Running Head: BANNING METAL MUSIC 1

The Banning of Metal Music

Brandon Abraham Salgado

University of Texas at El Paso

Professor Fatima Masoud

Rhetoric and Writing Studies 1302: Popular Music and Society

Running Head: BANNING METAL MUSIC 2

Introduction

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the

free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, this quote from the constitution is

what artists from the Metal genre of music and fans were basing their fight against censorship

on. The content of the lyrics, cover artwork, videos, and concert performances in the Metal genre

has been a hot topic with perceived references to Satanism, sadomasochism, suicide, rape,

sexism, and murder, among any other ideals one may get from their own interpretations. This

was especially true during the 1980s with the Satanic Panic. The typography VH1 article 6.66

Hot Points of the 80s Heavy Metal Satanic Panic by Mike McPadden gives a brief explanation

on various events that contributed to the involvement of Metal music in the Satanic Panic and

some of the songs and artists that followed along. The iconography video Dee Sniders PMRC

Senate Hearing Speech (Full) uploaded by Douglas Stewart is an outsourced video from the

previous article that showed the testimony of Dee Snider, the singer of Twisted Sister, and his

thoughts on the PMRC, Parents Music Resource Center, and the calling out of his songs Under

the Knife and Were Not Going to Take it by placing it on their list of The Filthy Fifteen and the

want to label music as explicit under the determination of the PMRC. The iconography was the

most effective source of obtaining understanding of the want to censor specific music of Metal

and the impact of this idea on the artists.

Structure & Delivery

The article, 6.66 Hot Points of the 80s Heavy Metal Satanic Panic, was structured very

differently than what is common for an article, it was written in list organization. Being in the

form of a list it helps the reader understand the information much easier by there being a clear

separation of the different events that occurred and allowing easy access to look at the different
Running Head: BANNING METAL MUSIC 3

points and see how they all relate to each other by being able to look back at each one. It gave

6.66 Hot Points that helped to explain some events that occurred during the Satanic Panic.

Each point has an accompanying video that gives greater understanding from the description of

the background. The points included are PMRC hearings, an NBC special by Geraldo Rivera

named Devil Worship: Exposing Satans Underground, Judas Priests backward message trial,

Richard Ramirez, aka the Night Stalker, the Ricky Kasso Say you love Satan murder, the

Mazes and Monsters TV movie, and satanic messages in the Mr. Ed Theme song. Some of the

links provided have been taken down, so the reader must then find them on their own. But

because it is an online article this can be done easily and one is able to find more information

quickly by searching the titles of each point in any search engine if one wanted to.

The video, Dee Sniders PMRC Senate Hearing Speech (Full), began by Dee Snider

going to a Senate hearing and giving a testimony on his thoughts about PMRCs demands and

how they affect him personally by giving his thoughts of being a musician and a father. After his

testimony he then gets questioned by different senators based on his testimony and different

court rulings. He then answers the questions by referring back to his original testimony and

giving deeper insight into his answers. With this being a hearing the viewer can easily see how

both sides are reacting to the same topics. They are also able to see how musicians are affected

on a personal, not just an economical, level. Because this is a video it is limited to how the

viewer may interact with this genre compared to the article. But that inhibition is unimportant as

the content is very useful.

Audience & Purpose

The articles intended audience is people who read VH1 articles or watch VH1, fans of

the metal genre, or researchers of the Satanic Panic that want to be informed. Before readers get
Running Head: BANNING METAL MUSIC 4

the article they have an idea about what the Satanic Panic is. They will also go into it knowing

what type of content the Metal genre contains, such as its themes of sexuality and Satanism. But

they will be wondering what court cases caused Metal to be a target and how did people make

that determination. With the article having 6.66 points and having related videos a reader

should be prepared to take around an hour and thirty minutes, or more, inspecting everything.

The language of the article in formal when the author gives the explanation of each circumstance

with specialized vocabulary of band names and song lyrics, such as, Tipper Gores record-

labeling political group the Parents Music Resource Center immediately targeted AC/DC, and

several venues cancelled the bands concerts, but very informal when he gives his opinion on

what the Metal genre was treated, as evidenced by He probably sold more top hats that night

than won over souls to the dark lord, but either way, the whole thing was entertaining as Hell.

Meanwhile in the video the intended audience is that of people who are studying court

cases, and studying PMRC or the hearings, and the fans of Dee Snider. People going into the

research know that there is an explicit label on music today, and they will be wanting to know

what were the reasons behind it. They may also know about the PMRC, and would like to

understand how the different musicians affected by them reacted. Because of this it can be said

that the audience of the video will be more enlightened in the sense of knowing the law,

compared to the audience of the article. The time with this genre will be the length of the video,

which is thirty minutes and twenty-nine seconds. Although this is just one musicians testimony

and there are various others if a viewer would like to research more. The purpose of publishing

the video is to inform the audience about this hearing, while Dee Snider is trying to persuade the

senators and the public to change the ruling of putting a label on explicit music based on the

PMRCs ideas on what explicative means. With this being in a court the language is very formal
Running Head: BANNING METAL MUSIC 5

by Dee Snider and the Senators. The specialized vocabulary is the PMRC demands from the law

that Snider points out and the lyrics from his songs. There are no language visuals like in the

article since this was video, which is already a visual.

Rhetorical Issues

The article can receive praise with its credibility by the publisher of the article being

VH1, which is a music company similar to MTV. The writer is also credible by him being an

author with a published book about metal, allowing the reader to know that he understands the

genre of Metal. There is also the telling of real court cases that are used in the article. The main

purpose of the article is to have the audience be intrigued by what caused the Satanic Panic and

be bewildered at the reasons behind why people found the Metal genre to be offensive. The

evidence used to support his claims are that of real court cases, videos and photos of the court

cases, and news reports.

The video establishes its credibility by being a hearing at the Capitol and Dee Snider

being an accredited artist in the Metal genre. Snider attempts to bring sympathy and

understanding to the listeners by involving his personal life into his testimony. His evidence is

his personal claims and an explanation behind the true meaning of his song lyrics. This pathos

helps the viewer really connect to the video and connect with what Dee Snider is saying or what

the Senators believe in.

Conclusion

Both articles attack the same topic with different strategic points on how to conquer the

audiences thoughts. The article uses various points to give a bigger picture on what occurred

during the Satanic Panic, while the video got personal by using one mans personal experience
Running Head: BANNING METAL MUSIC 6

with being targeted. At times less is more, and quality over quantity wins over when one speaks

from the heart and not just the brain.

Running Head: BANNING METAL MUSIC 7

References

6.66 Hot Points of the 80s Heavy Metal Satanic Panic. (2015, February 11). VH1. Retrieved
from http://www.vh1.com/news/54726/remembering-the-80s-heavy-metal-satanic-panic/

[Douglas Stewart]. (2012, May 4). Dee Sniders PMRC Senate Hearing Speech (Full). [Video
File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/S0Vyr1TylTE