Better By You, Better Than Me
Encyclopedia
"Better By You, Better Than Me" is a 1969 song by the band Spooky Tooth
Spooky Tooth
Spooky Tooth are an English rock band principally active, with intermittent breakups, between 1967 to 1974. In recent years, the band has been reconstituted at various points, and continues to perform occasionally.-Career:...

 which was covered in 1978 by Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...

.

The song was the subject of the much-publicized 1990 "subliminal message trial" in which Judas Priest was involved in a civil action that alleged they were responsible for the suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 attempts of two young men in Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...

. The case was eventually dismissed.

Personnel

  • Luther Grosvenor
    Luther Grosvenor
    Luther James Grosvenor is an English rock musician, who played guitar in Spooky Tooth, briefly in Stealers Wheel and, under the pseudonym "Ariel Bender", in Mott the Hoople and Widowmaker....

     Guitar
  • Mike Harrison
    Mike Harrison (musician)
    Mike Harrison is an English musician, most notable as a principal lead singer of Spooky Tooth and as a solo artist. He has also been the lead singer in the The V.I.P.'s, Art and the Hamburg Blues Band, among others...

     Keyboards, Vocals
  • Mike Kellie
    Mike Kellie
    Mike Kellie is an English drummer. Most notably, he has played in Spooky Tooth and The Only Ones. Kellie has also played with Peter Frampton and in various bands with Chris Wood....

     Drums
  • Greg Ridley
    Greg Ridley
    Alfred Gregory 'Greg' Ridley was one of the more visible rock bassists in England, and a founding member of the successful rock band Humble Pie...

     Bass, Guitar
  • Gary Wright
    Gary Wright
    Gary Malcolm Wright is an American musician, best known for his song, "Dream Weaver". He was the piano player on Harry Nilsson's version of "Without You".-Early life:...

     Keyboards, Vocals

Personnel

  • Rob Halford
    Rob Halford
    Robert John Arthur "Rob" Halford is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead vocalist for the Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Judas Priest. He is nicknamed the "Metal God" as a tribute to his influence on metal, and after the Judas Priest song of the same name from 1980's...

    : Lead vocals
  • K.K. Downing: guitar
    Guitar
    The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

    s
  • Glenn Tipton
    Glenn Tipton
    Glenn Tipton is one of the Grammy Award-winning guitarists for the heavy metal band Judas Priest...

    : guitar
    Guitar
    The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

    s, backing vocals
    Backing vocalist
    A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...

  • Ian Hill
    Ian Hill
    Ian Hill is a founding member and bassist for the Birmingham-based Grammy award winning heavy metal band, Judas Priest....

    : Bass Guitar
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

  • Les Binks
    Les Binks
    James Leslie Binks , is a Northern Irish heavy metal drummer, who is most notable for having been the drummer for Judas Priest.-History:...

    : drums
    Drum kit
    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....


1990 Trial

In 1990, Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...

 was involved in a civil action that alleged they were responsible for the suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 attempts in 1985 of 20-year old James Vance and 19-year old Ray Belknap in Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...

, USA. On December 23, 1985 Vance and Belknap got intoxicated then went to a playground at a Lutheran church in Reno. Belknap shot a 12 gauge
Gauge (bore diameter)
The gauge of a firearm is a unit of measurement used to express the diameter of the barrel. Gauge is determined from the weight of a solid sphere of lead that will fit the bore of the firearm, and is expressed as the multiplicative inverse of the sphere's weight as a fraction of a pound . Thus...

 shotgun under his chin, dying instantly, and Vance followed, but survived with a severely disfigured face. He died three years later after a suicidal
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 overdose of painkillers.

The young men's parents and their legal team, headed by Nevada attorney Ken McKenna
Ken McKenna (attorney)
Kenneth J. McKenna is an American trial and litigation attorney practicing both criminal and civil law. He is known for being lead counsel for the plaintiff in the "Judas Priest case" where he represented the family of a young man who had committed suicide; the family sued Judas Priest and CBS...

, alleged that a subliminal message of "do it" had been included in the song. They alleged the command in the song triggered the suicide attempt. The suit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...

 was eventually dismissed. One of the defense witnesses, Dr Timothy E. Moore, wrote an article for Skeptical Inquirer
Skeptical Inquirer
The Skeptical Inquirer is a bimonthly American magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry with the subtitle: The magazine for science and reason....

chronicling the trial.

The trial was covered in the 1991 documentary Dream Deceivers: The Story Behind James Vance Vs. Judas Priest. In the documentary, lead singer Rob Halford
Rob Halford
Robert John Arthur "Rob" Halford is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead vocalist for the Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Judas Priest. He is nicknamed the "Metal God" as a tribute to his influence on metal, and after the Judas Priest song of the same name from 1980's...

 commented that if they wanted to insert subliminal commands in their music, killing their fans would be counterproductive and they would prefer to insert the command "Buy more of our records". Regarding the prosecution's assertions that the statement "do it" was a command to commit suicide, Halford pointed out "do it" had no direct message.

Comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...

 Bill Hicks
Bill Hicks
William Melvin "Bill" Hicks was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material largely consisted of general discussions about society, religion, politics, philosophy, and personal issues. Hicks' material was often controversial and steeped in dark comedy...

 referred to the case in his stand-up routines, asking "What musician wants his audience dead?" He performed a sketch mimicking Judas Priest being sick of their immense wealth, power, and fame and coming up with the subliminal message as a solution to their problems. Comedian Denis Leary
Denis Leary
Denis Colin Leary is an Irish-American actor, comedian, writer and director. Leary is known for his biting, fast paced comedic style and chain smoking...

 also commented on the trial on his album No Cure For Cancer
No Cure for Cancer
No Cure for Cancer is one of Denis Leary's standup routines from the early 1990s. It was made into a television special, a book, and a compact disc, all with the same title...

, saying heavy metal bands should put more subliminal messages in their records: "Kill the band, kill your parents, then kill yourself". Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...

 also made fun of the trial.

The trial is still referenced by people inside and outside of the music community. The Bloodhound Gang
Bloodhound Gang
Bloodhound Gang is a Collegeville, Pennsylvania-based American comedy band, although it began as a rap group and gradually changed its genre throughout the years...

 song "Lift Your Head Up High", which explicitly urges listeners to commit suicide, includes a section which, when played "backwards like Judas Priest first did", suggests that listeners eat Chef Boyardee
Chef Boyardee
Chef Boyardee is a brand of canned pasta products sold internationally by ConAgra Foods. Named after its founder, Italian-American immigrant Ettore Boiardi, the company began production in the United States in the 1920s...

 products. As well, the Mr. Show
Mr. Show
Mr. Show with Bob and David is an American sketch comedy series featuring former Saturday Night Live writer/actor Bob Odenkirk and stand up comedian/actor David Cross...

episode "The Return of the Curse of the Creature's Ghost" has a sketch in which a fictional band "Titannica" is sued by a fan who tries to commit suicide after listening to their hit song "Try Suicide".
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