Wind of Change

I just finished this at the recommendation of my brother. We are both state department brats who lived in Germany from 1976 to 1981. Both of us, rather than going to the American school were placed into Gymnasium. So we got completely absorbed into German culture. You don't know how fascinating it was to hear all this. I've always felt a strong admiration for and connection to the Scorpions. I believe it was 1994 when the Scorps came to Dallas. I was playing in various cover bands and was writing my own music. I heard that the Scorpions were hosting a backstage party at a local restaurant so I drove down there and bribed somebody $20 to let me behind the ropes. The only way I could think to get the band's attention was to wear my Deutschland Weltmeister T-shirt and walk up to Rudy and greet him in German. He appeared to be a huge soccer fan so we hit it off. And then I got to speak to Klaus who was such a genuine article. They signed that T-shirt, which I sure hope my wife hasn't thrown away. I can't seem to locate it. Anyway, as a lover of the spy genre, this podcast held me completely spellbound. When my parents returned for another tour of duty to Germany in 1990, my brother and I rode an America military train through East Germany to Berlin and when we got out, we heard the clinking of hammers and chisels as people were ripping out pieces of the wall. My brother still has a piece of the wall with graffiti on it displayed in his front hallway. Sorry, I ramble. This is one of the best podcasts I've ever listened to. Thank you, Patrick for your tireless pursuit of all the threads that led to the amazing patchwork of a story. It is so well crafted and so well narrated. I can't wait to hear what else you have done! Atticus (or as I go by my parody-alter-ego on social media, "Franz Ferkelduft" where I pay homage to the Scorps)

The best part of this podcast were the tangents about CIA history unrelated to the main storyline. The host seems to pursue this conspiracy theory that he allegedly heard from a friend who heard it from an anonymous ex-spy who heard it from another former CIA agent. This third-hand conspiracy launches a podcast and spurs him to keep saying “this story is told throughout the agency”… Honestly, it is an interesting concept but spotty reporting.

Fascinating tale involving one of my all-time favorite bands, The Scorps. So incredibly well done and thought provoking. I have tickets to their rescheduled residency in Vegas this spring and I’m looking forward to it even more after this podcast!

As an American listener, I was not familiar with the West German group Scorpions and their most famous song, credited by many to have hastened the end of the Iron Curtain and given millions of young people a taste of freedom. Was it the pure power of the song, or did the CIA have a hand in it? Amazing podcast with deep interviews with a cast of characters out of a spy novel.