PODCAST · music
Off Key
by Nate
Off Key puts music's weirdos back into the spotlight. Each episode features two main tales of the unbelievable, the humorous, and the bizarre lives of lesser known people behind the songs everyone knows. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nate819/support
Episodes
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Future Shock
This is probably our last episode, so for a show with no more future, we are looking at some outlandish prognasticators. From the film franchise shaped by Nostradamus and psychic butt cheeks to the band launched by and nearly killed by an ignored doomsayer, this week Off Key looks at how...
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Tin Foil Hat Repair
Conspiracy theories get a well deserved bad rep, but they're not always technically wrong. From the Apollo mission NASA really did fake to the one Shakespeare play we know he did not write, this week, Off Key uncovers the seeds of truth within outlandish lies. The real stories are even stranger...
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Christmas is All Around
NEW EPISODE: About this time each year, families everywhere come together to binge the same old holiday favorites. Some films cause warm feelings of Christmas cheer. Others cause people to lunge for the remote. This holiday season, Off Key looks at the strange folks behind some of the more...
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Best of the Worst
REUPLOAD: Hitting #1 is a hard thing to do. Hitting #1 with a song that absolutely sucks butts is even harder. Hitting #1 with a song that absolutely sucks butts and somehow turns the world into a better place is arguably more impressive than just being a good musician. From the murderous…
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Ghost Blockbusters
REUPLOAD: Music is already a form of immortality. These artists tried to take it even further. From the delusional séance that launched the British Invasion to the song so good it nearly caused the apocalypse, this week Off Key takes a trip to the other side to see the ghosts behind the world's…
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God Does Not Play Discs
REUPLOAD: A lot of episodes got deleted recently. Hear the episode Spotify does not want you to hear. Chance guides our world. From the lazy cultist writer who bounced around the 70s like a pinball to the long strange journey of hip-hop's national anthem, this week Off Key looks at how a few...
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Close Encounters of the Off Key Kind
REUPLOAD: A lot of episodes got deleted recently. Hear the episode Spotify does not want you to hear. You can’t spell alien without “a lie.” From the accordionist who tricked a town into thinking they were being invaded to the conspiracy theorist who rewrote rap’s future, This week Off Key looks…
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Built to Fail
REUPLOAD: A lot of episodes got deleted recently. Hear the episode Spotify does not want you to hear. WARNING: The audio in this one is pretty bad. Necessity is the mother of invention. These are its dead beat dads. From the mad scientist who conned the Beatles to the literally raving lunatic...
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Crime and Rhythm
REUPLOAD: A lot of episodes got deleted recently. Hear the episode Spotify does not want you to hear. They say that crime does not pay, but it turns out the royalties can be pretty great. This week Off Key looks at famous musical careers unintentional launched by outrageous criminals. From the...
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Gotcha Covered
REUPLOAD: A lot of episodes got deleted recently. Hear the episode Spotify does not want you to hear. Once a song is put out in the world, it belongs to everybody. Following the weird connections linking The California Raisins to NWA, Neil Diamond to Rihanna, and the Chipmunks to Drake, this week...
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Those We Lost in 2022
REUPLOAD: A musical tribute to some of the lives we lost in 2022
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Those We Lost in 2021
REUPLOAD: A musical tribute to some of the lives we lost in 2021
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A-side/B-side
REUPLOAD: They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but its also one of the weirder forms of crimes. From the mummy luchadores who helped fight cancer by kidnapping wannabe Beatles to the real masked singer who rose Elvis back from the dead, this week, Off Key looks at people who got…
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Monster Hits
In honor of the spooky season, Off Key looks at the real monsters behind Halloween favorites. Covering everything from witches, ghosts, zombies, cults, exorcists, telepathic rats, robots, serial killers, psychics, and Tom Brady, this week looks at how the world's evils were responsible for the...
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The Sounds of Silence
This week, Off Key gives voice to the voiceless. From plants to animals to dolls, our three main stories look at people who spoke to things that normally do not talk back. In the process, they derailed a legendary creative streak, inspired a new genre, and drove people to the brink of insanity....
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Bananas Republic
This week Off Key looks at the intersection of politics and pop culture. From the alien obsessed President who gave them their most iconic song to the CIA mind control experiments responsible for a generation of criminals and hitmakers, art has reshaped our world and a few others.
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Twist and Turns of Phrase
This week Off Key puts famous expressions in their context. From the swashbuckling bisexual opera singer whose catchphrase opened dozens of classic films, to the pair of infamous scientific near disasters responsible for one of music's great goofballs, to the novelty song by a jobless bus driver...
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Idol Playthings
Since its premiere 21 years ago this summer, American Idol has been a cultural kingmaker. But what did it really do with all that attention? This week, Off Key breaks the format and spends the whole show tracing the winding legacy of a show that promised to find the next big star, and see if they...
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Independent Spirits
In honor of the 4th of July, we look at people who decided to break off and form their own societies. How did it work out? Very poorly! But we got some great tunes out of it.
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Officially Unsolved
This week Nate and Jeff look at two famously unsolved murders, and think we know who did it. While the culprits may have gotten away with murder, their life of crime eventually caught up with them. In between, they helped launch two of the most influential record labels of all time. We cover a…
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Not So Secret Agents
This week Off Key is talking about spies. From the alien conductor turned framed convict to the genius behind both Snow White and Catwoman that created the modern world, this episode has a license to thrill.
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Come Together
This week Off Key looks at unlikely partnerships in music history. From the murderous fairytale-obsessed king behind a wedding staple to William Shatner's and Clint Eastwood's illegal invasion of Laos to Donny Osmond's and Neil Armstrong's absurd quest for alien treasure, this episode shows that...
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Wonder Boys
This week Off Key looks at how one hit wonders followed up their fifteen minutes of fame. Some befriended Weird Al and fought lizard men. Some danced with sharks and ran for mayor as a mummy. And some somehow made illegal sandwiches. Despite their own limited chart luck, all three wound up...
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Mardi Gras Music
This week Dad phones it in. In honor of a day he loves, Dad made a playlist of songs he likes. No trivia. No history. No weirdos. It is just some of dad's favorite Mardi Gras songs.
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Does Anybody Really Know What Time It is?
It's Groundhog's day again. This week Off Key jumps into the Way-Back Machine to look at time traveling musicians. To the jazz cult that blurs the line of fact and fiction and the weirdest "rock" star of all time, an alien-abductee who's quest to live under a giant boulder accidentally created…
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Get to know Off Key: Live in the Studio Special!
Get to know the minds behind Off Key in this live studio special! Today on Off Key, Grace interviews Nate and Jeff Yungman about their inspiration and method behind crafting a great episode full of pop culture references, twisted tales and Hot 100 hits.
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Life Savers
For our Thanksgiving special, we are going to run through a few bite sized tributes to all the ways musicians have made the world a better place. From lifesaving bravery to ingenious creativity to random luck, there are many ways musicians have stumbled into great achievements.
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A Graveyard Smash
In 1962, Bobby "Boris" Pickett stumbled upon the hit of a lifetime with "The Monster Mash." How do you follow-up such an oddball hit? Well, with an oddball career, of course. This week, find out how the people involved with Halloween's biggest novelty called for the death of a President,...
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The Curse of Fame
This Week Jeff and Nate are haunted by a couple of ghost stories. Though, it is not the people you might expect. From a couple of jokesters to a stoic outlaw, nobody is safe from the paranormal.
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Summer Bummer
Before the sun sets on summer, Off Key packs in some last-minute fun. From surfing the waves to catching a baseball game, this episode is packed with a lot of the best things about the season.
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Francis Off Key
What is the most famous song created by a constipated assassin’s lawyer, a corpse-desecrating drummer, and a whale penis collector? Obviously, the Star Spangled Banner. On a special Fourth of July Off Key, Nate and Jeff chronicle the surprisingly fascinating history of a very boring song.…
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Unsolved Unsolved Mysteries
Last month, we solved some long confusing mysteries. This week we remain stumped. From the vanishing woman who paved the way for the 1970's to the time traveling one hit wonder kidnapped by ninjas, these cases left us dumbfounded, but we hope you do not find them dumb.
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Solved Unsolved Mysteries
This week the intrepid investigators at Off Key solve some famously unsolved case. Tune in and find out about how a magical princess really rescued nine hikers from a yeti attack, the mysterious murderer that turned Elvis into a star, and how Jack the Ripper helped launch jazz. It's no mystery…
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Musical Accompaniment
This week, we are talking about how musicians unintentionally bailed out criminal masterminds. From the country legend that bought a stolen cocaine sniffing bear, to the Beach Boys song that financed a whacky kidnapping, to bizarre and violent rock and roll ponzi scheme that led to the rise of...
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New Year, New Me
Happy new year! A lot of people mark the changing of the calendar with a change in themselves. This week we are talking about people who found great success by constantly changing their identities. From the Heavy Metal singer that career as a Holocaust resister or Hollywood hitmaker are the least...
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Roasting These Nuts as Open Liars
Ho Ho Ho, Hello. Welcome to the Off Key Christmas Special. This week we talk about how George Bailey stole a Yeti, the man driven insane by White Christmas, and the con artist sax player who invented Santa Claus. Here is our gift to you.
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Be Thankful for What You Got
On our Thanksgiving special, we are celebrating tall the great things about humanity. From the Hall of Famer who stopped terrorists from blowing up another Hall of Famer to the pop song that rescued hostage victims to the Beatles Cover band that saved 600 people, there are so many things in this...
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Scam, Scram, Get Out of Here
Scammers know a good score when they see one. The most powerful singers in the world make ripe targets for swindling. Some of the biggest names in music have been at the good end of a rotten deal. Others have been taken for suckers. Find out how the CIA and the Mafia broke up two of the biggest...
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The Details in the Devil
Happy Halloween. This week, we unleash tales from the shadows into the spotlight. Curses and demons suck, but they can make some great music.
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Hatchet Jobs
An easy trick to ignore someone's humanity is to call them a monster. If anything these monsters are acting on the oldest of human impulses. People have been killing each other since the Garden of Eden. From the song that popularized jazz and left six people dead to the journalistic injustice…
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Cult Classics
Being a cult leader takes a lot of work. Its a wonder that anybody could find time to master karate, bank robbery, marrying thirteen women, appearing in Annie Hall, charting on the Billboard Hot 100 and hang-gliding all while still being a reincarnated God. From the Fascists crusaders who turned...
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Gross Profits
One man's trash is another person's treasure. It does not get much trashier than a profession fart blower. This week we cover the charlatans who made a fortune off being disgusting. From the Leonardo Da Vinci musical that bankrupted a poop-stained nation to the drunk goat-testicle-obsessed conman...
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And the Band Played Cons...
The inaugural episode of Off Key, the show that puts music's weirdos back into the spotlight. Wherever there is a lot of money, dreamers and hucksters follow. Conniving enterprisers turned singer into scammers. Meet the Hall of Fame worthy musicians who swindled their way to the top of the…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Off Key puts music's weirdos back into the spotlight. Each episode features two main tales of the unbelievable, the humorous, and the bizarre lives of lesser known people behind the songs everyone knows. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nate819/support
HOSTED BY
Nate
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Off Key have?
Off Key currently has 43 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Off Key about?
Off Key puts music's weirdos back into the spotlight. Each episode features two main tales of the unbelievable, the humorous, and the bizarre lives of lesser known people behind the songs everyone knows. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nate819/support
How often does Off Key release new episodes?
Off Key has 43 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Off Key?
You can listen to Off Key on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Off Key?
Off Key is created and hosted by Nate.
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