The year 1986 was a pivotal one for the hard rock and heavy metal world. By the mid-1980s, some of L.A.’s hard rock bands like Mötley Crüe and Ratt starting commercializing to reach a wider audience, particularly on the female side. In August, the release of Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet—a monster hit album that would take the heavy metal look and sound and give it a safe, pop, glam sheen for many girls—would inspire another five years of imitators. Even heavy metal icons like Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest had teased out their hair a bit. It was part of the next level of technicolor decadence that came to define the latter half of the decade, and Priest spoofed this and their image with their satirical television commercials for Turbo.
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A Slicker Sound
Judas Priest originally intended Turbo to be a double album called Twin Turbos to celebrate it being their 10th album and also glorify the various forms the genre could take. But their label Columbia/CBS refused to release a double album priced as one to benefit fans, so the British quintet collated nine tracks they felt represented something new and solid. The singular Turbo album was instantly divisive among their fans because of the dominance of guitar synthesizers and poppy sounds that had never been heard before from this roaring, aggressive, and often dark band.
Priest fully committed to this new vibe. They teased out their hair (in singer Rob Halford’s case, grew it out) and clothed themselves in multicolor leather. Their first single was the cheeky sex anthem “Turbo Lover,” followed by the silly “Locked In.” The band now featured leather-clad women in their videos. The only truly classic-sounding Priest song on the set was the majestic, synth-free anthem “Reckless,” which had considered for the theme to the movie Top Gun.
Yes, times were changing.
Get It on Credit
There are two Turbo TV spots that one can find on YouTube today. Not only did they showcase Halford’s penchant for comedy, but they lampooned the outsider’s image of being boisterous, decadent rock stars.
In one spot, Halford is a leather-clad crossing guard warning young people to be careful at intersections and not to take rides from strangers, like guitarist K.K. Downing inviting a schoolgirl to his vintage car in the background. And to keep burning on Turbo power. There are two versions of the spot. In the shorter cut, the girl happily drives off with Downing. In the longer cut, Downing and a young lady are making out in a club at the end while Halford steps in and says, “It’s 1986. Do you know where your children are? They’re burning on Turbo power!”
In the other spot, Halford and Downing are sitting in a posh hotel lobby, with the singer letting everyone know he always carries his Turbo card. As he trips a passing waiter, an announcer declares of the new album: “Don’t wreck home without it.”
Parody as Payback
The ideas for these clips did not come out of nowhere. There seems to have been real-life inspiration at play.
In 1985, there were Senate hearings held by the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) to address the issue of obscenity and vulgarity in rock music. They had created a list of the “Filthy Fifteen” songs by artists who they felt exemplified their crusade. One of those tracks was “Eat Me Alive,” a song about rough sex from Priest’s previous album Defenders of the Faith. The hearings did not lead to censorship but to future warning labels plastered on certain albums declaring, “Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics.”
The Turbo album had a sing-along anthem called “Parental Guidance” that mocked such parental panic. That track is not one of their finer moments as it came from the point of view as a teenager which felt odd. The album commercials that the band did were funnier. The “Turbo power” reference could have easily been misinterpreted as condoning drinking or drug use, but Halford had just gotten sober (and never looked back).
Heavy metal bands never set out to be role models, even if parents have wanted popular music figures to represent something positive for their kids. Those same parents might have forgotten how Elvis Presley stirred up the masses with his swiveling hips back in the ‘50s. Priest were actually somewhat aware of this situation—they never cursed on albums, did not have explicit videos, and “Eat Me Alive” aside, never got that raunchy. The band was more about exorcising one’s demons and often, the forces of good triumphing against evil. Or just about asserting one’s independence in the world.
In the case of Turbo, they wanted to release a fun summer album. While album sales topped out at half a million at the time (later hitting Platinum status), the Fuel for Life tour was very successful and (perhaps predictably) Turbo became a fan favorite for many women. It’s a very mixed bag, but the album did produce three Priest classics—“Turbo Lover,” the epic ballad “Out in the Cold,” and “Reckless.”
That being said, having an actual Turbo card would have been a great fan-club gimmick.
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Photo by Pete Cronin/Redferns
