Before Don Most was known for anything beyond being Ralph Malph on Happy Days, he went full demon rocker for one of the most gloriously ridiculous Halloween episodes in ’80s television history.
On October 31, 1982, Most appeared on CHiPs as Moloch, a Satan-obsessed heavy-metal singer with KISS-style face paint, fire-breathing stage antics, and a hearse emblazoned with the number 666.
If Ralph the Mouth had finally lost his mind and joined a band that worshipped the Devil, this is pretty much what it would have looked like.
The episode, titled “Rock Devil Rock,” opens with Moloch performing his song “Devil Take Me” for an audience that includes plenty of fans, along with protesters who aren’t thrilled about his demonic stage persona. The controversy gets so intense that California Highway Patrol officers Ponch Poncherello (Erik Estrada) and Bobby “Hot Dog” Nelson (Tom Reilly) are assigned to escort the rocker and keep him safe.
Naturally, things go straight to Hell.
As Moloch leaves a concert in his spooky, symbol-covered hearse, the car fills with smoke, the brakes fail, and a sinister voice comes over the tape player warning that Moloch must die.
Ponch and Bobby have to rescue the terrified singer from his runaway death trap. The voice sounds supernatural, but Bobby suspects somebody is trying to turn Moloch into a martyr to boost record sales. He’s closer to the truth than he realizes.
Moloch’s real name is Mickey Northagen, and he eventually admits that he wants out of the music business. His manager, Vincent, played by Peter Marshall, has other plans. With Moloch’s career potentially reaching a new level of fame, Vincent is willing to go to deadly lengths to keep the money rolling in. The supposed Satanic curse turns out to be part of a murder plot designed to make Moloch a bigger star.
The episode was directed by John Astin, forever known to horror fans as Gomez Addams from The Addams Family. That is some pretty rad trivia right there. It also features Cassandra Peterson as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, who helps bring some Halloween flavor to the CHP crew’s party subplot.
And keep an eye out for a young Robert Trujillo, later the bassist for Metallica, appearing under the name Roberto Trujillo as Flippy.
Most is the real attraction, though. Watching the clean-cut Ralph Malph transform into a Gene Simmons knockoff named after an ancient deity associated with child sacrifice is a strange little television treasure.
Moloch sticks out his tongue, sings about the Devil, and performs with the kind of over-the-top menace that could only have come from an era when heavy metal was regularly accused of corrupting America’s youth. The character has a little Ozzy Osbourne theatricality mixed in, but the KISS influence is impossible to miss.
“Rock Devil Rock” arrived during the height of the Satanic-panic era, when rumors about hidden messages in rock music were a source of genuine public anxiety. The episode turns that fear into a goofy action-mystery, complete with backward-message paranoia and a villainous record executive. It’s less frightening than it is wonderfully silly, but that’s precisely why it has endured as a Halloween curiosity.
You can watch Don Most go full Moloch in the video below. Just don’t be surprised if you find yourself humming “Devil Take Me” later. And if Ralph Malph ever shows up at your Halloween party in full KISS makeup, maybe let him finish his song before calling the cops.
