Rock & Roll & The Occult

Holmes & Watson. Salt & Pepper. Hell, even Sturm und Drang- there are some classic combinations in this world. Rock ‘n Roll & The Occult just seems natural. Although a relatively recent musical form, less than a century, the dalliances of the diabolical with Rock music were there nearly from the beginning. The combination of drums, guitars and a hollering vocals seem the very thing that the Occult offers in some way as well- Powerful, animal, and emotive. Yet the story of Rock and the Occult has been told many times before by many people. In this Episode of WMiT we examine a few of the lesser known features of this story, as well as some music that seems rather less than obvious. Give’r.

My Guest for this Episode is a very talented Musician, Singer and Songwriter who resides in Montreal- Kue Varo! A longtime denizen of the musical realms, she has just released a new album Daffodil-11 which is a fantastic slice of creativity and sound! Be sure to download and support Kue’s work as well as follow all that she does! Click the Pic!

Show Notes

• What Happened at the Crossroads?
• A Meeting at The Crossroads: Robert Johnson and The Devil by Matt Frederick
• The Morning of the Magicians – The ramifications of this being published are enormous
• Meek by name Wild by Nature – One of my favourite music critics Jon Savage tackles Joe Meek
• Graham Bond – The epitome of 60’s Occult Music figures
• Season of the Witch: How the Occult saved Rock & Roll
• Turn off Your Mind: The Mystic 60’s & The Dark Side of the Age of Aquarius by Gary Lachman – For my money, the best examination of this strange period of time
• Devil Music: A History of the Occult in Rock & Roll
• The Devil Has All the Best Tunes: How Musicians Discovered their Dark Side
• A Message from Aleister Crowley etched on Led Zeppelin Records
• The Magic & Mystery of David Bowie – A fantastic article
• Early Norwegian Black Metal Scene – Probably the best investigation into the happenings of this time is from the lads at Last Podcast on the Left
• How Genesis P-Orridge Changed the course of Electronic Music Culture Forever
• Killing Joke: The Death & Resurrection Show – A very good documentary of the band and Jaz Coleman’s Occult wanderings
• Robbie Basho – Check out Robbie’s work and listen to as much of his music as you can. Since being told about him by Kue, I can’t get enough of his unique music
• Voice of the Eagle – The Enigma of Robbie Basho. A Documentary!
• Songs of the Siren on the River Styx– Christopher Knowles on Liz Fraser and Jeff Buckley
• Trauma Displaced in Time: Premonition, Synchronicity and Enjoyment – Dr. Eric Wargo’s take on Liz Fraser’s influences
• Marconi Union’s song ‘Weightless’ – Yup, a song that has some real power to it
• Icaro – An actual Magic Song. There are quite a few to listen to on YouTube but this is a good example of them
• Hildegard of Bingen – I love absolutely everything about St. Hildegard. She is one of the most extraordinary people who has ever lived
• Fashionable Occultism: The World of Russian Composer Alexandr Scriabin

Doug’s Roccult Recommendations

Julian Cope – Cabaret Voltaire – Hawthonn – PJ Harvey – Kate Bush – Death Grips – The Black Dog – Mort Garson – Sunn O))) – The KLF – The Good, The Bad, & The Queen – Alice Coltrane – Princess Nokia – Demen – Sun Ra – Johnny Dowd – Siouxsie & The Banshees – Jucifer – Angels With Dirty Faces by Tricky – Scorpio Rising by Death in Vegas

Correction – Most of the Black Metal (not Death Metal) that I bring up in this episode are Norwegian as opposed to Swedish. Got them mixed up. Sorry. It’s been a week.