We all know we have to tune our guitars… but we don’t usually think about *why* we tune the way we do.
In this weeks’ Tape Spaghetti, Scott and Blake do just that, in a discussion fit for a tin-foil hat. For instance, what if we told you that tuning your guitar was actually part of a Nazi mind-control plot? Or that certain frequencies align us with the universe and balance our “water memory?”
Or what if we told you…. that’s all nonsense, and that the real story might be even MORE interesting than any conspiracy theory. From 19th-century pitch wars and Verdi’s preferred frequencies to how A440 became the global norm, the guys trace how a simple standard turned into a cosmic conspiracy.
Come for the mind control jokes, stay for the surprisingly nerdy and super relevant music history lesson.
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Blood, Black Magic & Death Row: The Brutal Case of Mona Fandey
This week on Tape Spaghetti, Scott and Blake head to Malaysia for perhaps the darkest story in Southeast Asian pop history: the twisted tale of Mona Fandey.
Once an aspiring starlet, Fandey’s talent didn’t take her very far – but her transformation into a self-proclaimed shaman gave her access to some of the most powerful figures in Malaysian politics.
Her promise to deliver power and success through magic led to a windfall of cash, notoriety, and ultimately, a gruesome murder that shocked the entire country.
Through it all, Mona smiled for the cameras and claimed she would never die… even as she was being led to the gallows.
This one’s got everything: music, mysticism, money, and murder, all wrapped up in a story that’s too strange to be fiction.
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Chris Cornell, Billie Eilish & Nancy Sinatra: The Music of James Bond
The name’s Spaghetti. Tape Spaghetti.
This week, Scott and Blake go undercover into the glamorous, brassy, and occasionally super weird world of James Bond music.
After Monty Norman’s jazzy/surfy 1962 theme became the sonic blueprint for every espionage movie ever, each successive Bond theme played a pivotal role in shaping one of the world’s biggest franchises.
Decade over decade, a chronological hotlist of pop stars participated – and some, including Johnny Cash and Alice Cooper, just missed the cut. Tune in to find out how Shirley Bassey nearly blacked out belting “Goldfinger,” why “Live and Let Die” might be ten songs stitched into one, and how Adele’s “Skyfall” returned the canon to epic prestige.
Best listened to in an Aston Martin while wearing a tux.
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1:18:39
A REAL Outlaw Musician: The Ballad of Chalino Sánchez
There is gangsta rap, there are murder ballads, and then... There is Chalino Sánchez.
The real life outlaw who turned the chaos of the Mexican cartel into song. In this episode of Tape Spaghetti, Blake and Scott unravel the brief, violent life of the Godfather of Narcocorridos.
After committing a bloody act of vengeance at the age of fifteen, Chalino Sánchez found his calling while serving time, taking tales of his and his fellow inmates’ criminal hustles and spinning them into song. Sánchez’s ballads became the soundtrack of cartel culture and solidified him as an underground icon – but with fame came extreme danger.
After surviving one onstage attempt on his life, Sánchez was handed a mysterious note at his next concert – the last time he was seen alive. Is Chalino Sánchez the realest outlaw artist of all time?
Here’s how Mexico’s most dangerous troubadour created a genre and claimed immortality.
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The United States of America vs Pete Seeger
When Pete Seeger sang the lyric “This Land Is My Land”—then dared to prove it.
In this episode of Tape Spaghetti, Scott and Blake dig into folk icon Pete Seeger’s fiery 1955 showdown with the House Committee on Un-American Activities. At the height of the Red Scare, Seeger was hauled before Congress and grilled about his political beliefs, the people he sang for, and the songs he played.
But Seeger refused to play along.
Instead of hiding behind the Fifth Amendment, he cited the First, telling congress: “I’ve got a right to sing for anybody.” Sounds innocent enough, but Congress wasn’t impressed. Seeger was convicted of contempt, sentenced to prison, and blacklisted from TV and radio.
While his conviction was eventually overturned, the incident defined Seeger’s career and cemented his legend, with songs like “Turn! Turn! Turn!” and “We Shall Overcome” becoming the soundtrack to a social movement that endured long after the sad era of McCarthyism.
Tune in as Scott and Blake unpack this loaded folktale and celebrate Seeger’s big banjo energy.
Welcome to Tape Spaghetti—where music history gets tangled. Hosts Blake Wyland and Scott Marquart dive into the wildest, weirdest, and most unexpected stories from the music industry. From legendary feuds to bizarre scandals, insane characters… and even murder! On this show we unravel the chaos behind the songs you love, the musicians you know, and stories that you need to hear.
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