IPhone :: No Sound Through Right Side Of Apple Earphones With Remote

For some strange reason, when I listened to a podcast using the Music app through the Apple earphones with remote on my iPhone 4, the right side has no sound. However, when I pull the earphone plug out one notch, I get sound from both sides, but the remote controls no longer work. At that point, I was sure I had a hardware problem, but where it lay-- earphones or iPhone 4, I didn't know.

1. For my first step, I tried the earphones with another iPhone 4, and got the exact same results. That convinced me that it was a problem with the earphones, but then I tried them on our iPad and they worked fine!

2. That ruled out the earphones and got me wondering if both iPhone 4's earphone jacks were flakey or misbehaving.I had read about the old fuzz in the jack problem, so I used an air blower to clean it out, but it made no difference. I still figured that maybe both jacks were stressed in some way, although two of them?

3. Then I read that some people found different apps worked--and even specifically that running Skype could solve things. That didn't work. However, it led me to try various streaming apps (e.g., Portal to the Universe, NPR) and everything was fine-- sound from both sides and remote controls fully functional.

At that point, I was convinced there was something odd going on with the Music app.

4. Finally, it occurred to me to try other podcasts-- and even other episodes of the particular podcast. They all worked fine.

Info:iPhone 4, iOS 5.1, Only 1 on Earth w/o music on iPhone