“Moloch Must Die!”
My brain works in mysterious (and goofy) ways. A couple of nights ago, my sleep was disturbed by flashbacks to an old CHiPs episode from 1982 called “Rock Devil Rock”. In the episode, Gene Simmons/Alice Cooper-inspired rock star Moloch, played by Don Most (yes, Ralph Malph), is riding high on his hit song “Devil Take Me” when he begins receiving audio death threats accompanied by actual attempts on his life. There’s a cameo by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (hubba hubba) and the episode is directed by John Astin (yes, Gomez Addams). It’s a pretty campy episode, looking back on it now, but at the time it really scared me.
Keep in mind that I had not seen this episode since it first aired, but still remembered many details, including parts of “Devil Take Me” and the sinister messages Moloch received (“Moloch must die!”, “Moloch will die!”, “Moloch is dead, his fiery breath.”) At the time this episode came out, the “backward masking” controversy was in full swing and was alluded to in the show. It’s probably the fact that I was so frightened by purported secret messages hidden in popular songs, not to mention the Devil, that made the show stick in my mind. What caused it to reemerge from the recesses of my brain? Probably seeing reruns of CHiPs recently, and my quirky audio memory. Here’s the first part of the episode: