To the Catholic Church in Ireland Elvis Presley once represented more than blue suede shoes. Could he, they wondered, be a front man for Satan?
One of the King's most famous hits was Devil In Disguise after all.
And at one time there were many Catholic church leaders in Ireland who took him at his word, according to a new book.
The new biography, Elvis and Ireland, tells the story of the late American singer's rise from an impoverished rural background to international stardom — but this time from an Irish standpoint.
According to The Star, author Ivor Casey, 29, recalls how the one of a kind singer electrified the youth of Ireland after he burst on the scene in the mid-1950s.
In fact his influence, along with later acts like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, was instrumental in turning Ireland into a more secular society, Casey contends.
But those Satanic swinging hips set off alarm bells among the Catholic Church’s hierarchy, who feared they would lead men and women to ruin.
One archbishop actually set up a secret committee of busybodies and snoops to spy on teenagers who dared to listen to rock ‘n’ roll music, Casey told the Star.
'Many priests howled their condemnations from the pulpit and criticized, in ferocious anger, their disgust with rock ‘n’ roll music,' Casey added.
'They roared that Elvis was slouched at the left hand of Satan with a distinctive plan for the corruption of the young people of Ireland.'