On Monday, December 23, 1985, in the small town of Sparks, Nevada, Raymond Belknap and James Vance had spent most of the day drinking beer, smoking marijuana and Image Manipulation listening to heavy metal records. Subliminal advertising concept Among the albums Belknap and Vance reportedly listened to that day was Image Manipulation Stained Class , the fourth album by British metal band Judas Priest.
As the sun slowly set over the small desert town just outside of Reno, Belknap and Vance, who were 18 and 20 at the time, decided Image Manipulation to visit a nearby playground. It was in this playground that the two young men shot each other with a 12-gauge shotgun. Belknap went first. After successfully committing suicide from a single gunshot wound Image Manipulation to the head, Vance took the shotgun from his friend and attempted to end his life. Unlike his friend, Vance did not die immediately, but suffered severe facial injuries that left him disfigured. Vance Image Manipulation died from the failed suicide attempt three years later.
Belknap and Vance's families sued Judas Priest's record label, CBS Records, for $6.2 million (about $14.2 million in 2017). They Image Manipulation argued in court that the pair were driven to commit suicide by auditory cues hidden in Judas Priest's cover of the Spooky Tooth song, "Better By You, Better Than Me." The plaintiffs claimed the song contained a subliminal Image Manipulation message – “Do it” – urging listeners to commit suicide.