Bloodrock may not be a rock band most people recognize from the 1970s, but the Texas band entered the charts with a banned track about experiencing death.
Some songs do the job of creating a euphoric, goosebumps sensation when listening. In 1970, Bloodrock released “D.O.A.,” which effectively had fans experiencing chilling feelings of dread combined with a killer rock sound. The track became their biggest one-hit wonder that defied expectations and was ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the most terrifying tracks ever released.
“D.O.A.” was memorable for its haunting lyrics sung from the perspective of a man who’s involved in a mid-air plane crash. As many would guess from the song’s title, D.O.A. is a real medical term meaning “dead on arrival,” with Bloodrock’s track depicting the man dying from the collision. Its lyrics also detail the man’s girlfriend already dead next to him, as he doesn’t have long to live.
The track has a runtime of over eight minutes that was cut when released as a single. According to SongFacts, “D.O.A.” is credited to all six members of the band, with keyboard player Stevie Hill explaining it all started with their guitarist, Lee Pickens. Pickens began playing two repeating notes that sounded eerily similar to a European ambulance and resembled “The Devil’s Interval,” which is mostly banned from being played in churches.
“The very first thing that came out in practice was the tritone interval,” said bassist Ed Grundy to The Dallas Morning Times. “The song just kind of built from there.”
Bloodrock didn’t develop the lyrics to “D.O.A.” out of the blue. Pickens revealed decades later that the storyline was inspired by a real-life event he witnessed when he was 17.
“When I was 17, I wanted to be an airline pilot,” Pickens said. “I had just gotten out of this airplane with a friend of mine, at this little airport, and I watched him take off. He went about 200 feet in the air, rolled and crashed.”
Grundy recalls the song having been a hit with fans when they began playing it at their concerts. They called up radio stations asking them to play it, but the disc jockeys didn’t feel the same way. “D.O.A.”
It was banned by a majority of radio stations for its graphic lyrics about death and for its ambulance sound at the beginning of the track that stunned listeners while driving. Lyrics like “Something warm is flowing down my fingers” didn’t sit well with many. The track was even banned by several high schools.
Despite the song being banned, Bloodrock still entered the Billboard Hot 100 charts at No. 36. It was their only chart hit of their careers.
“We were a one-hit wonder, but I still get fans today telling me, ‘That song scared the heck out of me,'” Grundy said. “And it still gets airplay around Halloween … it’s like The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
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