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This Week in Texas Music History: The Fort Worth Goatman


by Stephen Becker 12 Jul 2013 2:00 PM

This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll meet a monster who terrorized Fort Worth but also inspired some local garage bands.

CTA TBD

Art&Seek presents This Week in Texas Music History. Every week, we’ll spotlight a different moment and the musician who made it. This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll meet a monster who terrorized Fort Worth but also inspired some local garage bands.

You can also hear This Week in Texas Music History on Sunday at precisely 6:04 p.m. on KERA radio. But subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss an episode. And our thanks to KUT public radio in Austin for helping us bring this segment to you. And if you’re a music lover, be sure to check out Track by Track, the podcast from Paul Slavens, host of KXT’s The Paul Slavens Show, heard Sunday night’s at 8.

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On July 10, 1969, stories began surfacing about a half-man, half-goat creature that was on the prowl near Lake Worth. The mysterious beast reportedly made horrible noises and frightened young couples who were making out in parked cars by the lake. After multiple sightings, the monster achieved near mythical status among local teens. A Fort Worth garage rock band, known as Larry and the Blue Notes, even recorded a song about the Goatman, titled “Night of the Sadist.”

Sightings of the Goatman eventually grew less frequent, and some local teens later admitted that they were responsible for the hoax, having dressed up in a gorilla suit to scare their friends. However, the song “Night of the Sadist” ensured that this teenage prank would live on in Texas music lore.

Next time on This Week in Texas Music History, we’ll hear from a jazz player who helped pioneer the Texas tenor sound.

 

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