Rare Moments When Parents + Media Defended Heavy Metal
Back in the '80s and early '90s, metal was being blamed for all of society's problems, but some parents and reporters didn't take the bait. We dug up some rare moments when parents, the media and other authority figures actually defended heavy metal.
Imagine watching a cop calling a press conference to defend kids who listen to metal. It happened in Australia after a newspaper called heavy metal “a magnet for crime” while blaming a “young heavy metal cult” for a local crime spree. But Superintendent Bill Kirk, the absolute Chad, defended the outcast kids of his community while speaking to the press.
“The suggestion that police would arrest people who wore earrings or nose studs does not have any force in law,” Kirk said. “Just because children are wearing a T-shirt with some Satanic overtures on it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re out committing crime.”
The ‘80s and ‘90s daytime talk show circuit was also a reliable swamp for boomers who hated metal, but on one episode of Geraldo, an older woman in a pink sweater shared her surprisingly wholesome opinion. “I think I’ve learned a lot today. I think they’re very insightful young people,” she said of the punks and metalheads onstage. “I’m impressed. I realize that we all have grievances, but they are insightful. I’m gonna come away from this thinking that we should look into this a little bit more.”
Watch these Rare Moments When Parents + Media Defended Heavy Metal in the Loud List below.