This is Later with Lee Matthews, The Lee Matthews Podcast More what You Hear Weekday Afternoon's on the Drive.
Doug Broad is a former editor in chief of Spin and TV Guide magazines as well. He is author of a book about how Kiss Cheap Trick, Airsmith and Stars remade Rock and Roll, also editor for Entertainment Weekly and many other publications. She's got a new book out, Born with a Tale, The Devilish Life and Wicked Times of Anton Zandor love Ay. Doug Broad is with us, Doug, did I pronounce that name? Right?
You did? Indeed?
Thank you? Thank you?
Well.
You see, the thing is, everybody's heard of Alistair Crowley. I don't know if a lot of people heard of this guy.
Yeah, I'm not sure. I think many people have. You know, he started the Church of Satan in April nineteen sixty six from his home in San Francisco, and it wasn't a devil worship cult. It was more of a philosophy of indulgence, of unleashing man's carnal instinct. And he got a lot of followers. A lot of people were kind of into his ideas, his philosophies. He wrote a book the Satanic Bible in nineteen sixty nine that went on to sell over a million copies. He appeared on Johnny
Carson Steve Allen's show. He was on the cover of Look magazine back in the day. So he was quite, you know, the visible celebrity in the sixties and seventies.
This was also a time when the sensibilities of the United States were starting to look closer at, shall we say, alternative lifestyles.
Yes, you know, he was kind of a response to the kind of flower power, hippie freedom of the day. He was more of a law and order character, sort of verging on libertarianism. But there were also a lot of other ideas blooming at the time, like este and other self empowerment philosophies. But his was kind of leavened with a sense of humor. There was always a humorous aspect to what he was doing and what he was extolling. But you know, there also was a real seriousness to
it as well. I mean, he had rituals in his house that were kind of like psychodramas that could benefit the participants, could rid them of their sexual hang ups, you know, help them romantically and financially. It was basically giving people self confident and self empowerment.
The devilish life and wicked times of Anton Sandor Levy born with a Tale as the name of the book, and he was the founder of the Church of Satan. Doug Broad is the author who's written all about it. So, were there black masses and because there's a lot of there's a lot in Satanism that I see, it's more anti Catholicism than it is Satanism.
That the case could be made. It was also anti any other religion, to be honest with you, it was it was the idea that that all of that was fantasy. And that's a belief that many people have that a lot of religions are fantasy. And this was looking at man as his own god, and the only one man had to anstitute was himself. He wasn't, you know, Levey didn't believe in guilt. It's like, people shouldn't feel guilty about stuff that they like as long as consenting adults,
you know, are involved. What's the what's the problem. There's no problem. So yeah, So his his his idea of a religion was not so much to counter the other ones. It was just to promote man as his own god.
So did he embrace the Satanism and the and the pentagrams and all that just to get the attention that he was looking for.
That's exactly what he did. There was no devil worship involved. They didn't worship Satan. There was no They worshiped themselves if anything, And the idea of bringing Satan into the mix is more of a metaphor. Like he was, he was seen, He represented the adversary, and it was it was a way to grab at first, it was a way to grab people's attention.
Sounds a little more like Aristotelean humanism than it does a Satanism.
That that the case could be made as well.
Absolutely, Doug Brown is with us, and the book that he has written is born with a tale of the devilish life and wicked times of Anton Sandor Leavey, founder of the Church of Satan. What were some of those wicked times?
I guess you could say having a pet lion in his home was fairly wicked. Yeah, So in the sixties he had a pet lion that lived in a cage in his backyard and he sometimes brought the lion out to the grocery store. At the time, San Francisco didn't have any laws, you know, preventing people from having big game animals in their houses. But eventually neighbors complained about the roaring, and you know, the lion became unruly on a number of occasions, so he had to give it up.
But no, I mean, this guy lived, He lived the life. He he was obsessed with with all of these topics, you know, the occult and witchcraft and monsters and you know, sideshow performers. He had a very kind of you know, bizarre taste and aesthetic, and you know, he lived like I say in the book, he lived like Gomez Adams and Herman Munster. They had a black house and he, you know, he dressed them. You know, he dressed the part.
He had the bald head and the Van Dyke beard, and you know, they lived like one of these TV shows. But in real life.
We're talking about the book Born with a Tale, the Devilish Life and Wicked Times of Anton Sandor Levy and Doug Broad is the author. So this guy also had some musical talent. Was he maybe a frustrated musician.
I don't think he was a frustrated musician. He actually He was a keyboard player, and he played the organ, he played the calliop He he he claimed to have worked in carnivals and and circuses, uh, playing these instruments. But he also, you know, played lounges all over San Francisco, and you know there he was in newspaper ads as uh, San Francisco's most unique organist. But he, you know, he he had he had keyboards, and he had a bank
of keyboards in his house. And he would entertain his guests all the time by playing, you know, for hours. And you know, he knew every He knew pretty much every ten pan alley song ever recorded. And he was quite the prodigy.
And we're talking about anton Zandor Levy. Born with the Tail is the book The Devilish Life and Wicked Times of Anton Zandor Levy Doug Broad. He also attracted some celebrity. Were they followers or just clingers on or just people he hung out.
With well early on, right after the church sort of came to prominence. In nineteen sixty seven, Jane Mansfield, the Hollywood star, kind of glombed onto him. I think she saw a publicity opportunity, as did he, And for a few months they were linked in the press and he claims they were romantic. She does not. She disputed that, but this was actually right, you know, not long before
she was killed in a car accident. Yeah. And then later on, Sammy Davis Junior in nineteen seventy three had a brief sort of dalliance with the church and he was actually made an honorary world in the Church of Satan. But I think his interest was probably more genuine. He you know, Sammy was into a lot of stuff. He was very experimental all his life, and this is one thing that he thought was kind of the cool thing to pursue.
Doug Broad He's the author of Born with a Tale, The Devilish Life and Wicked Times of Anton Sandor Levey. The books out everywhere you get books. And thanks for joining us today, Doug Broad.
My pleasure, Thanks for having me.
Thanks for listening to Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast, and remember to listen to The Drive Live weekday afternoons from five to seven and Iheartsmedia Presentation