1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is a 2 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:20,280 Speaker 1: story about inversion, about what happens when you take something ancient, 3 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:25,079 Speaker 1: something sacred, and you turn it upside down. It's about 4 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: the sound of doom echoing from the basement of a 5 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: suburban Virginia home. It's about mystery tapes and cheap pawnshop stereos, 6 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: about the thin line between myth and memory. It's a 7 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:43,319 Speaker 1: story about drugs, demons, and deals that may or may 8 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: not have ever gone down. And it's also a story 9 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: about a curse, one which may have been cast the 10 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: moment a certain name was spoken out loud. That name 11 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: was Pentagram, a band that was supposed to be louder 12 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: and heavier than anything else, but instead became a whisper 13 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: on a worn out cassette. Their music passed from one 14 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:12,120 Speaker 1: true believer to the next great music, unlike that music 15 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: I played for you at the top of the show. 16 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: That wasn't great music. That was a preset loop for 17 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: my melotron called Haunted Star MK two. I played you 18 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: that loop because I can't afford the rights to Maggie 19 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: May by Rod Stewart, And why would I play you 20 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,320 Speaker 1: that specific slice of feels like the first time cheese? 21 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: Could I afford it? Because that was the number one 22 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:41,960 Speaker 1: song in America on Halloween nineteen seventy one, And that 23 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:44,679 Speaker 1: was the day that Bobby Leebling decided to form a 24 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: band that he would call Pentagram and unknowingly unleasha curse 25 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: he could never shake. On this episode Doo Demons, drugs, curses, 26 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: Bobby leibling and the greatest band that never won was Pentagram. 27 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgraceland. The guy in 28 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: the back of the pawn shop working on the stereo equipment. 29 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: Was he a really young looking old dude or a 30 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 1: really old looking young dude? Was he white, black, Latino Israeli? 31 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 1: Was he either perpetually tanned or just plain filthy? And 32 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: what was with the perm the Grecian yearning, the sinewy 33 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 1: frame and piped wife beater? And was that a gold 34 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: star of David or a Pentagram hanging around his neck? 35 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:03,360 Speaker 1: Most important, how how did this dude look cool? So 36 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 1: many questions rumors have persisted ever since he started working here. 37 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: The pawnshop gig was the latest in a string of 38 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: jobs out on the Fringes Bail Bondsman straight Pi off 39 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: the book Snatch and Grab Man. Ord around town was 40 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,920 Speaker 1: that not only could he fix your turntable, he could 41 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: play anything guitar, drums, sacks, and most proficiently, the devil's instrument, 42 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:32,800 Speaker 1: the fiddle. The kids who came in the shop fucked 43 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: with him. He was an easy target, part soul trained, 44 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: part porn star stand in. But when he pulled an 45 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: old cassette tape and popped open the cheap plastic case 46 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: with a flick of his thumb and shook out the 47 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 1: cream colored cassette like he was shaking a Marlboro red 48 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: loose from the soft pack he kept in his shirt pocket, 49 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: everything changed, At least it did for the two impressionable 50 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:56,840 Speaker 1: teenage headbangers who'd wound their way into the back of 51 00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: the pawn shop, passed the thirty odd six and the 52 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: velvet el and passed the stuffed jackalobe and the squire 53 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: telecaster with the faded steel your face sticker peeling from 54 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: the pit guard to where this dude was hiding in 55 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: plain sight. He looked at them like he knew they 56 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: were coming, and they looked at him like he had 57 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 1: what they were looking for, and he did, And they 58 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: stood there with their Cliff Burton Peach fuzz stashes and 59 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 1: their torn Levi's jackets, ready to have their minds blown 60 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 1: in a way that they knew the holier than thou 61 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 1: twenty three year old down at the record store could 62 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: never do. And they stared at the dude's stack of 63 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:38,360 Speaker 1: tapes with band names handwritten on the spines, names like Stone, Bunny, Space, Meat, 64 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 1: Wicked Angel In Virgin Death. They stared at the letters 65 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: inked on the knuckles of this dude on his right 66 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:50,720 Speaker 1: and left hands diez Era Day of Wrath. And they 67 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: stared at the oily Chevron gas station work shirt that 68 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: was chaotically tied around this dude's waist with a name 69 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 1: patch over the left breast that read Teddy. Teddy knew 70 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,480 Speaker 1: that these two headbangers weren't here for a busted watch 71 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: or a faulty piece of stereo equipment. They were there 72 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: for this. He popped the cassette inside a boombox that 73 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: was sitting there on the counter. It has to be 74 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,600 Speaker 1: a cassette, Teddy told them. The shit doesn't sound right 75 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:23,359 Speaker 1: any other way. A CD is gonna give you too 76 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 1: much clarity, too much definition, and Vinyl fuck Vinyl, vinyls 77 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: of pain in the balls. Yeah, I see you're not 78 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: in your head before you even had time to process it. 79 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: But of course I'm right. Vinyl sucks. Teddy press play. 80 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: The riff came storming from the speakers, heavy thunderous, laying 81 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: the tap hiss to waste. The boys instinctively slammed their 82 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: heads up and down. What the fuck was this? Motorhead? No, 83 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: this is it's more like Sabbath. But that definitely wasn't 84 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:00,800 Speaker 1: ausy on the mic. The guy sounded like an American. 85 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: Teddy saw the excitement in their eyes, saw that they 86 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: were having that full body chills reaction to hearing something 87 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: for the first time that only kids of a certain 88 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:14,919 Speaker 1: age and suggestibility are capable of having. Teddy took in 89 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:18,839 Speaker 1: their reaction, breathed it in, really tried to absorb it, 90 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:21,360 Speaker 1: and hopes that it would awaken some sort of long 91 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:26,040 Speaker 1: dormant feeling that he lost possession of years ago. And 92 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:33,359 Speaker 1: then he exhaled. Hear that that's doom in that hiss 93 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: you're hearing too, that tape hiss, that's the tape breathing's 94 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 1: that's how you know it's alive. Never been pressed, never 95 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:47,080 Speaker 1: been released, buried for more than a decade. Only those 96 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:51,040 Speaker 1: who know know about this. I know what you're about 97 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: to ask me, what's the name of the band? Right? 98 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: Check it out? And Teddy just pointed at the gold 99 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: chain hanging around his neck. Teddy laugh and as he did, 100 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 1: he arched his head back, stretching out the leathery skin 101 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: of his neck, and the boys could swear they saw 102 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 1: his blue eyes turn red. Nah Man, Teddy said this. 103 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: He pointed out the gold chain again, and this time 104 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: the boys heard a sound like a thundercut, an explosion. 105 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,720 Speaker 1: A billboard all fiery red and blazing hot, seared into 106 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:28,280 Speaker 1: the back of their skulls, a billboard which read Teddy Pentagram. 107 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: Teddy kept talking. You haven't heard of the band Pentagram, 108 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: have you? No one has. But they've been around for 109 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: a while, just like their namesake, the pentagram, the five 110 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: pointed star that's been around longer than Christ, and the 111 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: Egyptians carved it into their tombs. The Greeks used it 112 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: as a secret handshake. One Greek in particular called it 113 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 1: the mark of perfection. One line five points. You learn 114 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 1: about the golden ratio in school, Yet well, anyway, I'm 115 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: talking about protection, order, virtue from the tiny speakers. Pentagram's 116 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 1: guitarists lid into a solo so fuzzed out it sounded 117 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: like the boombox was melting. Now, when you flip it 118 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: upside down, the Pentagram, all that order and virtue, shit, 119 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 1: it goes out the window. Teddy then took his gold 120 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: chain between two nicotine stained fingers and demonstrated what he 121 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 1: was talking about. Just like that, you got the devil's pitchfork, 122 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:33,079 Speaker 1: Satan's horns, not protection damnation, he went on. Now, Bobby 123 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:35,719 Speaker 1: Leebling didn't know all that. Back in nineteen seventy one 124 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:37,840 Speaker 1: on Halloween night, when he was sitting in the basement 125 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: of his parents' house in Alexandria, Virginia, he was just 126 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:43,960 Speaker 1: getting stoned out of his gore, passing a joint back 127 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: and forth with his friend Jeff, trying to ignore all 128 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:48,560 Speaker 1: the neighborhood kitties as they went door to door with 129 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: their pillowcases overflowing with that Knight's loop. You too need 130 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: to understand that Bobby Leebling was eighteen years old, not 131 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 1: much older than you guys, and just like you guys, 132 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:01,319 Speaker 1: he was chasing a heavy sound there on the pullout sofa, 133 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 1: listening to his favorite band, Blue Cheer, at an ear 134 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 1: blistering volume. You know, summertime blues. I'm not talking about 135 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: the Who, and I don't mean Eddie Cochran. Neither Bobby 136 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 1: and Jeff wanted to start their own band, and their 137 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 1: one guiding principle was that they could be louder and 138 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 1: heavier than Blue Cheer, which wasn't exactly in the cards 139 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 1: for Bobby. Seeing as his father worked for Lyndon Johnson, 140 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: Richard Nixon, and Gerald fucking Ford. They called Bobby Leaving's 141 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: dad little Kissinger swear to fucking got well well, his 142 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: dad was stamping out as Winston's and ashtrays at the Pentagon. 143 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:42,360 Speaker 1: His son Bobby was dropping acid on his tongue. Actually, 144 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: according to Bobby, he dropped acid directly onto his eyeballs. 145 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 1: At the mention of this, the two metal heads shared 146 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:55,320 Speaker 1: a glance somewhere between horror and fascination. Teddy brought his 147 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 1: voice down to a whisper. This was back when LSD 148 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:02,840 Speaker 1: was legal, Back when a dropper full of that shit 149 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: would blow the cobwebs out of your brain. Your mind 150 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: would get so warmed you create people out of whole 151 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:12,720 Speaker 1: cloth and have conversations with them. And it wasn't long 152 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:16,080 Speaker 1: after that that Bobby got himself acquainted with the needle. 153 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,600 Speaker 1: My point is, Bobby Leaveling was not his old man. 154 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 1: Bobby Leveling wasn't born to be a conformist suit and 155 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,000 Speaker 1: tie shaking hands with the leaders of the free world. 156 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 1: Fuck that. Bobby was put on this earth to make 157 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:33,560 Speaker 1: a racket, to rattle the minds of others the way 158 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: that his own mind had been rattled. Now, just exactly 159 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:41,000 Speaker 1: how do you do that? In the late nineteen sixties 160 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: and early seventies. You know you've read the books. You 161 00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:47,680 Speaker 1: start a fucking rock and roll band. And I don't 162 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:51,320 Speaker 1: have to tell you this, but when Bobby Leaveling started 163 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:53,839 Speaker 1: his band, it was faced at the same question that 164 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: every guy who ever picked the guitars asked themselves. What 165 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: am I gonna call my band? What do I choose? 166 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:02,040 Speaker 1: What name convey how the music I'm going to make 167 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: sounds well? For Bobby, the answer came to very quickly. 168 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,120 Speaker 1: It was what all the suburban housewives were scared of 169 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: at the time. Housewise, like his own mother, they were 170 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 1: haunted by images of crazy Charlie Manson walking into court 171 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:20,200 Speaker 1: with those pinball eyes and with that big X carving 172 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:24,200 Speaker 1: into the flesh of his forehead. Suburban moms didn't just 173 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 1: know about Manson. They listened to Sammy Davis Junior Man, 174 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 1: They read The Inquirer. They knew about Anton LaVey and 175 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:32,559 Speaker 1: his book The Satanic Bible. It was like their worst 176 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:38,200 Speaker 1: nightmares were coming true. In this symbol, the Pentagram, the 177 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 1: one right there on the cover of Anton LaVey's book. 178 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:44,079 Speaker 1: Bobby knew that that was the key that unlocked this 179 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 1: so other dimension, a dimension that the Squares always thought 180 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 1: never existed, but was now beginning to break through the 181 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:54,200 Speaker 1: fabric of reality as they knew it. This was what 182 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: Bobby Leebling wanted his music to do, pierce the veil. 183 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:02,720 Speaker 1: But again, just like the two of you, Bobby was 184 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:05,640 Speaker 1: young at the time he named his band Pentagram, And 185 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:07,880 Speaker 1: when you're young, you think you get the world by 186 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 1: the balls. You think that any decision you make could 187 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:13,600 Speaker 1: somehow be unmade down the line if things get fucked. 188 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: The thing about the Pentagram, however, you draw that star 189 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:21,319 Speaker 1: one way, you keep the demons out, but you draw 190 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:58,560 Speaker 1: it the other way. Well, you let the man. As 191 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 1: Teddy hit a jack on the boom and flipped over 192 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:03,720 Speaker 1: the tape, the two boys couldn't help but focus on 193 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:07,840 Speaker 1: his singular long fingernail sticking out conspicuously from his pinky. 194 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,000 Speaker 1: And then there was the skull ring on the next finger, 195 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 1: over where some men would wear a wedding ring, but 196 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:18,920 Speaker 1: Teddy didn't strike them as the marrying type. Here flanked 197 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: on one side by a sony receiver with a busted 198 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 1: volume knob, and on the other by a morants that 199 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: no longer lit up powder blue when you flip the 200 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:30,920 Speaker 1: power switch, Teddy was in his element. He pressed play, 201 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 1: and once again, the sound of the greatest metal band 202 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:36,480 Speaker 1: the boys had never heard seemed to suck all the 203 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:39,679 Speaker 1: air from the room. Their feet felt like they were 204 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:43,720 Speaker 1: glued to the floor, and Teddy Teddy almost appeared to 205 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:46,559 Speaker 1: be lit from below as he continued to tell the 206 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 1: tragic tale of Bobby Leebling and Pentagram. There's always Demons, man, 207 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:57,960 Speaker 1: and the demons were kept at bay for a while, 208 00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:01,880 Speaker 1: but only briefly. You see, at first, Bobby couldn't stick 209 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:04,719 Speaker 1: to the name. He probably knew deep down inside of 210 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 1: himself that there was something wrong with it that it 211 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:09,680 Speaker 1: would do him more harm than good and long run. 212 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:12,559 Speaker 1: So for a short period of time he called the 213 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:16,439 Speaker 1: Dan macab and they released one single in nineteen seventy two, 214 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 1: this song called Before Warren. What a title, right, It's 215 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,440 Speaker 1: almost like he was talking to himself, you know. But 216 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 1: like most great artists, Bobby leveland couldn't take his own advice. 217 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: And the Pentagram's pull its power, it would not be denied. 218 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 1: And so Bobby, with his friend Jeff on drums, Greg 219 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: Main on bass, and Vincent McAllister on guitar, committed to 220 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 1: that ancient symbol, and they committed to that cursed name Pentagram. 221 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,800 Speaker 1: The band was now a thing. And this is at 222 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: the very same time that Bobby's hometown, Alexandria, Virginia, that 223 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: bedroom community just outside the nation's capitol, where his old 224 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:57,080 Speaker 1: man little Kissinger was holed up doing god knows what 225 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:00,720 Speaker 1: with the Secretary of Defense. It was here the demons 226 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 1: began to make their playground, and it was here that 227 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: the bodies began to pile up, the bodies of women, 228 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:11,600 Speaker 1: specifically a high school junior found in a ravine with 229 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: an ice pick jammed in her skull. An English teacher 230 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 1: who had been slashed with a knife well over one 231 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 1: hundred times in an eighteen year old a switchboard operator 232 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:22,880 Speaker 1: at the FBI who was found murdered with a pair 233 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 1: of scissors in her apartment. These are only a few 234 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:30,840 Speaker 1: the many murders in Alexandria, Virginia in the nineteen seventies 235 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: that are still unsolved to this day, murders in cases 236 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 1: that are as cold as the February wind whipping off 237 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 1: the Potomac. Teddy paused to let this information sink in. 238 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,640 Speaker 1: The two metal heads just sat there listening, waiting for more, 239 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 1: and Teddy went on, and when Bobby decided to call 240 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:55,760 Speaker 1: his band Pentagram for good, the demons rounded the corner 241 00:15:55,800 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 1: and zeroed in. The curse first struck in December in 242 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy five. This is right around the time that 243 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:06,440 Speaker 1: the band Kiss was turning into this phenomenon, a bunch 244 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:12,160 Speaker 1: of clowns and makeup right wrong Kiss Kiss Knights in 245 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:16,400 Speaker 1: Satan's Service. Sure, the band denied that that was even 246 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: a thing, and they laughed at it, and they said, 247 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:22,000 Speaker 1: how stupid knights in Satan's service. But of course that's 248 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:25,440 Speaker 1: what Satan's Knights would say. They do anything to shield 249 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 1: the very existence of their master. Before too long, Satan's 250 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 1: Knights came to Alexandria, just as the demons had before them, 251 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: only they came to make an unholy pact with Pentagram 252 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:41,880 Speaker 1: right there in Bobby Leebling's parents' basement. Literally, let me 253 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 1: back up for a second. Pentagram's first manager, this guy 254 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:50,480 Speaker 1: named Gordon Fletcher. He was connected, and one of those 255 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: connections was to Kiss. Now, look, I always thought that 256 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: band was a fucking joke, but whatever, the point is, 257 00:16:57,120 --> 00:16:59,440 Speaker 1: they were huge at the time, super big deal, and 258 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: so Gordon Fletcher convinced Kiss's manager to send Gene Simmons 259 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:08,199 Speaker 1: and Paul Stanley over to Alexandria to hear Pentagram play. 260 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 1: The idea was that Kiss would take Pentagram on the 261 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:13,160 Speaker 1: road and boost their profile, kind of like they did 262 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 1: with Judis Priest later on. But from the jump, this 263 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: whole meet and greet was fucked. Greg and Vincent, that's 264 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:24,000 Speaker 1: Pentagram's bassist and guitar player. They had these crummy jobs 265 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,040 Speaker 1: as janitors somewhere in town, and seeing that there are 266 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:30,640 Speaker 1: struggling musicians, starving artists, so to speak, they had no car, 267 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: which meant that they hitchhike to work every day, and 268 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:38,679 Speaker 1: this day was no exception. This most important days for 269 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:41,400 Speaker 1: the career of their budding metal band, the day that 270 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:44,480 Speaker 1: two knights in the service of Satan, Jean and Paul 271 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:47,920 Speaker 1: were going to bring Pentagram into their army. This is 272 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,920 Speaker 1: stunt via blood oath? Was there a sacrifice at offering 273 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:54,399 Speaker 1: to the dark Lord? Greg and Vincent had no idea, 274 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: but you can imagine their minds fucking wandered, man, just 275 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: like they themselves wandered down the side of the road 276 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:03,879 Speaker 1: after they got out of work that day, just drifting along, 277 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:07,000 Speaker 1: their thumbs out, their pride, the bitterest of fucking pills, 278 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,160 Speaker 1: the swall, waiting for someone to take pity and stop 279 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: to give him a ride. And when they finally arrived 280 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:14,680 Speaker 1: at Bobby's place, there were a sweaty mess and even worse. 281 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:17,120 Speaker 1: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have been waiting for close 282 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:20,720 Speaker 1: through an hour, getting more annoyed by the minute. But 283 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:23,959 Speaker 1: Pentagram's private performance for two of the biggest rock stars 284 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:28,120 Speaker 1: on the planet, it seemed to put everything right, at 285 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:31,959 Speaker 1: least for the brief time while it was happening. They 286 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,120 Speaker 1: ran through songs like Forever my queen. When the screams 287 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 1: come and living in a ram's head, Bobby did his 288 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: best possessed lead singer stick, and when they were finished 289 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:46,280 Speaker 1: they felt triumphant. It was only then that they felt 290 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:50,680 Speaker 1: the sting of the curse. Paul Stanley was polite enough, 291 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:54,240 Speaker 1: tried to let them down easy. Look, Gene, well you 292 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:57,920 Speaker 1: guys know Gene. He didn't hold back. He said, you 293 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:00,840 Speaker 1: guys call yourselves pentagram, and yet there's only four of you. 294 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:03,520 Speaker 1: You can't make a pentagram with four points. That's just 295 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,560 Speaker 1: a fucking square, which is what Bobby, Jeff, greg and 296 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 1: Vincent were to Gene Simmons at least square. And so 297 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:16,159 Speaker 1: Satan's army you packed up and left, and there was 298 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:19,399 Speaker 1: no blood oath, no deal with the devil. I'm not 299 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:22,359 Speaker 1: talking about demons, because unlike the devil, demons didn't make 300 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:26,159 Speaker 1: a deal. A curse is not the byproduct of a deal. 301 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:29,400 Speaker 1: And how does one go about lifting a curse when 302 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:33,240 Speaker 1: you're unaware of its existence? The two metal heads looked 303 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: at each other, confused. Teddy didn't care. He went on, 304 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: So as all this is happening, Columbia Records comes calling 305 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,679 Speaker 1: by way Murray Krugman Murray Krugman, at the time, was 306 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,720 Speaker 1: one of Blue Oyster Cults managers and producers, and Murray 307 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:50,400 Speaker 1: Krugman ponied up cash to bring Pentagram to New York 308 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,280 Speaker 1: City so that they could record a demo. Murray Krugman 309 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:56,439 Speaker 1: brought them to the precipice. These four guys from a 310 00:19:56,440 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 1: basement in Alexandria, Virginia were now balancing on the edge 311 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 1: of the big time. And right then, right there, right then, 312 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:07,919 Speaker 1: at that pivotal moment, what did Bobby Leebling do. He 313 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:12,919 Speaker 1: tanked the session, He insulted Murray, He acted like they 314 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,479 Speaker 1: were making pet sounds or some shit, and he just 315 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:19,320 Speaker 1: had to get his vocal perfect just right. But to 316 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:24,160 Speaker 1: Murray to Columbia, just the fucking demo man, fast cheat. 317 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:28,520 Speaker 1: But Bobby couldn't let it be because something wasn't letting 318 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:30,800 Speaker 1: him let it be. Do you understand what I'm saying 319 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,679 Speaker 1: to you? This story kept playing like a broken record. 320 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: Pentagram's name was inked on the ledgers of seven different 321 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:41,520 Speaker 1: managers in five years time. Every bridge Bobby crossed went 322 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 1: up in flames as quickly as his feet got across it. 323 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,240 Speaker 1: Now back in the Middle Ages, way the fuck back 324 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:52,800 Speaker 1: chivalrous knights would display the pentagram on the shield. Sir Gawayne, 325 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,800 Speaker 1: for one, had it on both his shawl and his shield. 326 00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:02,640 Speaker 1: Five points for five virtues, courage, honor, kindness, truth, loyalty. 327 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:08,760 Speaker 1: It was meant as protection against demons, but Pentagram the 328 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: band protection was never in the carts. The only thing 329 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: Bobby Leebling or anyone else could count on was the 330 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:27,480 Speaker 1: always present sound of doom. We'll be right back after this. 331 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:34,600 Speaker 1: We're we're, We're back. In the back of the pawnshop, 332 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:37,760 Speaker 1: Teddy stared at the two metal heads and he said, 333 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:43,280 Speaker 1: close your eyes. I want you to imagine something. The 334 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 1: two boys did as Teddy instructed. Each of them was 335 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,199 Speaker 1: conscious that they were still standing in the same place 336 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:51,320 Speaker 1: in front of the fixed counter at the far end 337 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 1: of the local pawn shop, and they were aware that 338 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,120 Speaker 1: they had been standing there for far longer than they 339 00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:59,360 Speaker 1: had ever intended, and it was because Teddy wanted them 340 00:21:59,359 --> 00:22:03,320 Speaker 1: to do so. There was no denying it. Pentagram was 341 00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:05,719 Speaker 1: some of the best shit they'd ever heard, but they 342 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 1: couldn't leave even if they wanted to. What had begun 343 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: is this weird guy playing an obscure metal band for 344 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:17,000 Speaker 1: them had turned into something else. Now, Teddy's obvious enjoyment 345 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:20,479 Speaker 1: of their enjoyment simply listening to his cassette tape was 346 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:22,960 Speaker 1: kind of creepy, to be honest. It was like he 347 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:25,000 Speaker 1: was getting off on it or something. And so when 348 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:27,760 Speaker 1: he told him to close their eyes and imagine something, 349 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: every fiber of their being said it probably wasn't the 350 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,479 Speaker 1: best idea, but they were powerless to deny it. So 351 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 1: they closed their eyes and Teddy put another Pentagram tape 352 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:42,120 Speaker 1: in the boombox and hit play, and then he went on, 353 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:46,080 Speaker 1: Now I want the two of you to imagine you're 354 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:49,399 Speaker 1: stepping into the cockpit of a single engine Cessna for 355 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:52,439 Speaker 1: the first time. You've only ever been on a plane 356 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:55,359 Speaker 1: once in your life, a big commercial jetliner when you 357 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: went to visit your Aunt Ronda in San Diego that 358 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 1: one time. But now you're behind the wheel this little 359 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 1: cessna and you're expected to fly it from Virginia all 360 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:07,280 Speaker 1: the way to Bogatar, Columbia. What is that two thousand 361 00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:11,600 Speaker 1: miles at least? Yeah, you're good at following instructions, aren't you. 362 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:15,359 Speaker 1: But here's the thing. First, you gotta get this big 363 00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:17,520 Speaker 1: bird up into the sky, and then you have to 364 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,640 Speaker 1: keep it down low, so low that you stay off 365 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:24,840 Speaker 1: everyone's radar, because you're made in voyage. Here isn't exactly 366 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:27,479 Speaker 1: on the up and up, and that's putting it mildly. 367 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,639 Speaker 1: Because you, my friend, are headed to Bogata, where you 368 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:35,760 Speaker 1: load up with kilo upon kilo of the finest Colombian 369 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:39,240 Speaker 1: cocaine and then smuggle it back into the United States. 370 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 1: And you never met Escobar in person, but from what 371 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,960 Speaker 1: you've been told, that's a good thing. If you ever 372 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:47,960 Speaker 1: did meet him, it would probably be for all the 373 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:51,160 Speaker 1: wrong reasons, and you never walk away alive. The only 374 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 1: people you meet down there are a couple of guys 375 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,240 Speaker 1: with no names in sunburnt faces, standing next to a 376 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: badly rusted pickup on the side of a windswept cliff 377 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,240 Speaker 1: high in the hills, in this remote field, where a 378 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: makeshift landing strip waits for you. You land the Cessna somehow, 379 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:10,000 Speaker 1: by the grace of God. You literally have no clue 380 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:11,919 Speaker 1: how you manage not to run out of gas and 381 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:14,840 Speaker 1: drop into the ocean, and then you load up quickly 382 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:18,480 Speaker 1: before the sun falls below the horizon. The next day, 383 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,359 Speaker 1: you're handing over the stacks of coke to a distributor 384 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:24,640 Speaker 1: in Virginia and he's handing you stacks of cash in return. 385 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 1: I'm talking millions of dollars money which you then proceed 386 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:34,240 Speaker 1: to burn through women, cars, houses, diamond rings, and chinchilla coats. Shit. Man, 387 00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:36,159 Speaker 1: you could have literally set it all on fire and 388 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,919 Speaker 1: it would have lasted longer. Then, just like that, you 389 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 1: go back to your life as the leader of a 390 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:44,680 Speaker 1: metal band that no one's ever heard of. But actually 391 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,680 Speaker 1: the band isn't there anymore because you know dynamics. You're 392 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,119 Speaker 1: difficult to work with. A band is like being married 393 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:53,160 Speaker 1: to three or four people at the same time. There 394 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,360 Speaker 1: ain't even juice for the squeeze. Pick your reason. It's over. 395 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,600 Speaker 1: So you a guy who just ran drugs for Pablo 396 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: fucking Escobar and lived to tell about it. You were 397 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:07,320 Speaker 1: back in your parents' basement dreaming up Pentagram mark two. 398 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 1: Now tell me do you believe that story? Hey, open 399 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:19,359 Speaker 1: your eyes. The two boys did as Teddy commanded. He 400 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:22,320 Speaker 1: looked beyond excited to see them again, almost as if 401 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:24,800 Speaker 1: they'd gone away while their eyes were squeezed tight, and 402 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:29,200 Speaker 1: now here they were again at Teddy's behest. So Teddy 403 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:33,800 Speaker 1: went on Bobby Leebling said that all that really happened 404 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:36,760 Speaker 1: to him they piloted a Cessina was Colombian coke in 405 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:39,000 Speaker 1: the hold. But this is the same guy who said 406 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,080 Speaker 1: he dropped acid and his eyeballs. Maybe it was another 407 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 1: hallucination in his parents' basement. Remember what I was talking 408 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:50,240 Speaker 1: about earlier, creating people out of whole cloth. Maybe Bobby 409 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:52,600 Speaker 1: thought he was staring at a briefcase full of millions, 410 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 1: when in reality he was looking at a shoe box 411 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:58,080 Speaker 1: full of roach clips. But that's not the only explanation. 412 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:02,400 Speaker 1: It's all this careless handling of the pentagram business. You 413 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:07,440 Speaker 1: invert it even by accident. Now we're talking corruption of perception. 414 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:10,760 Speaker 1: The Wickens, well some of them at least, will tell 415 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,640 Speaker 1: you that the upright star in the pentagram keeps the 416 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:16,920 Speaker 1: spirit on the top, the five points of the star 417 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:20,800 Speaker 1: being air, fire, water, earth, and spirit. But if you 418 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:23,920 Speaker 1: flip it upside down, now you got two points on top, 419 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:27,240 Speaker 1: and it doesn't matter which two points or elements they are, 420 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:29,640 Speaker 1: you get two different points up top, and that means 421 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:34,480 Speaker 1: the spirit has been suppressed below the beast rises, the 422 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:38,479 Speaker 1: spirit sinks. So all this could have led to Bobby 423 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,679 Speaker 1: seeing Escobar's product at his feet, and also, as he 424 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:44,440 Speaker 1: later claimed to finding himself at a party at George 425 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,600 Speaker 1: Harrison's house in Maryland, where John Lennon's guitar pick somehow 426 00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:51,399 Speaker 1: ended up inside his pocket. Now, did Bobby steal that 427 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:55,760 Speaker 1: pick or was it gifted? Even more important, did George 428 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:58,679 Speaker 1: even own a home in Maryland? I don't think so, dude. 429 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:03,400 Speaker 1: Fucking Maryland is a beatle. This is a delusion, okay, 430 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:07,520 Speaker 1: But somehow Bobby Leveling managed to remain in some part 431 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:11,600 Speaker 1: of reality long enough to restart Pentagram after the initial 432 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:15,879 Speaker 1: few lineups had fallen apart, and fourteen years after the 433 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: band was formed. Pentagram self released their debut album in 434 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:26,080 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty five. But at this point, the doom metal 435 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: sound that they'd helped define had fallen out of fashion 436 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,639 Speaker 1: quote unquote metal, at least to the mall going record 437 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:38,160 Speaker 1: buying public. Was rats round and round in Motley Cue's Home, 438 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:42,920 Speaker 1: Sweet Home, not hulking slabs of riff and songs about 439 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:49,600 Speaker 1: desecrated bones and maggot infested flesh. The fucking curse. Okay, 440 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:54,720 Speaker 1: back to the curse. The curse was in control. It 441 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:58,800 Speaker 1: buried the spirit and the beast took over, just like 442 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:01,320 Speaker 1: when the Pentagram fled. Now, look it's right here in 443 00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:05,400 Speaker 1: the album's artwork. Teddy reached down below and pulled out 444 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:09,359 Speaker 1: another cassette, this one being the self titled Pentagram album 445 00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:12,679 Speaker 1: from nineteen eighty five. The two boys looked at it 446 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:15,200 Speaker 1: like they've been staring at a TV screen for hours, 447 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:18,320 Speaker 1: like their brains have been sucked out through their noses, 448 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:22,879 Speaker 1: almost like the image wasn't registering at all. Teddy pointed 449 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:27,720 Speaker 1: to the band's logo, which was of course an inverted pentagram, 450 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:31,560 Speaker 1: and then he said, see, the balance has been tipped, 451 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 1: and that was Bobby. That was the band. The spirit 452 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:57,320 Speaker 1: buried and the beast took over. Hey guys. Earlier in 453 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:01,200 Speaker 1: the episode our Narrator Here Teddy Pentagram met Bobby Leebling's 454 00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,880 Speaker 1: story about running drugs for Pablo Escobar and the Cartels 455 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:07,240 Speaker 1: back in the day, and then another one about a 456 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: party at George Harrison's house in John Lennon's guitar pick. 457 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:13,880 Speaker 1: Bobby was a bit of an unreliable narrator, say the least, 458 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 1: and his wild stories don't stop there. In fact, he's 459 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:19,400 Speaker 1: got a particularly crazy one about going on a bender 460 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:22,840 Speaker 1: with the Rolling stones in their limo for hours, and 461 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:24,560 Speaker 1: we just didn't have time to cover that story here 462 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:27,600 Speaker 1: in the full episode, but you can hear it if 463 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: you listen to this week's brand new mini episode or Disgraceland, 464 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:32,640 Speaker 1: which is available only to All Access members. To become 465 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 1: a member, just go to disgracelandpod dot com slash membership 466 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:38,160 Speaker 1: to sign up. All right, now, back to this story 467 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:45,200 Speaker 1: about Doom Metal Godfather's pentagram. Teddy rooted around in the 468 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: pocket of his black jeans, clearly not finding what he 469 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 1: was looking for. He pulled his hand out and dropped 470 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: a couple of quarters on the counter, along with a 471 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 1: guitar pick he'd made by cutting a triangle out of 472 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:59,640 Speaker 1: a land of Lake's buttertub. Fuck is it? Oh? Yeah? 473 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:03,520 Speaker 1: His hand was back in his pocket, and this time 474 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:06,720 Speaker 1: he got it a tiny metal vial with an even 475 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:11,680 Speaker 1: tinier metal chain attached. He unscrewed the cap and carefully 476 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:14,760 Speaker 1: tapped on the vial, knocking some white powder out under 477 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 1: that long, pinky fingernail. Then he brought the fingernail up 478 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:23,080 Speaker 1: to his nose and inhaled sharply. The boys could see 479 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:26,520 Speaker 1: the blue veins and his biceps. His eyes bulged as 480 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 1: the nasal picked me up took effect, and he fumbled 481 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 1: with another cassette tape, plunked it into the boom box 482 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:38,160 Speaker 1: and hit play. This one definitely sounded like it was 483 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:41,480 Speaker 1: Pentagram Circle in the nineteen eighties, and Teddy was right. 484 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:46,240 Speaker 1: It did sound way better on this shitty cassette. Inspired 485 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:51,320 Speaker 1: by the music, Teddy continued his story. Those old Pentagram 486 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:54,720 Speaker 1: tapes finally surfaced around the turn of the century. This 487 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:58,920 Speaker 1: metal label out of Pennsylvania, Relapsed Records, reissued them as 488 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:03,680 Speaker 1: a new compilation. Suddenly all the doom kids were lapping 489 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:07,160 Speaker 1: it up. They called Pentagram proto legends, they called Bobby 490 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:11,240 Speaker 1: Leebling the American Ozzy Osbourne, and before long you even 491 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:14,760 Speaker 1: had guys like Hank three, Hank Williams's grandson, playing Pentagram 492 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,680 Speaker 1: songs as part of his live set. This is where 493 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:20,320 Speaker 1: it's supposed to pay off for Bobby Leebling, right where 494 00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:22,880 Speaker 1: all the years of struggling in the shadows, all the 495 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:27,200 Speaker 1: lineup changes, the missed opportunities with kiss and major labels, 496 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:29,960 Speaker 1: all of it worth it because now suddenly everyone wants 497 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:34,200 Speaker 1: a peace. You guys know better than that. You know 498 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:37,440 Speaker 1: that a curse doesn't just up and quit. The beast 499 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:42,040 Speaker 1: doesn't just let go. Let those demons down in Alexandria, 500 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:45,640 Speaker 1: they never went anywhere. All those cold cases there in 501 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:49,680 Speaker 1: Bobby's hometown, they're still unsolved. In the air, there is 502 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:54,080 Speaker 1: still unsettled, and for Bobby, his life continued to be 503 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: just as unsettled. Only a few years back, in twenty seventeen, 504 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:01,240 Speaker 1: he was kicked out of his own bay. Some say 505 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:03,320 Speaker 1: he was admitted to a hospital. In fact, he had 506 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:07,800 Speaker 1: been arrested, charged with first degree assault and physical abuse 507 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 1: of a vulnerable adult. Word was he pushed his eighty 508 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:14,400 Speaker 1: seven year old mother down the stairs, and that got 509 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:18,640 Speaker 1: Bobby eighteen months in prison in three years probation. And 510 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:23,280 Speaker 1: then earlier this year, twenty twenty five, with Bobby back 511 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:26,280 Speaker 1: in the lineup, back in the saddle at seventy fucking 512 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:31,040 Speaker 1: something years old, Pentagram incredibly was once again riding a 513 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:34,480 Speaker 1: wave of delayed goodwill and opportunity. They're getting ready to 514 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:37,120 Speaker 1: embark on their very first tour of Australia and New Zealand, 515 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:41,520 Speaker 1: which is weeks before the promoter pulled the plug on 516 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:45,160 Speaker 1: the entire tour Sidney, Melbourne, perth Auckland. All that this 517 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 1: whole thing was suddenly on hiatus. The Pentagram was being 518 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:52,320 Speaker 1: denied the world stage, some fifty years after they first began. 519 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:57,520 Speaker 1: And why quote unquote current allegations? So you got to 520 00:32:57,520 --> 00:32:59,600 Speaker 1: assume they're talking about the thing with Bobby and his mom. 521 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:01,560 Speaker 1: I guess I don't know, though, Why would a conviction 522 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,000 Speaker 1: from years earlier, for which he'd already done his time? 523 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:06,920 Speaker 1: One would presume, why would that be described as a 524 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:11,720 Speaker 1: current allegation? Could the current allegation be the very thing 525 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:14,080 Speaker 1: I've been talking to you guys about this entire time, 526 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:18,920 Speaker 1: the allegation of Bobby Leebling's associations with that upside down star, 527 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:26,960 Speaker 1: the Curse the Beast. Teddy suddenly hit stop on the boombox, 528 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:33,200 Speaker 1: and a shocking silence replaced the music. But there, seeping in, 529 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:39,240 Speaker 1: ever so slightly, was the tape hiss. The sound slowly 530 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:42,400 Speaker 1: grew louder, even though the tape was no longer playing. 531 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:49,360 Speaker 1: And the boys, wait, wait, where were those two keenage boys, 532 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:52,680 Speaker 1: The boys who had been here the whole time, the 533 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:55,640 Speaker 1: ones who couldn't leave, who had been held captive by 534 00:33:56,000 --> 00:34:02,600 Speaker 1: Teddy's otherworldly poll? Hey you who? Yeah? You the one 535 00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:05,960 Speaker 1: listening to me? Talk right now, What teenage boys do 536 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:09,239 Speaker 1: you think you're referring to. There's no one else here. 537 00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:13,879 Speaker 1: It's just you and me. You're the one who's been 538 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:16,839 Speaker 1: standing here the whole time. You nodded your head when 539 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:19,880 Speaker 1: I said that Vinyl sucked. You closed your eyes and 540 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:21,799 Speaker 1: then opened them back up when I told you to 541 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:26,920 Speaker 1: you remember right, I'm dead fucking serious. You thought you 542 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,439 Speaker 1: were listening to a story. You thought you were one 543 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:32,800 Speaker 1: step removed, like you could eavesdrop from the safety of 544 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:35,520 Speaker 1: your car, or your kitchen or wherever it is you're 545 00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:40,080 Speaker 1: listening to this right now. No, man, you weren't listening 546 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:44,960 Speaker 1: to a story. You've been listening to the tape, and 547 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:50,080 Speaker 1: once you hear it, you can't unhear it. It's inside you, 548 00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:53,840 Speaker 1: just like it's inside Bobby, just like it's inside me. 549 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:57,920 Speaker 1: You can call it a curse, you can call it 550 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:04,239 Speaker 1: the beast. You can even call it a disgrace. I'm 551 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:26,000 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan, and this this Disgraceland, all right. Thanks for 552 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:29,319 Speaker 1: hanging out with us and our very trusting narrator here, 553 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:33,000 Speaker 1: Teddy Pentagram, for our Pentagram Story Question of the Week. 554 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:36,000 Speaker 1: You know we all had a Teddy Pentagram in our lives, 555 00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:40,320 Speaker 1: someone who shepherded us to the great music? Who was 556 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:42,600 Speaker 1: that for you? Was it an older sibling and uncle? 557 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,040 Speaker 1: Was it someone at a record store, some cool dude 558 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:48,279 Speaker 1: in a band. You know, your older sister who let 559 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:51,239 Speaker 1: me know? Who was your musical sherpa who opened up 560 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:54,320 Speaker 1: the world of great rock and roll, punk, rock, jazz? 561 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:57,399 Speaker 1: Whatever it was? Who turned you on six one, seven, 562 00:35:57,480 --> 00:35:59,879 Speaker 1: nine oh six sixty sixty three eight voicemail and text 563 00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:02,440 Speaker 1: and you might hear your answer on the afterparty bonus 564 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:06,160 Speaker 1: episode coming up right after this. Hit me up at 565 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:09,240 Speaker 1: disgrace slampod on the socials. All right, here comes some credits. 566 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,000 Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 567 00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:17,440 Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be 568 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:21,080 Speaker 1: found on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 569 00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:24,239 Speaker 1: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank 570 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:26,960 Speaker 1: you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And 571 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:29,319 Speaker 1: if not, you can become a member right now by 572 00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:33,640 Speaker 1: going to disgracelampod dot com slash membership, rate and review 573 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:36,120 Speaker 1: the show, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and 574 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:40,280 Speaker 1: Facebook at disgracelampod and on YouTube at YouTube dot com, 575 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:49,080 Speaker 1: slash at disgracelanpod, Rock a Rolla. He then