By Ricky O'Bannon

So we' v all heard the story about the worried parents who claimed that playing Led Zeppelin 's "Stairway to Heaven" backwards revealed a message about devil worship . Most today would say that is pretty far out in left fi eld . There will always be someone out there claiming rock and roll or hip-hop is the pied piper that is corrupting our nation 's youth with devil music . And yes, there are plenty of B-gradc metal bands out there who think an inflatable Satan balloon will Ilx what their live shows are lacking , but really now, what has the devil got to do with music? Well as it turns out, quite a lot actually.

There is a quiet debate among certain Christian schol ars as to whether Lucifer was originally the angel of music. A few theologians even say there is scriptural evidence that he actually had a drum and pipe built into his body prior to being tbrown out of heaven. Regardle. s, the devil was associated with music long before a couple of overzealous ministers prompted parents to investigate satanic messages contained within the Led Zeppelin anthem.

Most references to the devil in music can be traced back to the Faust legend. The 16th-century German tale was about an unremarkable academic named Faust who sold his

to the devil in ex hange worldly knowledge.

it 'elf is inspired I.n!e of know ledge

Garden of Eden.

ik ages must of thought this was pretty awesome because many have used tweaked versions of tbe story for self-prom rion.

First came Giuseppi Tartini, who

sometime around 1749 lold a French astronomer that the devil had appeared to him in a dream and exchanged his sou l for violin lessons. Because the French don ' t have a word for "BS " the astronomer believed Tartini. H said after waking up from his dream hc wrote down the piece that the dev il had played for him, which became Tartini 's famous "Devil's Trill Sonata."

Further proof that being associated with the devil is a great career move comes in the form of music 's first superstar, Niccolo Paganini . Paganini was a roc k star before anyone knew what a rock star was. He was a phenomenal virtuoso violinist in the early 19th century who performed sold-out concerts of music he wrote. He was the tirst to perform memorized music , and it also helped he was the

only one alive with the skill to play his stuff. Europeans of course jumped

to the only natural conclusion : He either sold his soul or was the devil 's son .

Not that Paganini did anything to discourage these rumors. He often broke strings intentionally so that he could finish concerts using only one string and alternate positions and would walk arollnd the stage for effect (we can only aSSllme while dodging lad ies' pantaloons being tossed at him). He wore an ov rcoat in the :ummer. he was oft n seen talking to him. elf when alone. and his greasy. long hair and 'orne hi tonans say hi lanky. pale face

appear more ghoulish. Like any good rock star, Paganini made a fortune and squandered it on gambling and depression. Glad to see so much has changed.

Then came the bluesmen. For those afraid that the devil only played violin (or fiddle in the case of CharJ ie Daniels), Lucifer apparently realized a trend when he saw it and jumped to guitar. Bluesmen Robert Johnson, Tommy Johnson and Peter Wheatstraw were all famous for fostering rumors that they sold their soul to the dcvil in exchange for their guitar skill.

in the turn-of-the-century American South, superstition was rampant. Mark Twain chronic! d a number of folklore legends such as rituals for wart removal in . ev raj rhi b (k..

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devil at the crossroads. Hence, why the song "Crossroads" is a blues standard sung by everyone from B.B. King to Eric Clapton . Bluesmen would also make lyrical references to black magic and hell hounds that they had seen following them as reminders of their satanic deal.

By the time musicians who had been raised on the blues continued the trend, like Jimmy Page, who had a stated interest in the occult, and Robert Plant, who referenced hell hounds in "No Quarter," it should have been no surprise that the Faust legend was still alive with audiences and musicians. It has become a part of our musical culture. Can selling your soul to the devil really give you musical virtuo. ity? Don't count n it. Bot if history is any indicator. claiming y u' e don much