[3]Claims were made by anti-rock-music activists during the early 1980s that the song's lyrics were Satanistic and contained hidden backwards messages.
Dennis DeYoung told Dallas radio show In the Studio host Redbeard that "Anyone who plays their records backwards is the Antichrist.
"[2] Despite the band's protests, fundamentalist Christian groups were able to influence the Arkansas State Senate to pass a bill requiring that all records containing backward masking be labeled as such by the manufacturer.
Cited in the legislation were albums by The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Electric Light Orchestra, Queen, and Styx.
Partly as a response to the Arkansas ruling, the band created the concept album Kilroy Was Here, which included genuine backwards messages mocking their critics.