Pop Music That F*cks: Rock's Satanic Panic
Eating For Free
Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson
4.8 • 536 Ratings
🗓️ 16 February 2023
⏱️ 104 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For over 40 years, the specter of the "Satanic Panic" has loomed large over the American cultural psyche, with many claims made about what happened, who were the players involved, and what its lasting impacts on pop culture and politics really were. This episode, we take a peak into the panic, and unpack how racist segregation policies and outrage against the growing popularity of Black musicians and cultural tastemakers were two of the least discussed factors in the panic, as well as two of its most important and relevant elements.
About:
Hosted by journalists Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson, Eating For Free is a weekly podcast that explores gossip and power in the pop culture landscape: Where it comes from, who wields it, and who suffers at the hands of it. Find out the stories behind the stories, as together they look beyond the headlines of troublesome YouTubers or scandal-ridden A-Listers, and delve deep into the inner workings of Hollywood's favorite pastime. The truth, they've found, is definitely stranger than any gossip.
You can also find us on our website, Twitter, and Instagram. Or buy our merch! Any personal, business, or general inquires can be sent to eatingforfreepodcast@gmail.com
Sources:
-
LYRICS PANNED : EVANGELIST SEES SATAN IN ROCK 'N' ROLL (April 6, 1987) [LA Times]
-
Subliminal messages: Between the devil and the media. [APA PsycNet]
-
Mr. Ed Theme Conveys Satanic Message, Evangelist Say (April 24, 1986) [AP News]
-
The Devil's Music (Aug 23, 1985) [Washington Post]
-
Suicides Blamed on Music's Satanic Spell (March 18, 1988) [Christianity Today]
-
THE DEVIL, YOU SAY? NO WAY : AC/DC's Message: Rebellion, Not Satan Worship (Sep 8, 1985) [LA Times]
-
CAN MUSIC CORRUPT? The battle lines are drawn over whether heavy metal's raucous lyrics really endanger teens (Jan 10, 1989) [CS Monitor]
-
PEPSI DROPS MADONNA 'PRAYER' ADS (April 4, 1989) [Washington Post]
-
It's Time to Revisit the Satanic Panic [NYT]
-
20/20: The Devil Worshippers [1985] [Youtube]
-
Occult Criminal Investigation: Reference Material, Michigan State Police Child Abuse Unit, Criminal Investigation Division (Nov 1988) [GVSU.EDU]
-
Witness Of Fire (Dec 3, 1980) [Washington Post]
-
Styx calls probe of satanic rock messages rubbish (May 2, 1982) [UPI]
-
The Fight to Save America From Satan's Subliminal Rock Messages [Atlas Obscura]
-
PROCTER & GAMBLE FIGHTS SATAN STORY (April, 18, 1985) [NYT]
-
SERIOUS ISSUES UNDERLIE A NEW ALBUM FROM STYX [March 27, 1985] [NYT]
- The Real Origins of the Religious Right [Politico]
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | These gays, they're trying to murder me. |
| 0:05.9 | What do I think of her? |
| 0:07.1 | Yes. |
| 0:08.5 | I don't think of her. |
| 0:11.2 | Goodbye. |
| 0:12.8 | I'm on. |
| 0:14.7 | Right about that in the New York fucking post. |
| 0:18.0 | Da-na-na-na-da-da-da-da-na-na-na-na-na-na at the body shop doing something unholy here on Eating For Free, the podcast recording live from the absolute edge of the internet. Hi, everyone. I'm international diva supreme, James Lars. International diva supreme. And this is your artist in at large, Matthew Lossack. Actually, let me amend that. Let me amend that real fast because it's been a little bit of an update this week. It's redacted. Oh, yeah, lots been going on for you here. Local paper contributor at large, paper magazine contributed at large, Jen Summers. I love it. I love it. Yes. Congratulations. Yeah, I know. talk about it, but now we can. I mean, we can talk about it. I mean, there's not too much to talk about. I'm like back on the scene. Um, there was a ripple. Where was that? What that? That tweet, Hayden Panetteer is back. Like, a lot of people should be scared. Like, that's, that was like me getting back on the scene you were now having a revival period |
| 1:12.1 | i like saw chart beat i saw my name like near the top of chart beat for like certain stuff and i |
| 1:17.4 | was like hmm hello you should be frightened hello friend it's been a minute the walls people should |
| 1:24.2 | be scared bored up the window honestly people should be scared i was like writing the window. Honestly, people should be scared. |
| 1:28.0 | I was like writing about someone breaking into Jennifer Coolidge's house. |
| 1:33.2 | And well, someone's talking to Jennifer. |
| 1:34.3 | No, no, no, sorry. |
| 1:35.2 | Someone jumped the fence at Jennifer Coolidge's house. |
| 1:38.0 | And I was writing about it and I was like, you know what? |
| 1:41.8 | Let's just slip in a little thing about how celebrities voted for Rick Caruso because |
| 1:46.3 | they're afraid for their lives. |
| 1:48.5 | Like, just a little, just slip a finger in, you know, slip a finger into the discourse. |
| 1:54.0 | It's slippery slope because soon it's a whole fifth. |
| 1:55.8 | What I, I love that you jump there before me, but like we tend to do here on Eve before you cut a woman off. |
| 2:03.7 | And for that, you deserve to die. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.