AC/DC: The Night Stalker Murders
There is nothing evil about AC/DC. Despite titles like “Highway to Hell” and “Hell’s Bells,” the satanic themes of 80’s metal are largely absent from AC/DC songs. Regardless, the band incurred media wrath after a satanic serial killer was tenuously linked to the band.
From the summer of 1984 until his capture in August 1985, Richard Ramirez terrorized Los Angeles. The sheer brutality of his assaults left residents terrified. As the murders grew in frequency, news outlets nicknamed the assailant “Night Stalker.”
In March of 1985, investigators got a significant break when Ramirez left an AC/DC hat at a murder scene. Desperate to capture the elusive sadist, police released a picture of the hat to the public.
The media sensationalized the connection. Reporters claimed that AC/DC was an acronym for “Anti-Christ/Devil’s Child.” Newspapers suggested that the band inspired The Night Stalker to kill in the name of Satan.
On August 31st, 1985, Richard Ramirez was captured. The press printed quotations from the song “Night Prowler” to underscore AC/DC’s link to the murders. In reality, Ramirez HAD been listening to the song. At his preliminary hearing, a police officer testified that Ramirez confessed and hummed “Night Prowler” before banging his head against the table.
The band dismissed any connection and offered a revisionist analysis of the song. AC/DC claimed “Night Prowler” portrayed a teenage lover sneaking through his girlfriend’s window while her parents slept across the hall.
Interpreting “Night Stalker” as a ballad of forbidden love is a stretch. Each verse contains dark imagery that is borderline morbid. The most damning lines appear in the first verse.
‘Cause no one’s gonna warn you
And no one’s gonna yell “ATTACK!”
And you don’t feel the steel
Till it’s hanging out your back.
Just as no artist can control how the public interprets a song, AC/DC were powerless to combat the public backlash. Television and newspapers ran countless stories reinforcing the notion that AC/DC had inspired the murders.
The negative publicity impacted the band quite severely. A scheduled concert in the Los Angeles area was cancelled. One amphitheater representative explained, “We felt a responsibility to the area and the community.” Rather than accept a provision that would require them to play without a full stage-show, AC/DC simply moved on to the next city.
Trouble wasn’t limited to the immediate vicinity of the Night Stalker murders. When AC/DC appeared to perform in Springfield, Illinois, they were denied lodging after the city council persuaded local hotels to refuse the band. Problems only continued when the PMRC included AC/DC in the infamous “filthy 15” list of profane songs.
Of course AC/DC endured. Soon the memory of The Night Stalker faded. 1986 found the band featured in a Stephen King movie. Fly on the Wall and Blow Up Your Video were both platinum albums but 1990’s The Razor’s Edge sold a whopping five million records. MTV played the band’s videos to a viewership that never heard of Richard Ramirez. AC/DC emerged triumphant and remain one of rock’s greatest success stories.
