A song from 1985 and its clip created a buzz among followers of conspiracy.
It’s a short-lived 80s hit with a catchy beat and catchy chorus, “Cathy don’t go to the supermarket today”, literally: Cathy, doesn’t go to the supermarket today. It appeared on the only album by an unknown band, Heaven’s Magic. The clip (to see at the bottom of the page), typical of this decade, features young people of good quality in all respects who, between two kitsch choreographies, are immersed in a dystopian atmosphere. A young girl is dissuaded from going to the supermarket where strange things are happening: the cash registers are guarded by soldiers with a disturbing look, customers are transformed into zombies wearing a barcode on their foreheads and the number 666, the famous “figure of the Beast” is omnipresent. The whole thing seems vaguely inspired by the film adaptation of “1984” released a few months earlier sprinkled with religious and apocalyptic references.
On Twitter, conspiratorial accounts hail the clip’s “prophetic” vision. © DR
It did not take more for this forgotten title to make a strong comeback on social networks and conspiracy sites which present it as the prophetic vision of a future made of QR-Code and subcutaneous chips. Especially since one of the scenes shows a man equipped with a surgical mask, an additional echo to the present day …
A man wearing a surgical mask engages in experiments on the protagonists of the clip. © YouTube screenshot.
But the buzz of this song in the conspiratorial sphere is not really a coincidence. Because, on the pretext of denouncing the consumer society and the new alienating technologies, “Cathy don’t go” is a pure sectarian propaganda title produced at the time by The Family, previously known as The Children of God. In the 70s, this apocalyptic group founded by Pastor David Berg, accumulated all the excesses associated with sects. Mental control, psychological and physical violence, sexual abuse, incestuous and pedophile practices etc. David Berg had even established a system of compulsory prostitution, the flirty-fishing, forcing young followers, often minors, to solicit adults to recruit new members.
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The cult is also known for the few celebrities who grew up there because their parents were members such as siblings Phoenix, River, Joaquin, Rain and Summer, actress Rose McGowan and singer Christopher Owens. On the other hand, the former guitarist of Fleetwood Mac, Jeremy Spencer, joined of his free will in 1971. And it is precisely this last which would be the true composer of the music of “Cathy don’t go”.
Dissolved in 1978, the Children of God continued to operate under various names including Family International and The Family *. During all these years, the sect has produced musical works for propaganda purposes but also to create a kind of pop counter-culture supposed to divert its followers from show business “in the hands of the devil”. Still active today but much more discreet, the organization is now headed by Karen Zerby, widow of David Berg, who died in 1994. There is no doubt that the late success of “Cathy don’t go to the supermarket” must delight its customers. latest affidavits.
* Not related to the Parisian religious group, the Family, mentioned here
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