Some parts of United States history sound more like a fever dream Simpsons episode than real life, including the time rock music lovers called into a radio station to help create a “sound torture” playlist during the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama. Sound torture typically involves playing music or noise uncomfortably loud for extended amounts of time. The U.S. government has implemented this practice since the mid-20th century.
In 1989, the U.S. military radio for Central America, the Southern Command Network, made the government’s sound torture tactics a group project as military personnel began phoning in the radio station with their song requests. And as the target of this sound torture would come to find out over the course of several days, the soldiers’ musical tastes were ear-splittingly effective.
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Building a Sound Torture Playlist During U.S. Invasion of Panama
In late 1989, the United States invaded Panama under President George H.W. Bush. American troops were to depose Panama’s de facto ruler, General Manuel Noriega, who was wanted by the U.S. authorities for several criminal charges, including racketeering and drug trafficking. Upon the troops’ arrival to the Central American country, Noriega fled to the Vatican’s embassy in Panama City. Due to the embassy’s sacrosanct status, U.S. troops could not legally enter the premises after the then-papal nuncio Monsignor Sebastiano Laboa agreed to provide Noriega asylum.
So, the U.S. military adapted. Soldiers might not have been allowed on the premises, but there were no international laws pertaining to soundwaves. Troops surrounded the embassy with speakers, dialed them into the Southern Command Network’s radio feed, and began blasting the property with rock music around the clock. As more soldiers got word of this sound torture technique, they started calling into the Central America radio station with specific requests for Noriega. Popular requests included AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” and Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
The tongue-in-cheek nature of the troops’ task was not lost on the soldiers. Many specifically requested songs that coyly fit within the context of the invasion. The Clash’s “I Fought the Law” was a top choice, as was Bruce Cockburn’s “If I Had a Rocket Launcher.” Perhaps most appropriately, the Southern Command Network frequently played Van Halen’s “Panama” because when in Rome, right?
A Notably Divisive Technique Proved To Be Effective
Once word of the crowdsourced sound torture playlist made its way back to the States, President George H.W. Bush’s administration ordered the troops to press pause. Bush’s national security adviser, Brent Scowcroft, called the tactic “undignified,” per NPR. The president described the tactic as “politically embarrassing” and “irritating and petty,” per a report by the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs, Ronald H. Cole. This same report argued that the military initially used loud rock music as a way to mask potential eavesdropping on sensitive conversations.
Once they discovered the music could potentially agitate General Manuel Noriega to the point of surrender, they kept the loudspeakers on, and radio requests began pouring in. Whether undignified, unintentional, or petty, the tactic worked well enough to push Noriega to his 1990 surrender. Considering how some U.S. officials have described it in the past, it’s not surprising that it worked.
“If you play [loud rock music] for 24 hours, your brain and body functions start to slide,” Sergeant Mark Hadsell told Newsweek. “Your train of thought slows down, and your will is broken. That’s when we come in and talk to them.”
Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns