Man, the Smurfs and the table-top game Dungeons and Dragons were accused of having occult sensibilities. The Satanic Panic was even featured on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show. One of the biggest in the country at the time.
Of course, most of the blame went to heavy metal music. The genre has always been the fall guy for someone to blame and the Satanic Panic was no exception. The links to the occult aren’t anything new. Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin were often linked to being Satan’s minions during the 1970s. Influenced by the founding member of the occult Aleister Crowley books, they referenced his teachings and symbols in songs and album covers respectively.
In 1985, tragedy hit in Reno, Nevada when 20-year-old James Vance and 18-year-old Raymond Belknap formed a suicide pact while spending the day drinking and doing drugs. They went to a playground by a local church grabbed a gun and shot themselves. Belknap dies instantly but Vance survives for a further three years. The two were listening to the Judas Priest album Stained Class. After the incident, Vance sent a letter to Belknap’s family solely blaming the band claiming that the album held subliminal messages about suicide.
Looking for someone to blame, the victim’s families sued Judas Priest in 1990, stating that the song Better By You, Better Than Me, a cover song from the Stained Class album held a subliminal message telling fans to kill themselves. The band tried to use the free speech defence originally but what made it unique is that subliminal messages aren’t classed as speech. Singer Rob Halford said at the time that he didn’t even know what a subliminal message was.
The media swarmed onto Reno throughout the summer of 1990, it wasn’t just the band on trial, it was the whole of heavy metal. If they lose it could have ended the whole genre. It was shown on TV, one of the first court cases to do so. The pressure on them was immense and almost broke the band.
The case was frivolous at best. In an article from Far Out, Jayne Andrews, a member of the band’s management team, revealed that the original complaints were about a different song, Heroes End, in which the lyrics were misquoted and wasn’t even on the Stained Class album. The defendants claimed that you could only be a hero if you killed yourself, but the actual lyric was ‘Why do heroes have to die?’ The defence attorney wrote an op-ed in the LA Times about the dangers of subliminal messaging, He tried to prove his point by quoting Jimi Hendrix, or at least he thought he did as apparently Hendrix never said the quote.
Both sides attacked the reputation of the other throughout, the family’s representation made Judas Priest singer Rob Halford, sing the song A Capela in court and then questioned every minute distinction. As well as the group’s reputation as a whole. The band’s lawyer questioned the family’s background especially James Vance’s mother who did have some hostile moments with the attorney.
Eventually, the judge dismissed the case, when guitarist Glenn Tipton went to a record store and brought a copy and played it in court backwards to prove that they didn’t put in anything malicious. Of the decipherable words all that could be made out was ‘Hey Ma, my chair’s broken, get me a peppermint, and help me get a job’ When the judge heard this you could see his face and realise that the case was a waste of time. Judas Priest and heavy metal were cleared.
In his closing statement, Judge Jerry Carr Whitehead did say there are subliminal messages in the song, but the messages they were giving couldn’t be used to make a person kill themselves. Although Priest was found innocent, in the court of public opinion the band and the genre took a nosedive in popularity.
This is not the only time subliminal messaging has been accused in song. In the mid-sixties when bands and artists purposely put backwards solos and riffs in their work conspiracy theorists have always tried to find the hidden message when there isn’t one. In the age of the internet, it has got worse. I have written about hidden messages before (see here 51: Car Crashes, Rumours, and Subliminal Clues – Beat Marches On) and bands do not intend for their records to be played backwards. If they did it would be to buy tickets to our shows or buy all of our albums, not kill yourself.
The Beat Marches On is a music blog written by Jimmy Whitehead. Jimmy has been blogging for six years specialising in Sports (especially American Football). If you want to follow Jimmy on Twitter: @Jimmy_W1987
The Beat Marches On has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/The-Beat-Goes-On-Blog-107727714415791 and an X page: @TheBeatGoesOnB1
The websites used for research were:
How a suicide pact was almost the end of Judas Priest | Louder (loudersound.com)
A documentary on the court case including interviews with the victim’s families, the band, and survivor James Vance on YouTube:
Dream Deceivers Documentary – The Story Behind James Vance vs. Judas Priest 1992 (youtube.com)
If you want to request a story for The Beat Marches On blog, you can contact jwhiteheadjournalism@gmail.com. We cannot guarantee that the story will be published but will be considered