 The Beatles were involved in the spread of backmasking both as a recording technique and as the center of a controversy . The latter has its roots in an event in 1969 , when WKNR @-@ FM DJ Russ Gibb received a phone call from a student at Eastern Michigan University who identified himself as " Tom " . The caller asked Gibb about a rumor that Beatle Paul McCartney had died , and claimed that the Beatles song " Revolution 9 " contained a backward message confirming the rumor . Gibb played the song backwards on his turntable , and heard " Turn me on , dead man … turn me on , dead man … turn me on , dead man … " . Gibb began telling his listeners about what he called " The Great Cover @-@ up " , and to the original clue were added various others , including the alleged backmasked message " Paul is a dead man , miss him , miss him , miss him " , in " I 'm So Tired " . The " Paul is dead " rumor popularized the idea of backmasking in popular music . 
