15During the late 70`s and early 80`s when the use of backmasking was approaching its height it was claimed that hidden messages were even being found on albums released by Christian artists and not just in popular music. An article entitled “secular demonic rock and roll: Hidden messages in rock and roll” stated that “The Devil being acutely aware of this…is using Rock music to transmit messages which keep people in bondage to him. Some rock groups have become open mediums to the Devil….others have intentionally placed messages in their music which reveal the ultimate meaning of their songs.”
Unfortunately it gave ammunition to fundamentalists, in particular the far Christian right movement in USA who condemned popular music as Anti-Christian and claimed that young people`s minds were being poisoned and they urged parents to ban their children from listening to pop records. The Christian groups claimed that backmasking in music was corrupting the youth and with its “subliminal messages” bypassing the conscious mind and hugely influencing the subconscious mind in a negative association with Satanism to the extent that they demanded legislation to ban its use. 16The reaction to backmasking culminated in a record burning “ceremony” which was reported by CBS news in 1982. Thirty teenagers in Huntersville NC, USA led by their pastor, a reformed rock musician, claimed that they were being influenced by Satan who “was possessing the singers and manipulating their voices so that subliminally implanted backward messages could be placed on the record to destroy the youth of America…” and so engaged in the contentious action to destroy all the records in their possession, attracting media attention at the same time.
