can’t say if “Mr. Crowley” sounded menacing in ’81, but it’s the opposite of menacing now. The instrumental fanfare that opens the song—a schlocky church organ riff that emits “spooky” synth swooshes ripped off from the Halloween soundtrack—is as terrifying as plastic vampire teeth. Nevertheless, fearing Ozzy Osbourne was customary for middle Americans also dreading the onset of phony Satanism in every other corner of eighties suburbia, from Dungeons and Dragons to the Eagles’ “Hotel California” to supposedly pro-Lucifer messages imprinted on Styx (!) and Electric Light Orchestra (!!) records.
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