‘Wind of Change’ Is Must Listening

I’ve been enjoying a new rabbit hole of late: the growing pile of free podcasts on Spotify. Like its music collection, the array of podcast topics are vast. There’s history, news analysis, true crime — the sky’s the limit.

My favorite so far is a series called “Wind of Change.” I’m not a big believer in conspiracy theories, but I enjoy learning about them and this is a big one.

The episodes follow New York writer Patrick Radden Keefe as he explores rumors that “Wind of Change,” a huge hit for German rock band The Scorpions, was actually written by the CIA to stir pro-democracy feelings in the Soviet Union.

Mood Music:

As you go through each episode, the question of whether this happened doesn’t seem to matter much. What makes this great are the people he talks to along the way.

There are musical acts touring the Communist Block, not always realizing their gigs had been engineered behind the scenes by the CIA, hoping to spread pro-West propaganda.

There’s the CIA operative who suggests some musicians knowingly conspired with the agency and the GI Joe collector who made a display of The Scorpions for an exhibit about groups and individuals who actively promoted freedom. The guy hadn’t even heard the “Wind of Change” theory when he created it. He just assumed the band was taking up the mantle.

My favorite episodes focus on the Moscow Music Peace Festival, a 1989 event I remember watching on pay-per-view. The festival — featuring The Scorpions, Ozzy, Mötley Crüe, Skid Row and Bon Jovi — was put together by Doc McGee, manager of all the bands at the time, to promote an anti-drug message.

The story goes that Doc McGhee, a prolific drug runner on the side, put on the festival to get out of jail time on drug charges. The catch was that it would be held in Moscow, where it would spread pro-West sentiment, per the wishes of the CIA.

It was during that event, the official story goes, that Scorpions singer Klaus Meine was inspired to write “Wind of Change.”

Keefe interviews McGhee, one of his former drug-smuggling associates, other musicians that played the peace festival and finally Meine himself.

With everything happening in the world right now, it’s a welcome distraction.

Do yourself a favor and check it out.

Podcast logo for Wind of Change

Metal Made Me Smarter Than I Appeared

I was never considered a particularly smart kid. I didn’t care much about my school work and was written off by some teachers as a waste of space. But according to a new study about smart kids listening to heavy metal, I was apparently just pretending to be stupid.

Mood music:

A study of more than 1,000 of the brightest five percent of young people found that intelligent teenagers often listen to heavy metal music to cope with the pressures associated with being talented.

Stuart Cadwallader, a psychologist at the University of Warwick, presented recently findings. The research found that, far from being a sign of delinquency and poor academic ability, many adolescent metalheads are super bright and often use the music to help them deal with pressure.

Researchers polled 1,057 members of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth. Asked for their favorite type of music, 39 percent said rock, 18 percent R&B and 14 percent pop. Six percent said metal and a third rated it in their top five genres. Metal fans acknowledged having lower self-esteem and more trouble with family and friendships.

As part of the study, Cadwallader held an online discussion with 19 academy members, 17 of whom were metal fans. They said they listen to bands like System of a Down, Slipknot, Tool, DragonForce, ¡Forward Russia! and In Flames when they’re in a bad mood and use it to vent frustration and anger.

Now, truth be told, I wouldn’t say I was particularly smart as a kid. But I did have talents, including drawing and writing. I also had a ton of trouble relating to my peers and getting along with family. The music absolutely helped me. At the least, it gave me an outlet for my anger that might have otherwise been spent punching people in the face.

I’m always happy to see studies like this, because it shows I’m not alone and never have been.

Double-neck guitars