After initially finding success as an eight-part podcast for Spotify, the Scorpions-inspired Wind of Change will be adapted into a TV show for Hulu.

Hosted by journalist Patrick Radden Keefe, the podcast questioned whether the CIA wrote the German band’s anthemic 1991 hit “Wind of Change” as a means of propaganda against communism. Keefe had reportedly been inspired to investigate the song’s origin after hearing a second-hand rumor from a friend who used to work for the CIA.

“It’s a story that stretches across musical genres, and across borders and periods of history, so it was important to me that you hear the music, and the accents and the voices, and judge for yourself who might be lying and who is telling the truth,” Keefe explained prior to the podcast’s May launch. “I’ve had so much fun pursuing this crazy story over the course of a year, exploring the dark byways of Cold War history and doing nearly a hundred interviews in four countries with rockers and spies.”

For their part, Scorpions have continually denied the CIA wrote “Wind of Change” - even while admitting such a story would be compelling.

"It's weird - in my wildest dreams I can't think about how that song would connect with the CIA," the band’s singer, Klaus Meine, remarked when interviewed on the podcast. "It's a good idea for a movie. That would be cool. ... If the CIA had a song [like that] to send a singer and ... put it out behind the Iron Curtain, that would make sense. It's a little weird to think about it. But on the other side, it underlines the power of music, in a big way. All of a sudden, half of Russia is whistling 'Wind of Change,' and they don't know why."

Deadline reports that the TV adaptation is being led by Alex Karpovsky, whose credits include starring roles on the HBO series Girls and Amazon’s Homecoming (which also began life as a podcast).

Meanwhile, the band will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of "Wind of Change" with a box set that includes an authentic piece of the Berlin Wall.

 

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