satan place!

Like 15 years ago or so I saw an ad for Ecstatic Peace records in Forced Exposure (I think) that mentioned this tape. It was an upcoming release and purported to feature interviews with various Long Island teen satanists! The ad I read definitely ran a year or more after the famous Ricky Kasso teen drug/satan murder in Northport, Long Island in 1984. I remember reading about the murder in Rolling Stone and the full page pic of wild eyed Kasso scared the shit out of me. Anyways, with that pic of Kasso burned into my brain forever, I couldn't wait to hear this tape. The ad even said "Ricky Kasso is an asshole" or something like that (I will scan in the ad when I track it down).



I don't recall it being mentioned or having much of a description in Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace rundown in a mid 90s issue of Muckraker. It seems it was never actually released, leading to more legendary status (in my head).

So, lo and behold Eric from We Have Heaven sent around a link with a download for the tape a few days ago! It seems it was issued briefly by Hanson records, the home of Wolf Eyes but is no longer available or even referenced on their website. A little bit of a wrap up on this release can be found here (ya gotta scroll, yo).

When I finally downloaded the tape and gave it a listen, it totally delivers, much like the live Venom 7" on Ecstatic Peace, another oddity that I didn't hear until years after it's release. The tape seems to be recorded before the Kasso murder, since there is no reference to it and I am sure it would have been a topic of conversation had it been recorded after the murder/arrest. But it is all Long Island, all heavy metal (the dark side of Heavy Metal Parking lot?), and all DUMB. So fucking dumb and awesome and silly. That said, none of the folks involved in the Kasso murder are on the tape (which includes full names and even one kid's address!), so one can assume the 'burbs of Long Island were just a hotbed of babbling devil kids on PCP, mesc and acid.

Over an hour of drug stories, Satan talk, heavy metal discussions, Long Island accents and even some impromptu jamming on a guitar and keyboard (!). Giddy excitement over their petty crimes! A million awesome quotes ("This guitar is possesed" "Ozzy is a fruity malutie"), references to Hit Parader TV (on ch 21), the bizarre cocksure confidence of early 80s dirt weed metal culture. When the interviewer mentions that he heard Venom are not really into Satanism, that it is a gimmick, the incredulous response of "Not into it??" is just perfect. Convoluted logic about Lucifer and his many wings, getting devil books out of the "lieberry." Ahh I could go on and on, but just give it a listen for yourself. Here are the first two parts of the tape. I will be adding more in the next few days. Enjoy this snapshot of a world that was all too real/dumb back in the early to mid 80s. This shit really existed, as a teen stoner into acid and such back then, you usually had to deal with these types, at least on the edges of the drug scene. Til you made friends with the school deadheads anyways. Keep your eyes out for the Hermit With the Knowledge.

UPDATE: Parts 3 and 4 added.

Satan Place - Side A Part 1
Satan Place - Side A Part 2
Satan Place - Side A Part 3
Satan Place - Side A Part 4

UPDATE II: Whole thing here... enjoy.