Professor of Rock

Today’s featured artist, Phil Collins is a favorite. And he may well be the greatest hit machine of any decade. In fact he was such a prolific hit machine at one point he averaged a hit song every 3 months for 7 years including Solo career and fronting the band Genesis. ..but today we focus on one of he best songs... Easy Lover a song that he was producing for Philip Bailey of Earth Wind and Fire and then in the middle of the recording session, it became a surprise duet and it was just a rough demo but when they came back to record it for real, they couldn’t top the rough spur of the moment demo so they kept it. He can also thank his cheating ex-wife for the hit. It would become one of many hits he wrote about that subject. Lambasting his ex made him a lot of money… You’ll see what I mean next. On Professor of Rock… Let’s do it.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If there was ever a cautionary tale about a rock group making a deal with the devil to hit the big time, it would be the story of the rise and fall of SWEET. A saga of talent, fame & excess, followed by violence, frustration, alcoholism, disaster, poverty, and death. Along this bumpy journey, there are a lot of GREAT songs that will make you stand up and cheer. I want to warn you….it’s gonna be electric and frantically hectic.. the story of their biggest american hit Ballroom Bltiz from the 70s is .NEXT…on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I really enjoyed this one. Today we're counting down 9 of the greatest female hidden gems in rock history. Songs that seriously deserve the spotlight... including the heartbreaking tale of Eva Cassidy, one of the greatest voices of her generation who was virtually unknown while she was alive. She died at just 33 years old—with only a handful of songs recorded that were paid for by her aunt. The labels flat our rejected her because they didn’t know how to market her multifaceted style, but her posthumously released recordings have since sold over 12 million copies including a song that she covered that has somehow surpassed the Legendary original! We also have the incredible story of Nicolette Larson, a backup singer who found her career-launching Top 10 hit "Lotta Love" on a random cassette tape lying on the floor of Neil Young's car. He didn’t want it and just handed it to her and said "it's yours.". Plus The Primitives who broke up but then a sleazy label allowed a blockbuster movie to use their hit Crash and record a bunch of new instruments into the classic track without involving the band…crazy stories. Let’s get into it.See 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 year rock n’ roll dominated the airwaves, and pop culture, and those who were desperately trying to control the status quo thought the world was coming to an end. These stories are crazy…you had a legendary lyricist who wrote Elvis Presley's hit Don't Be Cruel and All Shook Up which became some of the biggest hits of all time, and sold it for a couple of bucks.. then One of the most elegantly performed classics ever, The Great Pretender, by the Platters and was written on a commode during a break.. then there was the song written by a teacher and refrigerator repairman that gave Elvis his first #1 hit. Heartbreak Hotel. Plus Frankie Lymon who sang a love song that he never made a penny from, instead a notorious mobster took credit for the song and finally the scary song Tonight You Belong to Me that has begun one of the most famous urban legends ever where young sisters were threatened by a man with a knife to record one of the creepiest song ever and then when one refused, tragedy struck but is the story true?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we're telling the story of Jimmy Buffett, a singer-songwriter who spent years bouncing around the Southern US struggling to find his voice… before he invented an entire lifestyle brand built on relaxation and escapism. This Alabama-raised dreamer crafted a sound he called "Gulf & Western," mixing down home storytelling with Caribbean rhythms and beach-town philosophy that turned him into something more than a musician. This Jimmy’s laid-back melodies and tales of coastal living created a fantasy world that millions wanted to live in. Buffett went from a struggling songwriter to the leader of an army of "Parrotheads" who turned his concerts into parties and his brand into an empire. It's a journey from dive bars to billion-dollar businesses from a song that all the big wigs said was a terrible idea to launching a whole new way of life on our latest edition of Short and Sweet. Let's get into it.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Remember back in the day when we used to draw band names and logos on our trapper keepers, and binders or school tablets? Well these logos, these symbols were more than just doodles. They were declarations of our rock identity. And man, we've uncovered some wild tales today as we count down the best ever. And these stories will blow your mind, like the Nirvana logo that's shrouded in mystery—no one can figure out who sketched it. whether it was swiped from the sign of a seedy gentleman’s club? Or a jab at frontman Axl Rose? Plus the same band’s logo was so low on the priority list they paid a measly fifteen bucks to a typesetter to create it, instructing him to just use whatever font was already loaded in his machine and it became legendary. Then there's the emblem known as "The Lick" that was faxed over to the Rolling Stones' label, but The fax was so distorted they had to redraw it which changed it... but the change was kept a secret for decades. Plus the most famous rock band ever The Beatles with the most iconic logo didn’t actually put it on any of their album cover until over a decade after they broke up. And then they didn’t even copyright it until 30 years after they formed their band... and they’ve made more from licensing their logo than their music. Let’s do it!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s song Forever Young by Alphaville is a classic that every 80s kid knows by heart… But here’s the kicker… some know it as a slow methodical ballad and some know it as an up-tempo anthem. That’s because the song was released in 2 iterations, and depending on how and when you heard it, one of those versions is your memory of it. And the other crazy thing is that, even though it’s one of the most well-known songs of the 80s and it’s been used dozens of times in film and television, it was not actually a hit. Not in America. In fact, it was released 7 different times, and not one of those times did it become a hit, though we all swear it was. But when it hit #1 across the sea, the band didn’t even know how to play their instruments. Up next the story of a classic that was a disaster until the band’s engineer accidentally slowed the tempo down. Let’s do it...See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I’m excited to share today’s interview.He’s had 11 Top 40 hits, sold over 55 million albums, and is one of only a few artists in history with a Top 50 album in six consecutive decades.But even more important — today’s guest is a rock pioneer who helped build and shape some of the most important musical genres and movements of our lifetime and beyond.Like shock rock, of which he’s the king. But also punk rock — Johnny Rotten’s tryout that got him the job as singer of the Sex Pistols was Alice’s song I’m Eighteen, and the first song Joey Ramone wrote for the Ramones was based on the chords of that same song. The seeds of punk rock came from Alice!And of course, hard rock and metal owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Cooper. KISS begged, borrowed, and stole from Alice — even they admit it — among many others.And what other living rock star was beloved by Groucho Marx, Mae West, and Salvador Dalí? Or was called a great songwriter by Bob Dylan? Or had a comic book series created about him by Neil Gaiman?He also waged one of the greatest comebacks in rock history in 1989 with Poison after critics said he was done — and then won the hearts of a whole new generation in Wayne’s World.We cover all of that, plus the real story behind the chicken and many other urban legends. You’ll get some surprises along the way — and some of the best stories I’ve ever heard in an interview.I’m recording this intro just hours before going in for serious surgery… hoping this isn’t my final interview. But if it was — I’d take it! Ha ha.Here’s Alice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

FROM THE VAULT: The controversial song about female self-love… was written by a dude? Ha ha. It's I Touch Myself by the Divinyls. This story is almost too good to be true, and yet it is. I have an interview with a Hall of Fame songwriter Billy Steinberg who wrote 5 #1 hits with his songwriting partner Tom Kelly. And all five #1s were for female artists. All 5 songs were huge in the 80s, but at the end of the decade, Billy met with a prolific Australian band and sheepishly gave them his private notebook of lyrics and asked what song they wanted to work on. And today’s iconic female rocker Chrissy Amphlett chose a song that was about self-love. I Touch Myself wasn’t quite finished so the band and the songwriting team tackled it. It’s pretty straightforward forward, and though it was controversial it became a global smash. Let's run it back, on Professor of Rock See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today, we're diving into one of the most innovative and enjoyable bands to listen to in rock history…it’s a group that blended symphonic grandeur with pure pop perfection. It's Electric Light Orchestra. And if you can’t get on board with these guys, you better check your pulse. And there’s great stories to get into along the way… Including the panic-written hit Evil Woman that may have been inspired by a wicked California groupie whose identity is still a complete mystery. But this singer, Jeff Lynne, got even when he lambasted her on radio. Then there's the tale of the double album Jeff said he would write in a month… Only he got writer’s block soon after, and he couldn’t break through it until one day the clouds literally parted and his depression fizzled and he wrote Mr. Blue Sky to chase away his anxiety, and it actually ended up being the happiest song of all time, as backed and certified by scientists. It’s a journey through five landmark albums that changed the sound of the 70s and 80s forever... Let’s do it.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I ended this series a few months ago because I didn’t think there were any great top 40 songs after 1994. Well, after months of reflection, I admit I was wrong. Most of the songs in today’s year countdown were reluctantly recorded, and were either not intended to be a single, or were an embarrassment for the artist who created it- and they ended up being masterworks... including the Pearl Jam song about a traumatized boy who watched a man he thought was his real father hurt his mother. He turned it into a song years before he hit it big, and never wanted to put the song out. Then there was the Tom Petty song that MTV initially banned, and then edited a lyric by playing a word backward that confused the hell out of listeners and changed the meaning of the song. Then there was the pissed off fan who offered Weezer a multimillion-dollar fortune to just go away, because they couldn’t match the majesty of their perfect debut album. Our countdown is next on Professor of Rock… Let’s do it!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we are telling the story of the other Canadian power trio that originated in the 70s. And their name isn't Rush. It's Triumph and they maybe the most underrated band of their time. Coming up, We've got the wild tale of how a single radio DJ in San Antonio, Texas turned these three unknown guys from Toronto into arena rock legends, back when that sort of thing could happen. Plus we’ll cover the anthem Never Surrender that ironically planted the seeds for the band's eventual breakup. It’s our latest episode of Short and Sweet, NEXT on the Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I’m pretty sure this episode is going to blow your mind. Today, we’re counting down the biggest female power ballads of all time. And some of these are serious scorchers. But there’s a catch. There may just be no such thing as a 100% female power ballad. Let’s just say someone else might have been pulling the strings. There are some truly twisted stories here. There’s the “tough as nails” lead singer, Chrissie Hynde, who was desperate for a hit; she openly admitted she was selling out to get it. Then, when the song was finished, she called it CRAP. Talk about a love-hate relationship. There’s also the turn it to 11 track about Monsters getting it on... Total Eclipse of the Heart. It was originally written for a Nosferatu musical and coveted by one of the most theatrical rock stars of all time. But he didn’t get to sing it. Then there’s the unlikely story of how an American exchange student armed with a cassette tape turned the European power pop duo Roxette into global superstars. Plus, the school teaching duo Quarterflash, who were teaching in the day and playing clubs at night, till their power ballad rocked the 80s, and they could quit their day job.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up next Ya know I’ve interviewed over 800 Famous musicians over my career and I have to say today’s guest is my favorite He’s my favorite person in the music business. A humble guy, a great person. next is A full uncut interview with Huey Lewis… From 1984 to 1988 nobody was bigger. he had so many classic hits like The Heart of Rock and Roll, Heart and Soul, Jacobs Ladder, I Want a New Drug, Stuck With You, The power of Love, Hip to Be Square and a dozen more. Huey Tells the story of all of them here in some of the best stories you’ll hear on this channel. i’ve only shared some tidbits from this interview over the years.. Never the whole thing. Let’s do it. See 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 Jason Mraz, one of the nicest guys in music... about one of the catchiest singalong hits of the last 30 years: I'm Yours. The song started as a rough demo that this artist put on their website. It was just a throwaway B-side. He thought it was good, but it was just a simple song; it was easy to sing, almost like a nursery rhyme, but he soon forgot about it... until a few years later when he was playing a concert in a foreign country and ran out of songs. Ao he played the old B-side and was floored when 10K people knew every word and were singing it in unison. He couldn’t believe it. So when he got back home, he did a proper recording of it. And put it out and it blew up. It set a record at the time of being on the charts for almost 2 years. He tells the story next on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s our latest “Fell Short the Top 40” countdown. And this might be one of the strongest years we’ve done so far. These are tracks that should’ve dominated the charts, but were simply too ambitious, too dark, or too outside the box for mainstream radio. We've got the story of Led Zeppelin, who spent weeks in the desert creating Kashmir, a track so massive and mystical that it redrew the boundaries of rock. And the band members have all said it’s the best song in their catalog, but it always takes a back seat to a much more popular pick. But then their famous guitar mortified fans when he let a predator use it in his terrible rap song. In fact, the guitarist was even in on the recording. We’ll also reveal how James Taylor's escape fantasy was actually a shocking confession of addiction and delusion… a cry for help disguised as an upbeat travel song. Plus, we’ll cover the devastating moment when the Eagles closed one of their most successful albums with a bleak farewell—a ticking time-bomb track that was a public admission that the band was about to implode. Let’s do it. Plus the story of Pink Floyd I Wish you were Here and Heart with Dreamboat Annie. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up... this song was written to be part of a rock opera that legendary guitarist Pete Townshend of the Who wanted to make into a film but he couldn’t get it off the ground so he threw it on his band’s next album which happened to be the all time classic Who’s Next! It became one of the most powerful rock anthems ever. So powerful that the legend’s iconic scream was so piercing when the band first heard it they thought their singer Roger Daltrey had gotten into a fistfight with the engineer. It’s a song that is about a revolution but unfortunately, life has now imitated art because the lesson in this song has still not been learned 50 years later… We need to figure this out now! The story of the 70s classic Won’t Get Fooled Again by the Who is next!<p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p>See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up, the infamous side of fame, where sketchy artistic moves, bad behavior, deceit, and out-of-control egos create career killers. We’ll tell the story of Creed, a band that was on top of the world until their lead singer, Scott Stapp, proclaimed himself a prophet of God and wound up homeless... The story of The Replacements, a band that delivered the most notorious performance on Saturday Night Live ever. Plus, an offensive t-shirt that made rookie lead singer Sebastian Bach a villain, which derailed his band Skid Row as they were on top of the world after massive hits like 18 and Life and I Remember You. And also Peter Frampton, who was riding high after releasing the best selling live album "Frampton Comes Alive" that became the biggest-selling album ever with the Hits "Baby I Love Your Way" And "Show Me The Way" at the time, but a bad movie role in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band cratered his career. It’s 8 stories of Career Killers, NEXT on Professor of Rock! Plus the story of the Bay City Rollers and Color Me Badd who both imploded after some bad decisions. And Dead Or Alive who became a one hit wonder in America. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today, we have the story of what I believe is the greatest protest song of the last 50 years, Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall Part 2. And the back story is like a classic big-screen drama or the front page of the National Enquirer. It was the only #1 hit this legendary rock band ever had, and they made it count. It came from the landmark record The Wall, which is arguably the greatest concept album ever created. So today’s song might be the most unlikely #1 hit ever. First off, it was only a minute long, and initially it was pretty boring… What made it a classic was a strange recipe… a choir full of children that the band secretly bussed from a nearby school that they never had permission to use on the recording, and the guitarist was convinced to add some disco to it, even though he loathed that particular genre. It may be the most controversial song of its time due to its history. The detailed story is next on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up, it's the story of Richard Marx, a Chicago kid who grew up in recording studios watching his jingle-writing father work. For years, he stayed in the shadows, singing backup for superstars and writing powerhouse hits for other artists. Marx spent his twenties as a session singer, quietly honing his craft and paying his dues, trying to make it as a singer. In fact, super-producer David Foster told him he’d never make it. But he proved him wrong… Dead wrong. When he finally stepped into the spotlight in the late 80s, he exploded. Seven Top 5 hits on the Billboard charts. Then seven more Top 20 hits in the early 90s. He was a repeat chart offender who became one of the most successful pop songwriters of his era. So how did this kid go from singing backup to dominating the airwaves? Get the behind-the-scenes story of his rise from the studio shadows to pop royalty, including an interview with the man himself… on our latest edition of short and sweet. He had so many hits from Endless Summer Nights to Right Here Waiting to Satisfied to Angelia...from Should've Known Better to Hold on the Nights, from Hazard to Now and Forever, from Keep Coming Back. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today, we're returning for round three of the Strangest Feats in Rock. And this time we're going bigger than ever before with a seriously supersized episode. Last time our big one was the only artist to sell 90 million records without ever playing a live concert It Enya!. This time, we've got even more insane records, including the band Jackyl that played 21 full concerts in just 24 hours—requiring military precision as they tore down, traveled, and set up again and again with zero room for error. Then there's the shocking story of the loudest concert ever and how Deep Purple cranked up their amps so loud that three fans hit the floor unconscious from the overwhelming sound. It was a stunt so dangerous that Guinness World Records had to retire the category forever. And then there was the largest band to ever play together. Over a thousand musicians playing simultaneously as one massive group. It’s a dream that started with a viral video plea from one man to his favorite band… And it ended up breaking world records in front of packed stadiums. And there’s plenty more where that came from. These rock records pushed music to its absolute limits. Let’s do it.See 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 interview with an artist who had a bunch of hits in the 70s, with several that will take you back to a simpler time! and are as 70s as it gets. He was known to all as just One Name: LOBO. Well, today we solve the mystery of the real man behind that pseudonym and get the stories of his biggest hits, including a song co-written by his dog. "Me and You and a Dog Named BOO", it’s a really funny story and the song that came from his crush on his high school teacher, "I’d Love You To Want Me" that became a smash hit and topped the charts in 7 countries, including hitting #2 here in America… It’s the story of a mellow 70s AM Gold Artist that’s song were smooth and still are classic of 70s classic rock and pop radio. Let’s do it.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up, I’m finally doing it. My personal top 10 song of all time. 10 songs that were pivotal in shaping and changing the life of a small-town boy from Idaho. These are my personal favorite classic rock songs of all time. There's a story about the genius Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys collaborating with an unknown jingle writer that surprised rock fans and even his own band with the greatest harmony ever…with the song God Only Knows. The story of the 70s classic Baker Street, a song that features one of the greatest instrumental performances of the Rock Era and the sax player was only paid 27 bucks while the singer made millions … Plus Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb, the song that pulled me out of deep despair following a devastating divorce that ultimately put me on a path to a life I didn't know existed, and Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen the song that made me who I am and busted me out of prison It's the countdown of MY Top 10 Personal greatest songs EVER, NEXT on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bob Seger had been a regional sensation for over a decade but when it was all said and done he had only had one hit in 15 years and by 1976 it had been 8 years since that hit. He couldn’t seem to break through. Well, one night after seeing a popular film of the time he started to have a vision for a song. the 70s rock classic NIGHT MOVES was a very emotional and private experience from his adolescence and sometime later he wrote it at an A&W Drive-in after ordering a burger.. rumor is he wrote it on his tab… He wrote it about a teenage tryst. She ended up marrying somebody else and broke his heart but he turned it into a breakthrough smash single, transforming him into one of American Rock’s greatest rock storytellers. and to think due to a mix-up at his label it almost ended up being a b side… The story is next on Professor of rockSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we're counting down 10 killer classics from a special year in the 80s that were snubbed by mainstream radio. I’m talking about massive songs from some of the biggest musicians and bands of the era… that somehow never made the top 40. These are real musical mysteries —We’ve got the story of a remixed Don't Stand So Close to Me, that’s tied to what may be the most disastrous band reunion ever… including a broken collarbone and a 12-inch switchblade. As well as Boston's Cool the Engines, that was almost lost forever when its writer accidentally melted its master… Find out how he saved it. There’s also the AC/DC that pulled out of a 6-year slump with a massive record that a famous author fanboyed the band into doing for a B Movie. But it sold 5 million and outsold the movie! Then there was one of the biggest records of the year that landed Paul Simon on a hit list, and then years later, some would try to cancel it for Cultural Appropriation. Find out why. And finally, there was the song that iconic guitarist Johnny Marr of the Smiths wrote, and then declared it to be the best song he had ever heard in his life. But then he refused to release it as a single! Let’s get into it.The story of AC/DC Highway to Hell and Who Made, Bon Jovi Never Say Goodbye from Slippery When Wet, Boston third stage including the Hot Amanda, Van Halen with Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen on the album 5150 including Dreams and the Best of Both worlds, Paul Simon Graceland , Peter Gabriel So and Sledgehammer and Red Rain, The Smiths there is a light that never goes out, The police Don’t Stand so close to me. Try ZipRecruiter for free:https://www.ziprecruiter.com/rockSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we’re telling the story of folk singer Jim Croce, who spent years playing dive bars and college cafeterias for pocket change… before he finally broke through in his thirties. This Philadelphia everyman wrote songs in the back of pickup trucks between construction jobs, pouring his heart into tales about working stiffs, lost love, and fleeting moments. Jim's warm baritone and fingerpicking guitar-work created intimate three-minute short stories that felt like conversations with an old friend. Tragically, just as Jim reached the summit, his life was cut short in the cruelest way imaginable. But the songs he left behind became timeless classics that still move us decades later. It's a bittersweet journey on our latest edition of Short and Sweet. Let’s get into it.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alright, you asked for it. So you got it. It’s a Halloween Special Edition of Professor of Rock. Today, we're counting down my Top 8 most haunting, spine-chilling tracks from the rock era. And yeah, we’re gonna get a little creepy here. So brace yourselves. On this episode, we’re telling stories of sonic spookers, dark confessions, back-masking messages, and deathly warnings… including one track that was born from a father's twisted bedtime stories about a man-eating monster that haunted his son Robert Smith of the Cure for decades. He couldn’t escape his nightmares; the only way he solved it was through writing a song about it called Lullaby. Then there’s the song that was so traumatizing for Korn lead singer, Jonathan Davis, that he broke down into hysterics after he finished singing his vocals. And it was all caught on tape. The producer just kept it rolling. I’ve also got the most controversial musician I have ever interviewed on this channel. When I released our interview a few years back, I lost 5000k subscribers overnight…I’m hoping it doesn’t happen again. IlAnd lastly, the most chilling song ever released: DOA by Bloodrock. It was not only banned…for a time, it was against the law to play it. It was so disturbing that the band’s promising career never recovered and they were cursed to be a one hit wonder See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Legendary rock band Kansas was coming off of a huge single with Carry On Wayward Son and album with Leftoverture that established them as the one of the premier bands of the 70s as they were woking on their follow up their main songwriter Kerry Livgren was playing a fingerpicking exercise when his wife noticed and told him he should put lyrics to it. He did and wrote Dust in the Wind with lyrics that go back to Genesis in the Bible making it 6000 years old. The next day he was reticent to show the band this song since it was a ballad and totally opposite to what they were about. but as soon as he showed them they knew it had to be their next single. It became their only top 10 hit and in the interview next original guitarist and founding member Rich Willams tells how the song was such an ordeal it made his fingers bleed and how Steve Walsh made it flow… with special guests on how the 70s rock classic has changed everything.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

COMING UP I’ve never done this before but if it goes well I’ll do it again. A full length interview with one of my favorite rock singers ever. A true legend who will walk us through his legendary career song by song including fronting one of the greatest rock bands ever. It’s our first ever episode of RETROSPECTIVE We start with Sammy Hagar and cover his entire career from Montrose to his solo years including I Can't Drive 55 and then joining Eddie Van Halen and helping take Van Halen to #1 on the album charts many times with 5150, 0U812 and For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and the stories of his biggest hits including the guitarist he hates working with because he never tries the same thing twice. It's all coming up in our 1 hour interview with Sammy Hagar the red rocker...See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There must have been something in the water back in the mid to late 60s because legendary bands and artists wrote some of the most life-changing songs ever. Today, we celebrate a true lost art... songs that stick it to the man. From an accidental protest song from rock’s greatest poet Bob Dylan, who put lyrics to a melody from the 1800s but wrote the lyrics down so fast and messy that night when he played it live for the first time, he couldn’t read his own handwriting, so he had to make up the lyrics on the spot, and it became an all-time standard. Then there was the legendary song that Barry Maguire didn’t like. In fact, he recorded a bunch of songs, and his voice was so shot that he trudged through the song without any care; it was raspy, rough, and haggard. He knew it was a scratch vocal and he’s re-do it later, but then the label put it out as is, luckily it was just a B-side, but then a DJ mistakenly played the wrong side and it became a #1 hit overnight. And helped push the 26th Amendment across the finish line. And then there was the Byrds' song Turn Turn Turn, which was taken straight from the bible, and its writer added his own 2 cents to the scriptures that made it a protest song. Let’s get into it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Riding high on satire…Weird Al Yankovic seemed unstoppable in the mid 80s after Eat It! and Like A Surgeon. but when his fourth record, Polka Party essentially flopped, he almost called it quits. But instead, he started writing for his life. And out of this trepidation, he created a supersized song patterned after the King of Pop Michael Jackson’s latest hit Bad called Fat. It not only won over listeners, but captivated MTV audiences across the world with a hilarious video in 1988. If you lived through the 80s, I don’t think there’s any way you could have missed this one. It was huge! How Weird Al went platinum with Even Worse and rocked 88.Check out this classic, next on Professor of Rock. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Remember when a particular band came out of nowhere and dominated radio and MTV with a big album and a bunch of hit songs, and it looked like the start of a massive career? But then the band sputtered and never had another hit, and a few years later, you might hear their old hit and go "What the hell happened to that band?" Well today we have a special edition of bottled lightning, counting down those intriguing stories. Including frontman Darius Rucker, who was overheard singing in a college dorm shower. His future bandmate proposed they team up on the spot… Then years later, David Letterman boosted their album sales into the millions when he promoted it on his show. Then there was Fine Young Cannibals, who put an ad on MTV for a new lead singer. They got 500 cassettes in the mail, and they all sucked. But a friend took pity on them and recommended Roland Gift, a saxophone player who secretly had a great voice. They had 3 Huge hits and a #1 album and became the #1 band of the last year of the 80s. And then they NEVER put out another song ever again. Let’s do this.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today, it's the story of a band that made rock history by literally singing their way onto the cover of Rolling Stone. This ragtag bunch of musical misfits from Jersey looked more like a gang of bikers than pop stars. Their lead singer wore an eye patch that made him look like a pirate, and their sound was unlike anything else on the radio... they were the musical equivalent of a traveling circus. And they were a powerhouse scoring 8 massive hits in the 70s and early 80s that we still love today. but then they just vanished. It's a wild ride from dive bars to the top of the charts on this New edition of Professor of Rock. We call short and sweet.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

COMING UP…We’ve done two of these, and you loved them and asked for more. The great IMPROV Moments in music, and the 3rd time might be the best. These are some of the most entertaining stories I’ve come across. Songs that weren't planned or rehearsed, but became pure gold. We’ve got a producer who brought a feast of chicken and ribs into the studio and got Screamin' Jay Hawkins and his band so drunk they blacked out during the session…and forgot they wrote a song. When they got sober, they discovered they’d created a shocking, unhinged masterpiece called I Put a Spell on You. There's also the legend Ella Fitzgerald, who forgot the lyrics to Mack the Knife during a live broadcast in front of thousands... but instead of panicking, she rewrote the song on the spot and walked away with two Grammys. Plus, the UK band Blur improvised a two-minute parody track called Song 2 to mock Cheesy American rock, fully expecting it to be a throwaway cut. But their label loved it, packaged it as a single, and it became their biggest hit. And then the broken string that caused a badass guitar sound that the band Metallica was never able to repeat again.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up next, I must have a death wish to keep covering this band but I have the final part of my interview with one of greatest producers of the 70s and ‘80s who produced most of the tracks on the biggest selling album ever as well as 5th biggest selling album ever and he has some great behind the scenes stories on some true American classics including a legendary song that may be the most storied rock hit ever. Hotel California, and there are some stories here that have never been told, including the fact that the song had to be recut three different times. The first time it was cut i the wrong tempo, then the second time it was done in the wrong key. The third time was the charm, and then this producer got a front row seat to the greatest guitar battle of all time when the dual solo was recorded. Then there is the classic song that was just Joe Walsh’s warmup exercise, and the band talked him into making it into a song, and there was the song that was a source of contention between the guitarist and lead singer…The guitarist wanted to sing it, but the singer outfoxed him and got his vocal down on the final. These stories are next on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today, it's the defining track of a big-budget, no holds barred rock opus. But writing this signature song would be a harrowing experience for this band’s frontman Dave Grohl. Just a couple years removed from the suicide of his friend and bandmate, Kurt Cobain when he was in NIRVANA, Dave Grohl was trying to move on. Now with a new band Foo Fighters and writing their second album the Colour and the Shape, he was facing all kinds of problems. The guys weren’t gelling and were exhausted from their perfectionist producer Gil Norton. And then he got served divorce papers at the studio. Crushed by the weight of his crumbling marriage… he put the sessions on pause and flew cross-country to his hometown. There he wrote his best song Everlong, pouring into it everything he was feeling. When it was finished, it would become the biggest song of his career. One that would have millions of fans singing along in unison. Get ready for a banger next.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today, we’re covering a truly special group, the Carpenters. This brother-sister pair ruled the 70s and early 80s with 10 Top 5 hits, 18 that made the Top 20, and 15 more that went to #1 on the AC Charts. And we’re going to cover as many as we can, tracing the evolution of their career. We’ve got some amazing behind-the-scenes song stories to go with this one. How about the song that Richard Carpenter saw performed on late-night TV, but had no idea what it was called? But he knew they had to record a cover version because they could do it better. Or the track that one Richard was so sure would bomb on the charts that he bet his recording engineer $1000 that it would flop. And how about the song that Karen Carpenter hated with a fiery passion, and never performed live. And to add flame to the fire… Neal Sendaka, who wrote the original version, went out on tour with them, and they fired him for stealing the show. There are a lot of cool stories on this one. Find out how it all plays out… NEXT on the Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we’re talking lost songs, underrated classics, and B-sides that should have been A-sides… all coming from the rock’s mightiest band Led Zeppelin… It’s a mystery how some of these tracks weren’t bigger than they were. In the mix, we’re uncovering one of rock’s holy grail songs. An epic song that could have rivaled Zeppelin's most iconic tracks… But it didn’t made the cut for its album. So it was broken up and scattered across at least four other songs… so you can hear parts of it, but what does the actual song sound like and why wasn’t it released? Especially since it had the potential to be Led Zeppelin's biggest anthem… It’s an episode packed with some of the best odds and ends and hidden gems from classic rock’s most legendary band… NEXT on the Professor of Rock.See 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 counting down the Top 10 songs from one of the greatest years in music history… including the story of David Bowie and Sweet who released singles at the exact same time with identical riffs… they both swear it was pure coincidence, but next we’ll find out the real story. Then there's the tale of a young Sammy Hagar who was so blown away by a guitarist's performance that he broke up his current band on the spot. He tracked down the axeman's address, showed up at his door dressed like David Bowie with a Les Paul and a notebook. They shook hands, and a legendary partnership was born. Plus, the haunting ballad written Elton John as a tribute to a Hollywood LEGEND that was never released as a single, but then years later new lyrics were written to the original music and it became the fastest-selling song ever. Then there’s the classic Zeppelin song that was written after a Beatle made an offhand remark that a famous hard rock band couldn’t write a good ballad, and finally the no-hit wonder who never had a hit in America but sold 145 million records and had 1 that was in the charts for 18 years. Next on Professor of Rock.See 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 a band that you’ve probably forgotten or don’t remember, but I guarantee that you know the opening line of their most famous song. It's the Five Man Electrical Band and their classic song Signs that came to its creator when he was racing down Route 66 and saw billboards advertising products in the middle of beautiful scenery. Ads right smack dab in the middle of Mother Nature. It was covering up true beauty, so he wrote a protest song, he threw it onto the B side of a song that the band thought would be a hit, but instead, DJs turned the record over and played the lesser-known song, and it became a 70s classic. Up next, the surviving member of the band gives us the story on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up… We have a spectacular show for you. It’s become a lost art. But for those who grew up and came of age in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the album cover was paramount, and today we count down the greatest album covers of the 80s with some stories that are almost too good to be true, including the colorful album cover every 80s kid knows by heart. It may be the most famous album cover of the decade, and everyone thought it was just a random drawing, but over 40 years after it hit #1, a real person was shocked to find out the image was actually a drawing of her! Find out how the mystery was solved next. Plus, the controversial album cover that came from bribing a kid with candy cigarettes, when his mother saw the album in stores she freaked out. Plus a striking image captured on a train track in Thailand—and the famous rock band in the pic were, allegedly, almost killed by a train. And finally, the album cover came from a total screw up we’ve all dealt with in our lives… a printer paper jam that turned into one of the coolest album covers ever! It's all coming up next on POR.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next, we have one of the most prolific rock writers, Desmond Child, to tell the story of the biggest songs by one of rock’s most legendary bands, I Was Made for Loving You by Kiss. First of all, he wrote it with Kiss's lead singer, Paul Stanley, who claims he wrote his part of the song as an answer to a challenge from the song’s producer. The Paul singer got into a discussion with this disco producer about whether it was easier to write a disco song than it was to write a rock song. So it became a bet. He was out to prove he could write the song quickly, and lo and behold, the song became a monster hit. But then one of the principal members of the band publicly said he HATED it, and Desmond got pissed, especially since he’d given the band a smash hit that made them millions, so he told Paul to go blank himself. And then this hardcore icon gave the only apology he’s ever given. The drama is intense next on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Where do I even start with this POR classic? Over 50 musicians came in and out of this one-hit wonder band in its time... Dexys Midnight Runners. And its principal, the singer Kevin Rowland absolutely detested his #1 hit Come On Eileen. He hated it because he didn’t think it was mixed right… He was so angry about it, he didn’t listen to the song for 40 years, which is hard to believe because we all LOVED IT. Come On Eileen was such a big song it bested the biggest-selling artist on the planet during its unprecedented peak. This was the song that stopped him. It was a dirty song in more ways than one and it still moves the needle. A bottle-lightning classic and besides its controversy a former band member would come out of the woodwork and claim the singer stole it from him. The story of an 80s classic next on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sadly, it’s now a lost art, but we've all been there. That moment when your favorite band announced their new album and you could practically feel the electricity in the air. Remember when that anticipation built for months, sometimes even years. You're counting down the days… then finally the album drops, and… you hate it. You can’t believe what you’re listening to. And you can’t even force yourself to finish the record. Well, today we're diving into some of rock's most crushing letdowns – those highly anticipated albums and songs that fell flat, and made you want to get your money back. You’ll hear the story of Heart's #2 hit All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You that a top producer wrote for one of rock’s best vocalists, but it made her want to gag. She reluctantly recorded it, but later refused to sing it again. Also, there’s Guns N Roses' Chinese Democracy that was hyped up for the better part of two decades and cost $13 million to make, and it turned out to be one of the biggest flops of all time. That went through 10 different guitarists in the process, including 2 of the best ever. Plus, Metallica the band that sued their fans and made a list of 335 K fans they wanted to punish for downloading their new song without permission. And then the Red Hot Chili Peppers album One Hot Minute, which was actually a pretty big hit, but the band hated it so much that they’ve essentially erased it from their history. Get ready for some good stories from some bad albums, NEXT on the Professor of Rock. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up, it’s the remarkable story of a #1 rock song from 1984 that was written on the porcelain throne. ya the Yes #1 classic rock standard, Owner of a Lonely Heart was written by Trevor Rabin while sitting on the pot In fact, Trevor said he wasn’t ashamed to sing in the loo. well, it’s hard to argue with the results. But even more importantly, this song was instrumental in bringing one of the greatest prog-rock bands of the 70s back from the dead and into the 80s. After years of being broken up, the founding members including Chris Squire and singer Jon Anderson, plus some new faces including producer Trevor Horn all converged around this song… giving them a new lease on life and a new musical direction. And to help us tell the story, we’ve got exclusive interviews with the iconic frontman Jon Anderson who co-wrote and sang this song… as well as some behind the scenes insight from the legendary record man Phil Carson who helped reunite this band. You’re not going to want to say “no” to this one. The story is… NEXT on Professor of Rock. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we're going “Casey Kasem style,” counting down ten stone-cold classics from 1983. It’s our weekly Saturday Morning countdown where we feature songs from a throwback year that left a lasting mark on rock history… and shockingly never made the top 40, even though many of these are some of the biggest songs of the time. It's a musical mystery — how did these rock standards get passed over? As usual, we’ve got some great stories and guests, including how Billy Idol stole the master tapes for his new record and held them hostage to get the label to change the cover art on the album. He was about to bootleg them to the public if they didn’t cave. Or how about the song Blue Monday that New Order wrote because they were sick of coming back out on stage for encores. Their plan was to just have sequencers play it and have a robot sing it while they walked off. But it became their most famous song. And then there was the band that made up a word in their song as a joke, and it became a classic. And then there was the Journey classic Ask the Lonely that got pulled from an album at the last second and was banished to a crappy movie. Stick around for the latest episode of Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up next the story of one of the greatest, most epic rock songs in history: Layla. It has so many subplots, it’s a shock that it hasn’t been made into a biopic because you could never make this up. The song came from the writings of a 12th-century poet, and then hundreds of years later, that ancient story fell into the lap of legendary singer-guitarist Eric Clapton, who happened to be in the same situation as the man in the tragic story. Clapton was in love with his best friend’s wife, but that’s nothing. The song became shrouded in a cocktail of vices, from killing, adultery, drugs, and stealing… When I say stealing, the song was stolen from an iconic singer Rita Coolidge, who I have on the show to explain her side. The angled web of the greatest rock songs ever is finally revealed in all of its truth and drama next on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Next we’re sharing the greatest underdog stories in music history. In our countdown of the strangest feats in music. including athen the incredible the incredible artist who sold almost 90 million records without ever playing a live concert. As well as an instrumental song that had over 2000 overdubs that became the soundtrack for one of the scariest movies ever, the Exorcist & went on to sell 18 million copies. A s well as a group of monks that came out of nowhere and leapfrogged over Soundgarden, Mariah Carey, Pink Floyd, and Pearl Jam to sell 4 million copies in the middle of grunge. Find out what happened in these stories and more, as we count down the Top 10 Most Unconventional Musical Feats ever. NEXT on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up next, the iconic singer of the #1 rock band in the world tapped his buddy Sebastian Bach and Skid Row to open for him on their world tour in 1989. Skid Row was a bunch of rookies whose debut album hadn’t even come out yet, but they had a secret weapon, Sebastian Bach, a young kid with a five octave range, and these rookies blew the #1 band in rock off the stage… They were the talk of the industry, and once they put out their album, they would scale the top of the charts with several massive hits, including the power ballad I Remember You that most of the band thought was too cheesy for the record… Until Sebastian unleashed an otherworldly note. He said he wanted to hit a note that no one would ever be able to top, and he more than delivered… It took I Remember You to the top of the charts, and I have Sebastian with me today to give the first-hand account next on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers broke through with their massive album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and it made them one of the biggest rock bands of the time… but then their next album, One Hot Minute, flopped massively with a different guitarist. And they were in a tailspin.. So they fired their new guitarist and convinced their former guitar hero to come back to the band. They needed a comeback and felt they had a great song in the hopper... Californication. The only problem was the lyrics were incredible, but the music wouldn’t gel…In fact, this singer tried 10 different arrangements, but it got progressively worse. He got so frustrated that he threw the song away. But their guitarist saved them from the trash can and just when the record was about to be turned in he came to the rescue with the exact music the lyrics needed. He had actually just relearned to play the guitar after kicking drugs for good. But then the band handed in the record to the label, and their 3 best songs were shredded by the label. They called them second-rate, but they had the last laugh when all 3 songs hit #1, including the one that got saved from the trash bin.. Coming up next an amazing story of perseverance on POR.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.