Professor of Rock

Up next one of the greatest guitarists of the rock era, Steve Stevens tells the story of meeting legendary singer the new wave Elvis… Billy Idol and working on their first hit together…White Wedding, the head banging rocker that many have played at their weddings. Which is funny because it’s actually an ANTI-marriage song. Also many were confused with the lyrics thinking that the singer wrote it about his sister... misunderstanding the slang. And what’s more, the iconic music video cost very little to make but became one of the most visually iconic of all time. Also, how they crafted a classic that’s become synonymous with MTV’s glory days. The interview is coming up on Professor of rock Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next an interview with legendary singer Eric Burdon of the rock and roll hall fame band the Animals who’s signature song has empowered so many over the years but especially one of the biggest all time superstars of them all who credits this song as the direct inspiration to everything he’s ever written. Bruce Springsteen has said that We Gotta Get Out of This Place is the song that’s inspired everything he’s ever done form Born to Run to Born in the USA. I actually interviewed the singer and the legendary brill building songwriting couple Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil who wrote and I dare say both their stories haven’t been told together on video yet. It’s historic… it’s also may own personal favorite videos i’ve ever done. check it out next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A lot of people forgot about this band from the latter part of the 80s… Today’s act actually scored three US Top 10 hits from their debut album All That Jazz. The Sophista pop band named Breath pulled off an 80s hat trick... Not an easy feat. Especially since up until then they were riding out a losing streak of four failed singles. They were all but done. But it would be an impressive comeback and the perfect underdog story… seemingly setting them up for a long and prosperous career. First Hands To Heaven stole the #2 spot. Then came How Can I Fall at #3 and then Don’t Tell Me Lies at #10. This band should’ve been huge. They had the talent, and their lead singer David Glasper had a breathtaking voice. So what happened? Why are they all but forgotten today? Was it a case of the sophomore slump? Or is there some other reason they dropped off the map? Stick around, as we get to the bottom of this one, and try to figure out where in the world their singer is… NEXT on the Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Most people assume that today's song from one of the biggest bands ever was a #1 hit because it’s such a classic radio standard...played all the time. In reality, it missed the charts entirely. Desperado by Eagles is one of their biggest songs ever. But Desperado wasn’t a hit because it was never actually released as a single. Written by Don Henley when he was a teenager. The 70s classic has quite a history from starting a fire at a photo shoot that required the fire department to save them to the band having no budget for recording which only gave the Henley a few takes in the studio to try to nail down the vocal with a renowned orchestra playing behind him. No pressure. But the song would have its revenge as it appeared on a future album and was a big reason why that album would sell 40 million copies.. the story is NEXT on the Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After years without a hit in their native land and a grand total of zero hits in America, Thin Lizzy was on their last leg… Phil Lynott and co were told by their label if their next record wasn’t a hit they’d kick ‘em to the curb. They were in debt, they were desperate but this band was made up of working-class Fighters…however today’s classic song, the Boys are Back in Town was one that the band deemed a throwaway track that didn’t even deserve to be on their next album, but the late decision to include the song would lead to a couple of DJs from the south playing the deep cut and it spread like wildfire not only saving their career, it catalyzed a classic rock anthem. Up next, the story of one of the most overlooked bands of the entire 70s and the surprising motivation behind this song… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up, were covering one of the biggest songs from a legendary rock band that has been streamed over a billion times and despite it’s popularity It never actually charted on the Hot 100. Simple Man by the kings of the south Lynyrd Skynyrd. The only reason it wasn’t a hit is because it wasn’t ever released as a single.. It finally charted decades later … Funny story: Apparently, the band’s producer Al Kooper didn’t want them to record it. So Ronnie Van Zant and co locked him out of the studio and told him not to come back until they were done. I guess these guys were butting heads all the time. But somehow, despite the constant fighting, they managed to put together one of the strongest debut albums ever: Pronounced ‘Lĕh-’nérd ‘Skin-’nérd And this song, well, I’ll just say if you listen closely, you’re gonna hear some of the best advice for a happy life and it has even more meaning now since this band’s last founding member, Gary Rossington passed away marking the end of an era.… Get ready, the story is… NEXT on the Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Warren Zevon was told by one of the founding fathers of rock, Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers that he should write a novelty song about a horror movie icon… So he wrote a total joke song…One he called a piece of crap called the Werewolves of London... It became his only hit! It’s a song about a mysterious, sophisticated gent who could be seen dining at Chinese restaurants, and drinking Pina Coladas in posh areas of Soho & Kent. He’s a dapper fellow, with tailored suits, and perfectly coiffed hair. But don’t let appearances fool you….Despite his dashing looks, you better keep your distance... cause he’ll rip your lungs out. The truth behind this ‘hairy handed’ bottled lightning hit, and the tortured artist who released the cap- then “drew blood" is NEXT... on Professor of Rock.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today the lords of rock Led Zeppelin are back in full force. We take Another deep dive into the heaviest band in history with Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham… It’s the story of A key track from their landmark fourth album, Led Zeppelin IV otherwise known as Rock N Roll and it actually came out of an improv jam session while the band was taking a break from writing another classic track. Written in only 15 minutes, it was like the band pulled this one out of thin air. The legendary guitarist even called the creation of this song, “spontaneous combustion” and it was a big middle finger to the critics who claimed the band had lost their rock edge. Now, decades later it is still revered as an all-time standard. It’s the tale of the unlimited fist-pumping, heart-stopping classic… NEXT on the Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It was one of the most storied #2 hits in rock and roll history from a band that was criminally underappreciated in their day. The Zombies' 1964 classic “She’s Not There” blew everyone’s mind including the Beatles. Half a century later, People are getting hip to their genius. Up next the entire band from Rod Argent to Colin Bluntstone tell the story of this their biggest hit. It hypnotized listeners in the 60s and it was the first ever rock hit to use an electric piano as a lead instrument… and then decades after its peak on the charts it was Banned from radio for being lyrically inappropriate after 911 The story is up next… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“Over the first 22 years in the history of the Grammy Awards, no single artist had swept the so-called “BIG FOUR,” Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and New Artist of the Year.” Until 1981…. Christopher Cross made history while competing against some of music's heaviest hitters: Barbara Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Barry Gibb, Lionel Richie, Billy Joel, and Pink Floyd. He did it with his #1 smooth 80s classic Sailing... the song that defined Yacht Rock, a genre that wouldn’t be named for 30 years. He won the Oscar, 5 grammys and more and then banished them to his garage. The story is next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up.. they were a rock supergroup Made up of parts from 3 legendary Prog rock bands Yes, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and a new wave band The Buggles… Together they formed Asia who mastered the early 80s with the biggest straight ahead blockbuster rock record of 1982…they stole the #1 spot from the likes of ACDC, Foreigner, Pau McCartney and Fleetwood Mac it was actually the biggest selling album of the year pop rock or soul. The main hit from the record The Heat of The Moment was an apology letter to the singer’s girlfriend and it actually started as a country song but cooler heads prevailed and it became the singalong rocker of 1982. A founding member and co writer of the song tells the story personally next on Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up next an artist who changed everything. He grew up with aspergers. He was lonely and misunderstood but found solace in the writings of science fiction..he wrote this song as a teenager on an out of tune piano about a robot prostitute.. It ended up selling a million copies and going to #1 and no one knew what the song was really about. Up next in our interview this artist tells us the story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up, another great story from an interview I did with one of rock's greatest storytellers. Mr. Randy Bachman from the Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive BTO… This 70s rock hit came when BTO was on tour with the Doobie Brothers. The band was on the road going to a gig when during a traffic jam a truck driver boxed their tour bus in… so a little while later this rock legend confronted the trucker at a rest stop. A brawl was about to go down… from this incident... the trucker said something that would inspire a rock classic. Let it Ride… It became a 70s guitar classic. Get the story from this rocker next on Professor of Rock Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the run from a dishonest record label and a bum contract, multi-platinum, grammy award-winning, rock hall of Famer Billy Joel dropped off the grid and hid out in a dive bar in LA. There under an alias, he spent six months on the down low playing music for down-and-out crowds. It didn’t pay much, and there was no glory in it, but it was a life-altering decision. That’s because it taught him how to take his song-craft to a new level and gave him the inspiration to write the signature song all signature songs are judged by…Piano Man. It would break him into the mainstream and make him a superstar. It’s a song that generations of fans have turned into a go-to karaoke classic and an essential track for any Saturday night and years later Joel would find out he initially made only about 8 grand off of it even though it’s one of the biggest songs ever. The story of a 70s classic is next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next we go behind the signature song behind a ground-breaking album that boasted 11 Top 40 singles on the Hot 100, and seven #1 hits*. Just unbelievable numbers. I’m talking about Saturday Night Fever the soundtrack from 1978 that really is a Bee Gees album. the record was so big you almost have to call it a movement…The song most associated with this movement the Bee Gees Staying Alive has been misunderstood for decades! Everyone knows it as a carefree, jolt of swagger but it’s actually a very serious song from a group that absolutely dominated the charts even doing something the Beatles didn’t do. Barry Gibb replaced himself at #1 not once, not twice but three times with four straight #1 hits. With Staying Alive, Night Fever, If I Can’t Have You, and Love Is Thicker Than Water… Stayin’ Alive started the momentum and it almost didn’t get released… the story is coming up… NEXT on the Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the space of just over two years, Phil Collins scored twelve Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. 12...That’s insane. And actually, that list includes five #1s, and the lowest single really came in at #7. So 12 Top 7 singles? And as it just so happens, today we’re covering that #7 song. Take Me Home from his 25 X Platinum album No Jacket Required from 1985. But what makes this story even more compelling, is the fact that Phil Collins hired the singer he once replaced to sing on the track. Peter Gabriel…. And when I say replaced, I’m talking about fronting one of the biggest bands of the rock era... Genesis. So you would expect there to be some bad blood. Find out if there was. This is definitely one of my favorite tracks from this artist and honestly, it deserved a higher ranking than it got. Get ready, the story is coming up… NEXT on the Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wow. You’re in for a treat, the greatest female rock singer in history, Ann Wilson takes us through her band, Heart’s greatest Hidden gems including a walk through their peak in the 70s. After Dreamboat Annie, their first album made the global superstars they had a legal battle with their label Mushroom Records when the label released their follow-up album without the band’s approval and unfinished. They fought them and were able to get them to stop production and a judge gave them just 2 days to finish songs, mix, and master theirs. so 2 versions exist. also the story of this legend’s favorite album track and how it devastated her to write it. Coming up next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Following on the heels of two gigantic #1 Hot 100 hits in 1985, today’s featured song the 80s classic Head Over Heels, written by iconic synth rock pioneer Roland Orzabal and sung with his partner Curt Smith of Tears for Fears, was in line to make it three in row…but would it happen? Ambitious and anthemic, this song boasts some highly intelligent lyrics that take many listens to unriddle. It came From a record that was named after a bad TV movie. Songs from the Big Chair with a music video that defined the 80s. It’s one of the most under-appreciated songs of the neon decade. So good a cult movie Donnie Darko based an entire sequence on the song and filmed it without knowing if they’d even get the song rights. We solve this mysterious 80s song riddle next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up two legendary artist tell the story of an all star collaboration Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald and their 70s classic This Is it. At the time Michael McDonald was fronting one of the biggest bands in rock with the Doobie Brothers and the Kenny Loggins had just left a classic duo in Loggins and Messina to create a solo career… They had just collaborated on the grammy winning song What A Fool Believes about a year before and they were afraid they’d jinx their partnership.. so after a while apart they ran into a each other in the supermarket and said let’s just get together and write a piece of crap get that out of the way and then we can write a good one.. That piece of crap became another grammy winner and 70s classic. when they wrote the chorus they thought it was love song but 1 event changed it completely find out the story in our exclusive interview next… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up, the story of a journeyman rocker, who finally scored fame when he reached his 30s. Billy Squire’s breakout hit The Stroke was a provocative sledgehammer - misinterpreted by innuendo that led the way to one of the biggest albums of the 80s. It sold 4 million copies... In 1981... he was on top of the business he loathed, but ironically... just a few years later, after releasing his highest charting single, Rock me Tonite his career suddenly plummeted due to a music video. After that, he just up and disappeared! The details of the slow climb and the rapid fall of an 80s icon is NEXT on Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It was a top 3 hit in 1976 barely missing the number one spot only to come back decades later to hit number one as part of the bestselling soundtrack from Guardians of the Galaxy: Fooled Around and Fell in Love credited to Elvin Bishop was sung by underrated vocalist Mickey Thomas who went on to kill it with Jefferson Starship and then just Starship in the 80s with #1 hits like WE BUILT THIS CITY and SARA… Like I indicated it’s one of those rare songs that’s credited to the guitarist instead of the singer…but WOW what a vocal performance! He sang the HELL out of this 70s ringer and he’s the one who’ll tell us the story and in the middle of it he grabs his guitarist and sings it!. The story of an all-time classic next on Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next: he’s an American institution… Even people who hate Country Music the genre he’s most tied to Love him. Johnny Cash the man in black… he’s the kind of Legend that legends are measured by. By the end of his long career, Johnny Cash had won every award a musician could dream of and had wealth only a few have attained. But when he was staring at his own mortality… when he was knocking on death’s door, he asked a question….does any of it matter? One of his final songs, a cover Nine Inch Nails' Hurt asks that question... The cover of Trent Reznor’s song that first appeared on his rock album The Downward Spiral. When Johnny Cash covered Hurt for his the Man Comes Around album Trent Reznor Originally hated it. But after seeing the amazing music video he changed his mind… He actually said that from that point forward it was Johnny’s song. The story of the classic from Cash’s American Recordings is next... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

My favorite thing in the world is when I do an interview that Leaves me Speechless. Where it blows my mind like "Did that really just happen?" Well this is one those interviews, from an 80s new wave virtuoso named Thomas Dolby….A true renaissance man who was discovered by legendary producer Mutt Lange when he was busking on the street. He would go onto help revolutionize the future.. he was the secret sauce behind huge 80s records by everyone from Def Leppard to Foreigner. Today he tells us about getting the call to play keyboards with David Bowie at Live Aid and how they rehearsed an exact setlist and then Bowie changed the Opening song seconds before they walked on stage. He got play Heroes in front of 100s of millions of people. We also hear how Michael Jackson invited him to his house right after Thriller and asked him to write him a song This is a can’t miss next on professor of rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next John Oates of rock duo Daryl Hall and John Oates or Hall and Oates tells the story of the feel-good 80s classic You Make My Dreams. the song came as a result of a happy accident… John Oates was jamming with a friend…He was playing the delta blues… His friend was playing western swing and they combined it and he started singing what would become the iconic chorus… later the end result didn't sound anything like the blues or western swing it pretty much sounded like the 80s. Honestly, if someone asked me to define the 80s with one song this one would be a candidate… also they quit making the instrument they recorded the iconic riff with so it took them years to find the exact synth to duplicate the song live when their’s was destroyed … the story is up next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain from one of America’s most popular rock bands Journey watched their bandmates guitarist Neal Schon and bassist Ross Valory go through caustic divorces. The palpable stress that affected the musicians became the inspiration for one of the band’s greatest hits. Separate Ways, Worlds Apart has become their signature rock song. It’s one of the toughest song for any singer to take on and Steve Perry knocks it out of the park. As perfect of a rock song as it is... It also has some baggage. It has one of the cheesiest music videos ever put to film. Even the band admits it. but this song just had major pop culture renaissance 40 years after its peak. on Stranger Things It’s all coming up NEXT including an interviews with band member Neal Schon on Professor of Rock.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

John Mellencamp was hellbent on making his record label eat their words… His label was focused on grooming him to be the next Neil Diamond, they said his album which included the 80s classic Jack and Diane and Hurts So Good was complete garbage. Back then John Mellencamp started out as Johnny Cougar, then it was John Cougar and then John Cougar Mellencamp, by the time he got his first #1 hit he had changed his name 3 times…but the 80s ditty Jack and Diane gave him what he’d always wanted…His real identity. But it was a fight to even get the label to release American Fool. That’s when he told them to shove it. He’d take it somewhere else. Well, they did release it and it made him the king of 80s heartland rock. the story of his only #1 hit Jack and Diane is NEXT on the Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

THIS BAR band came out of nowhere in the eighties to take over radio… Huey Lewis and the News stole the spotlight... Especially in what may have been music's most competitive year…1984 where they snuck in for 1 week to take #1 with their album Sports when Prince, Van Halen Michael Jackson, and Duran Duran were battling it out up next this legendary artist tells the story of I Want a New Drug, a song he wrote in just minutes… he was driving and had the song..he quickly pulled over and ran into an office and screamed for a pen and paper and wrote it in about 90s seconds, then later it was part of a huge lawsuit when the film Ghostbusters asked him to write a song for their soundtrack and when he had to decline they allegedly asked another artist to write a song with a similar sound… The story is coming up next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Elton John and Bernie Taupin were one the most prolific songwriting teams of the Rock Era- So far they’ve collaborated on more than 300 songs. From 1973 through 1976 alone, the duo had a number-one song an average of every four weeks. But their addictions to alcohol & substance forced a dissolution of their partnership, and impeded their respective careers for 7 years… In fact, the 70s biggest superstar actually lost his passion at one point and began to flounder missing the top ten for 3 years and had 3 singles that didn’t even make the charts…but Elton and Bernie came back together and wrote an 80s classic that forged a massive comeback with I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues a love letter from Bernie to his then wife. but says he now regrets writing an iconic lyric from it. Find out which one next… on Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One of the most famous openings in music history came from the drummer playing a mistake. Low Rider by WAR became a 70s classic due to this happy accident. He was accidentally playing on the upbeat and when he realized his mistake he was about to change course when all of a sudden everyone else started playing on top of his mistake and the singer stepped up to the mic and said a random phrase and a 70s classic was born. We get the story of this classic From a founding member of one of America’s greatest Funk bands. When this one comes on the radio, we all turn it up to 11 and jam out, best heard when cruising down the freeway. The cool, laid-back hit of 1975 next on Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up. It was the most anticipated album of its time. Pink Floyd with David Gilmour at the helm hadn’t released a new album in over 6 years! An eternity in rock! It would be the 2nd record released by the band since they parted ways with Roger Waters. The Division Bell hit #1 in 21 countries and it was put out when the musical landscape had completely changed with grunge and hip hop as king… Roger Water Ripped the songs apart, criticizing the fact that David Gilmour’s wife Polly Samson had co-written the first single. Coming up a songwriter who helped with the mesmerizing first single High Hopes and also Take it Back with an interview with the co-writer. What would it be like to write a song with Pink Floyd? Well, we get that answer from an artist who co-wrote two songs with them along with the wisdom that David Gilmour passed on to him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Many have called it the best record ever made. And the ultimate rock and pop record. It is the ultimate expression and illustration of a recording technique that hundreds of icons have tried to copy but never equaled. You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling by the Righteous Brothers is the most played song in the history of the 20th century and it almost didn’t get played by radio. It was too long when Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield recorded it and Phil Spector produced it. It was almost 4 minutes long at a time when radio wouldn’t play anything over 3 minutes. Written by the legendary songwriting couple Barry Man and Cynthia Weil, the duo decided to fudge the numbers a little and wrote down 3:05 on the tape they sent to radio even though it was closer to 4 mins long. It got played and became a #1 smash. Up next in the mother of all song stories.. the last surviving member of the Righteous Brothers Bill Medley and hall of fame songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil tell the story of this 60s classic that was used in Top Gun! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

He didn’t have movie star looks like Burt Reynolds or the rock n’ roll flamboyance of Elton John. Instead, he wore granny glasses and sported a dutch boy haircut. The great John Denver… In spite of his “golly gosh darn” image, he became a bonafide star performing songs that America could relate to. Especially today’s 70s classic Rocky Mountian High… the song made him a 70s legend. It’s a song that everyone loves even if some won’t admit it… It was actually banned during its heyday because radio programmers thought it was about Smoking Dope. The story of a song about nature that is somehow more beautiful than nature...NEXT on Professor of Rock.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

By 1979, tensions were running high within the ranks of America’s most iconic band the Eagles… Don Henley, Glenn Fry, and co had released 6 albums over the course of 7 years, toured relentlessly, and been to hell and back again. It all came to a head at a concert one night when a simple disagreement almost ended in an all-out brawl. As the 70s gave way to the 80s, the Eagles broke up. Solo records came and went but Don Henley struck with several that defined the 80s. He wrote a scathing indictment against the media with Dirty Laundry after they had pried into his personal life. The story of a song that still resonates today and how Hell froze over and the Eagles got back together. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

They were coming off a diamond-selling album. A hard rock band at the peak of their career with a singer-guitar duo that was second to none. Van Halen with David Lee Roth up front and the greatest guitarist of his generation Eddie Van Halen. 1984 was a massive record. She had just hit the top of the charts with a rock-pop song that had many excited about her future… Scandal with Patty Smyth hit the top 10 with the Warrior… Van Halen lost their singer and Eddie Van Halen ended up crossing paths with Patty Smyth and offered her what may’ve been the most coveted role in all of music….an interview with both Patty Smyth and Sammy Hagar about what might’ve been. A female fronted Van Halen in the Van Halen multiverse… and a few others who were offered the job including Daryl Hall and Steve Perry? Find out next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As a father of 3 daughters this was the most difficult song that Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, one of America’s great rock bands ever had to write… It actually took him 9 months to finish, then a record exec made him censor his own song fearing it wouldn’t get played on pop radio because of 1 word that wasn’t even a swear word… Would he change it? It would be the biggest hit on an 80s hard rock masterpiece. Pump an album that had a pretty good chance of being the first hard rock record to have 3 #1 hits from one album… would it happen … THE ROAD WOULD BE TOUGH… Janie’s Got A Gun got banned and had to compete with a smash hit starring a cartoon cat... find out if this …provocative and haunting song pulled it off next on Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s song… what can I say? There’s just nothing else like it. I mean it’s dark, it’s moody, it’s theatrical rock. Listening to it takes you on a heart-pounding sonic journey deep into the shadows and then back into the light. Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler written and produced by the great Jim Steinman is epic in size and scope. The 1983 #1 hit is punctuated by a raspy, larger-than-life vocal performance from Bonnie Tyler who lost her voice some years before and had take throat surgery not knowing if she’d ever sing again.. she also had a huge hit that typecast her as a soft country rock balladeer… then she got a chance at singing a 7-minute song about Vampire love that would go onto become one of the biggest #1 hits ever…but it pissed Jim Steinman’s other constant collaborator Meatloaf off who felt the song was his for the taking… It’s a compelling story of a song that still moves the needle coming up next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The snobs and the critics thumbed their noses at KISS as a party rock band with high theatrics and no technique. Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss were ready to prove them wrong, I mean they are the band that really taught us how to rock… up next a song that took them to another level. Detroit Rock City was first written as a party anthem. then the singer decided to change it up and write about a real-life tragedy. They felt they had something special, so they put it out… Then It Totally Bombed.. with radio stations picking up the B SIDE Ballad Beth instead…but redemption would come…even if it took decades. It’s a great comeback... NEXT on the Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up, a rare interview with one of the funniest rockers ever. Mr. Eddie Money… Sadly, he passed away a few years back. The Money Man tells the story of his signature hit the 70s rock classic, Two Tickets To Paradise... He was a poor kid from the other side of the tracks dating a rich girl. Her parents didn’t want her seeing him He wanted to take her somewhere special but didn’t have the money so he wrote her a song… It became a rock classic but did it save their relationship? Find out next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pat Benatar has something of an adversarial relationship with one of her biggest songs… the Top Ten 10 hit “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” It broke her career wide open. There’s a few reasons for this, but ultimately, even though she made it famous, it wasn’t her song to begin with. That distinction goes to a struggling songwriter who wrote it after punching pillows in a new age therapy session. Yeah, you can’t make this stuff up. Even though Pat doesn’t care for it, there’s no doubt that generations of fans haven’t been able to get enough of it. It’s an 80s classic rock radio staple for sure, oozing confidence and bravado, putting Pat Benatar forward as the 80s premier female rocker that would be followed by plenty of great hits like Love Is a Battlefield and We Belong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up, an interview with one of the nicest guys in the business about his biggest hit. Jason Mraz on his smash hit I’m Yours…It started as a demo he put up on his website.. he considered it nothing more than a b side. A few years later he was playing a concert in Sweden and he needed a song to extend his set, he played this b side, and all 10k people there were singing every word. He was shocked. So he decided to record it properly. He put it out and it became one of the biggest songs ever...spending a year and a half on the charts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

AFTER years of partying like rock stars. IT FINALLY caught up with the members of Motley Crue. It began with a fatal car crash involving singer Vince Neil and then the band’s primary songwriter and bassist Nikki Sixx nearly died on the floor of a hotel bathroom, in fact, a few hours later he busted out of his hospital room and bummed a ride home from 2 fans who were having a candlelight vigil after they heard he’d died on the radio. After these near-death experiences into the late 80s this glam rock act finally got clean and sober. From this mild experience, they made a historic record called Dr. Feelgood led by the powerful title track that became the band’s only gold single that came from dancing with death. Let the viewer beware…We are about to enter the dark side of Hollywood NEXT on Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s show is a whopper…we dig into the genius & the tragedy that surrounded a pop music classic that was #1 several times for different artists. Without You. Written and recorded by Badfinger and then discovered as a deep track by Harry Nilsson who loved it and wanted to record it. …But after trying it in many different iterations and fighting with his legendary producer about the right way to approach the song. Harry Nilsson began to hate the song and did everything he could to sabotage it. It went to #1 anyway…But then the song became something of a curse. The co-writers of the song from Badfinger were decimated by career & money struggles, and in the end, actually ended up taking their own lives. Then Harry Nilsson ruptured his vocal cords and never sang the same way ever again Harry then basically disappeared from the public eye and then passed away right before he was planning to wage a comeback. Then another artist took her version to #1 in the 90s... The details of this bittersweet rock n’ roll soap opera are coming up NEXT….on Professor of Rock." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up, we’re taking a deep dive into one of the most recognizable songs of the rock era from one of the most storied and long-tenured bands of the rock era… Start Me Up by the Rolling Stones… The band actually first wrote it as a reggae song, a pretty big risk for a bunch of white guys.. even though this song came from later in their catalog, it was a smashing success, just missing out on that #1 spot… a coveted prize they would never achieve again. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards first wrote it in the mid-1970s and then a few years later they did even more takes. More than 70. One was a rock and roll take… Years later an associate producer was looking through the vaults and took found the one take they did that was a rock version and the band released it off of the 1981 album Tatoo You…becoming a classic. Which begs an interesting question, was this song their last stand? Was it their last gasp for mainstream music relevancy? Or is chart success overrated? Let’s find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next Graeham Goble, a founding member of the legendary 70s and 80s band Little River Band and the band’s primary songwriter dd he tells the story of their biggest-selling song… Lady... He said that he wrote a song about a beautiful girl he saw dancing at a show he was playing. Lady became one of the most-played songs in radio history and Their biggest selling single and to this day, the woman has no idea the song was written about her because as the writer will explain… he never met her. He also tells how the band he helped start and created many of their biggest hits is now controlled by a group of individuals who aren’t even from the band's native country and tour and record without any original members in an exclusive interview coming up on Professor of Rock Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up… an interview with one of the greatest rock singers in history… Lou Gramm the voice of Foreigner and another legend Mick Jones mega-producer and songwriting maestro on a song that spent a record 10 weeks at #2. Waiting for a Girl Like You... The song never got to #1! It had to settle for being the greatest bridesmaid in recorded. history. this 80s masterpiece was famous for its distinct ambient intro that came from future star Thomas Dolby who was discovered busking on the street by producer Mutt Lange. Lou's incomparable vocal came from a session where a mysterious beautiful woman walked and sat down in front of him inspiring him to dial it up to 11, nailing the take … then he rushed out to find the woman but never saw her again. Up next an interview with all three about one of the greatest songs ever... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s one of the most well-known classics of the 80s but… it wasn’t actually a hit. It stopped just sort of the top 40. #41 in fact…New Wave classic Tempted by The Squeeze was an interesting one... the band recorded it with their longtime lead singer Glenn Tilbrook and then when Elvis Costello came in to produce the record, he didn’t like the lead singer's approach so he had the whole thing re-recorded using a guest vocalist named Paul Carrack who had a hit with How Long with Ace and then later had several solo hits as well as many with the band Mike and the Mechanics including in the living years. Carack was only with the band for one record. He nailed it and one iconic line from the song became so popular that fans threw toothbrushes on stage at the band whenever it was performed. Get the inside story of this classic next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up, we’re going to go behind the Top 10 songs of this same week from the year 1984. But we’re not stopping there. After we count them down, we’re re-ranking them according to all-time streams and views, to find out which one has left the biggest mark on history. This time around we’ve got some of the greatest hits from the 80s all duking it out for that coveted #1 spot. But who will be the champion? Will it be Van Halen, Prince? Genesis, or maybe a rookie new wave band, a glam metal favorite, or even a one-hit wonder? It’s a nostalgic trip back in time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up, two legends and world-class storytellers share the story of one of the biggest radio songs ever. These Eyes was the first big hit written by Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings of the Guess Who. Guitarist Randy Bachman went to pick up a girl for a date and she wasn’t ready, so he sat downstairs waiting, and there happened to be an old piano there, so he wrote this little song in a few minutes. He later took it over to the singer’s house who changed one key lyric… It put this legendary band on the map. As a classic of the late 60s and early 70s, both Randy and Burton tell the story of this classic rock standard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For over a decade, Led Zeppelin ruled rock with an iron fist. I mean, no one else even came close. With the release of eight epic, life-altering records including the blockbusters Zeppelin IV, Houses of the Holy and Physical Graffit...they changed the landscape of rock forever… kicking out classic rock standards left and right… it all came crashing down one morning in the fall of 1980 when their Drummer John Bonham was found dead. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were so devastated, Page didn’t pick up a guitar for 2 years. Some bands bring in a replacement and go on… This band knew they couldn’t… Today, we pay tribute to Bonzo and celebrate their final chapter by breaking down their final album Coda rIncluding their plan to release a punk song under a made up name to get the public’s reaction…Next on professor of rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up NEXT the story of one of the most mysterious, otherworldly songs of the 80s. It’s a song that absolutely hypnotizes you as a listener Eyes Without a Face by Billy Idol. Written by Billy Idol and Guitar Hero Steve Stevens for the 1984 New Wave classic album Rebel Yell. With an exotic chorus that’s sung in french. The song STARted out as a ballad but then Steve Stevens who’d written the music walked into the studio and let out a face melting blazing guitar solo that was so potent when he walked into the control room everyone in their was jumping up and down cheering including the singer. the story of this 80s classic is told by this legendary guitarist and co creator next on Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.