Singing For Satan---Part 18

This week I continue my once-per-month series of posts regarding an informal study I undertook in the early 1990s regarding rock and pop music. The purpose of my study (and the background to it) can be read in the first installment of August 7, 2017. If you have not read that post, I strongly encourage you to do so before reading this installment. I will only repeat here the seven (7) evil elements that pervade today's music:

1. Violence/Murder/Suicide
2. Nihilism/Despair
3. Drug and alcohol glorification
4. Adultery/ Fornication and sexual perversion
5. The occult
6. Rebellion against lawful superiors
7. Blasphemy against God, Jesus Christ in particular, and the Church

 The exposing of the bands/artists continues.

Hall and Oates

Daryl Hall (b. Daryl Hohl in 1946) and John Oates (b. 1948) were two aspiring musicians who attended Temple University in Philadelphia. In 1967, when Hall was a senior and Oates was a junior, they were in a "battle of the bands" competition. Hall was with a band called The Temptones, and Oates was with a band called The Masters. When a fight broke out among band members, the two of them tried to stop it, only to have the angry participants turn on them both. They ran into a service elevator together and escaped. Exchanging phone numbers, they became friends and roommates, as they enjoyed the same type of music. They decided to form a "pop-rock" duo, and when the building super put a sticker on their mailbox labeled "Hall & Oates," the appellation became their professional moniker.

 The two landed a recording contract with Atlantic Records and released three albums beginning in 1972. They were not very successful. In 1975, the duo was picked up by RCA Records, and they released their fourth album entitled  Daryl Hall and John Oates, which was moderately successful with a ballad called Sara Smile, written by Hall for his then-girlfriend Sara Allen. With their 1976 album Bigger Than Both of Us, Hall & Oates scored their first mega-hit, Rich Girl, which became ubiquitous on radio stations across the United States in 1977.  The song was the first major hit to feature an uncensored vulgarity--b*tch. Their hits continued at a rapid pace, and by the mid-1980s, they were a household name.

Hall and Oates have sold an estimated 40 million records, making them the best selling music duo in history. Billboard magazine named them the most successful duo of the rock era, surpassing Simon & Garfunkel and The Everly Brothers. In 2014, Hall & Oates were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Satanic? Are You Joking?

As I've stated before, my research on rock, pop, and rap artists was restricted to those groups and artists generally thought of as being "tame" or "innocuous." It doesn't take much to see that bands like AC/DC and artists like Ozzy Osbourne are overtly Satanic. However, when I call Hall & Oates the most duplicitous group singing for Satan, even some of my friends have raised their eyebrows, and gave me the look that says, "You're pulling my leg, right?" The generally clean-cut image portrayed by the duo, and the sappy love songs they mostly sing, makes it extremely hard to imagine them as "Satanic."

Yet, this is exactly what Satan wants you to believe. We must not judge their music based on their looks or some of the love songs that are unobjectionable. We must judge them based on their lifestyle and lyrics taken as a whole. A small dose of poison in an otherwise good drink can kill you. Remember also, the words of Sacred Scripture, "For such false apostles are deceitful workmen, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no wonder: for Satan himself transformeth himself into an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:10-14).

The devil and his demons do their best work when they come in the guise of something good, or at least something considered harmless. I ask you to read the rest of this post with an open mind and then discern for yourself if Daryl Hall and John Oates are benevolent (or harmless) singers, or if there is something deceptive and nefarious going on with them. Obviously, I have come to the conclusion that the manifest weight of the credible evidence shows the latter, and their music should be shunned.

Daryl Hall: Pervert and Occultist

On the cover of their fourth album Daryl Hall and John Oates, the duo look like effeminate drag queens, complete with blush. Many people thought them to be sodomite lovers, despite protests to the contrary from them at the time. Hall once remarked, "I was looking like the girl I always wanted to go out with."

Daryl Hall and John Oates, when dressed properly, were considered handsome men, and many women in their 20s and 30s were smitten by them. In actuality, Hall is bi-sexual, and promiscuous. In Rolling Stone magazine, 4/21/77, pg. 15, Hall said in an interview, "The idea of sex with a man doesn't turn me off...but I don't express it. I satisfied my curiosity about that years ago. I had lots of sex between the ages of three or four and the time I was fourteen or fifteen. Strange experiences with older boys. But men don't particularly turn me on. And, no, John and I have never been lovers. He's not my type. Too short and dark." (Emphasis mine).  John Oates is quoted as saying, "Rock music is 99% sex." Hall chimed in, "I wish you were allowed to use more raw language.You should be able to say 'f**k' in a song without being banned." (Expletive censored by me).

Sex certainly is one of the main subjects of their songs. The hit Maneater is about a prostitute:

She'll only come out at night
The lean and hungry type
Nothing is new, I've seen her here before
Watching and waiting
Ooh, she's sitting with you but her eyes are on the door
So many have paid to see
What you think you're getting for free
The woman is wild, a she-cat tamed by the purr of a Jaguar
Money's the matter
If you're in it for love
You ain't gonna get too far
Watch out boy she'll chew you up
(Oh here she comes)
She's a maneater
(Oh here she comes)
Watch out boy she'll chew you up
(Oh here she comes)
She's a maneater
I wouldn't if I were you
I know what she can do
She's deadly man, she could really rip your world apart
Mind over matter
Ooh, the beauty is there but a beast is in the heart  (Emphasis mine)

Their song Family Man is also about a prostitute. She wants a married man to be with her so she lowers her price for sex. Defenders of Hall & Oates will say that the song is good because the married man says no to her. The last line of the song actually tells a different tale:

She had sulky smile
She took her standard pose as she presented herself
She had sultry eyes
She made it perfectly plain that she was his for a price

But he said, leave me alone, I'm a family man
And my bark is much worse than my bite
He said, leave me alone, I'm a family man
If you push me too far I just might

She wore hurt surprise
As she rechecked her make up to protect herself
Dropped her price and pride
She made it totally clear that she was his for a night

But he said, leave me alone, I'm a family man
And my bark is much worse than my bite
He said, leave me alone, I'm a family man
If you push me too far I just might

She gave him her look
It would have worked on any other man around
He looked her up and down
She knew he couldn't decide if he should hold his ground

But he said, leave me alone, I'm a family man
And my bark is much worse than my bite
He said, leave me alone, I'm a family man
If you push me too far I just might

She turned, tossed her head
Unlike her opening move, her final exit line
He waited much too long
But by the time he got his courage up she was gone

And he screamed, leave me alone, I'm a family man
And my bark is much worse than my bite
He said, leave me alone, I'm a family man
If you push me too far I just might...
He said, leave me alone, I'm a family man
Don't leave me alone 'cause I got to go hungry (Emphasis mine)

The "family man" got his "courage" up to pay her for sex, but she had already left. The last line tells us he does not want to be left alone because he's "got to go hungry" (slang for "not having sex"--ostensibly with his wife--so he wants the prostitute).

Hall was raised Methodist. He converted to Judaism for his first wife. He speaks about it in an interview and admits there are spiritual themes/messages in his songs.

[Interviewer] I never spotted religious themes in your lyrics before.

[Hall] Well, religion has always been a part of my life, and yeah, there are inadvertent references to religion. I grew up singing in the church, but when I moved to Philadelphia, I got heavily involved in West Philadelphia. I married a Jewish girl and converted to Judaism in 1969, or 1970. Something like that. But now I’m not a member of any organized religion.

[Interviewer] So you converted for a girl? No way.

[Hall] Yeah, that's the power of the West Philadelphia Jewish community. I spent almost a year under its tutelage. It became a part of my life. I wasn't married to her very long, but Judaism still gives me an understanding of life. I do feel more akin to Judaism than Methodism, that’s for sure. And not to be stereotypical, being Jewish gave me more of an insight into the music business.
(See http://heebmagazine.com/daryl-hall-music-legend-and-blond-jew-finally-gets-his-due/5053; Emphasis mine).

Hall, ever interested in the occult, is rumored to have been into the Kabbalah. The word "Kabbalah" means "to receive," and refers to "divine revelation" allegedly given to the Jews and passed on to succeeding generations through oral tradition. At first it was used by the mainstream of Judaism, but eventually it became identified with those who believed that the Kabbalah was an esoteric, occultic tradition that explained the true meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures. It was kept hidden from the masses and only made known to those who were spiritually ready to receive it--it's the Jewish counterpart of Gnosticism, if you will. Kabbalah is extremely evil, blasphemous, and anti-Christian.

Hall admits to being a student of Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), the English Satanist, who was dubbed, "The Wickedest Man in the World" by the press. Interestingly, Hall & Oates didn't become popular until 1977. In 1974, Hall became involved with both Satanism and the occultist George Gurdjieff (a Russian Occultist, d.1949) and then his career took off.  Hall had this to say:

[Interviewer] You also at the time were interested in mysticism, and reading up on things like Aleister Crowley--

[Hall]: ...A lot of people go through that kind of thing. And I went through it, and I retained a lot of it, and I discarded a lot of it. My life was unbalanced at the time, when I was doing that.

Despite Hall's claims that he "discarded" a lot of the occult, he claims to be a witch (practitioner of Wicca), in a long line of witches. In that same interview, he said:

[Interviewer] There's a quote I found from '84 that really interested me. You said, "In my uncle's time, you were a minister. Two generations before that you were a warlock. Now you're me." Is that how you sum up being the frontman, the singer?

[Hall]: [laughs] Yeah. I always look at it as being a continuum. That's true, by the way-- I come from a family of ministers. And my great-grandfather was what they used to call in Pennsylvania a "pow-wow man," which is basically a male witch. It goes back to the old Germanic and English things-- it's like the evil eye, keeping the crops from getting the blight, and the cows from getting sick, and all that stuff. It's just old, old folky things. He was a healer, he used to heal people's warts and give them all kinds of potions and all that kind of stuff. He also had an evil side. And I heard some stories about him. [laughs] I never knew him, but I heard lots of stories about him.

That's how that filtered into that statement. But I see what musicians do, especially singers, as a primal thing. It comes from howling around the campfire. Everybody was sitting around whatever, in the earliest of early times-- pre-literate times, how's that? Pre-conscious times. And pre-sentient times. And somebody would be the guy that would start the howling. And that's what I do. 
(See https://pitchfork.com/features/interview/6673-daryl-hall/; Emphasis mine).

The song Adult Education is about a high school girl who wants an "adult education" in sex because the boys are not as experienced as they pretend to be. The video to this song is full of occult imagery and has nothing to do with the perverted lyrics. In the video, while the duo sing, they are in what appears to be a pagan temple. There's a man with a baseball cap on, giving "blessings" with idols. It ends with what appears to be the ritual human sacrifice of a young man and young woman. Yet, the video ends with the boy standing behind the idols' altar and the girl sitting on the stone slab in front of it, as Hall & Oates and their band continue to sing, dance and play instruments in the background. The final shots of the video are of hieroglyphs and ceremonial items scattered around the structure. The video can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLYqTZKEpvs

Music to Kill For?

Hall's 1980 solo album, Sacred Songs, explores his view of the supernatural and his interest in supernatural topics. For example, the lyrics discuss occult "magick" and hint at Hall’s personal philosophy. Notably, the song, Without Tears alludes to Aleister Crowley’s book Magick without Tears. Crowley taught, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law." That would include murder.

The hit song Rich Girl, which catapulted Hall & Oates to fame and fortune, came out after Hall's deep involvement in Satanism and the occult. I was 12 years old when the tune went to the top of the music charts in 1977. From 1976 to August 10, 1977, New York City was terrorized by serial killer David Berkowitz (b. Richard David Falco in 1953). He was also known as "The Son of Sam" because his neighbor's dog, "Sam" had "told him" to start killing people. He was also known to the police as "The .44 Caliber Killer" due to the weapon he used. Berkowitz claimed, after he was imprisoned, that he was part of a Satanic coven. Personally, I believe he did not act alone and did indeed have help. At one point, Berkowitz asked the controversial Jesuit and author, Malachi Martin, to help him write a book. Martin declined, and Berkowitz then converted to "born-again" Protestantism.

Berkowitz once claimed that he would "pump himself up" for murder by listening to Rich Girl. (See, e.g., https://www.songfacts.com/facts/daryl-hall-john-oates/rich-girl). Hall wrote the song Diddy Doo Wop (I Hear the Voices) in response. The pertinent part of the lyrics are as follows:

Diddy doo wop, oh oh oh oh oh
Diddy doo wop, oh oh oh
Well, it's the voice that I hear at the subway stop
Keep singing, diddy doo wop

Diddy doo wop, oh oh oh oh oh
Diddy doo wop, oh oh oh
Well, it starts in my head and it ends when I stop
Keep singing, diddy doo wop

Charlie liked the Beatles (ahh)
Sam, he liked Rich Girl (b*tch girl)
But I'm still hung up on the Duke of Earl (duke, duke, duke of earl, duke, duke, duke of earl)
Reaching for the handle
I'm slicing through the air "swish, swish"
Oh, the doo wop voices everywhere
And oh, the Duke is singing (Emphasis and censorship of vulgarity mine)

"Charlie" is a reference to Charles Manson and The Beatles, "Sam" is a reference to Berkowitz and the Hall & Oates song. Someone claims your song helped motivate them to murder and you put that claim in another song? A lighthearted satire in response to something so serious, is in my opinion, seriously wrong! If the song was written by Hall when under demonic inspiration, could the song somehow entice other demonically influenced people to do even more evil acts? I think it's entirely possible. I don't know if it's backward masked messages, or something else, but it seems plausible, especially given the surrounding circumstances.

Conclusion

Daryl Hall and John Oates appear to be harmless singers who perform innocent love songs. A closer examination of the facts proves otherwise. I'm reminded of Our Lord's condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees who liked to appear holy: "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness." (St. Matthew 23: 25-28).

A note to my readers: I'm interested in whether or not you find this series of posts on music worthwhile. If you find it beneficial and would like it to continue, could you please comment and let me know why? If not, and you think it should end, please comment and let me know that too. It's a lot of work to pull up my old notes and update/publish it. Yet, I will gladly continue if people find the series to be useful. Many thanks to those who will let me know!---Introibo