Professor of Rock

Coming up on today’s episode, we're back at it again. We’re counting down the most dangerously alluring song about females in rock history … These songs were written about real women who did a real number on some of the most famous rockstars ever. We’re gonna tell the story about a notorious woman known only as “Wildcat” who made a surprise late-night call to Chris Isaak. He knew she was trouble b...

What is it about Mondays that gets us all down? It’s as if that day casts a shadow over us all, shifting the mood of the universe for a full 24 hours. With that in mind, one of the most talented yet volatile bands of the Rock Era, the Mamas and the Papas, created Monday Monday, a song that unintentionally summed up their brief but brilliant run and gifted us with a breathtaking classic. Monday Mon...

In the music business, there’s a thin line between iconic and ironic. Some artists spend decades building a legacy, only to watch the internet reduce it to a dumpster fire. While others were the first to strike the match. Coming up, we're counting down the musicians and their songs who became everybody's favorite joke — whether they meant to or not. It’s our latest edition of Punchlines, and this...

All eyes were on this legendary band after they released their megalithic fourth album Led Zeppelin IV. Championed by many as the greatest rock record ever written… Everyone was clamoring for a sequel. But they wouldn’t get it. Instead, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham took a sharp left turn into unexplored territory… kicking out a bold collection of songs that tapped int...

Coming up… It’s nostalgia overload in a trip back to a perfect year in music. Including the provocative hit Whip It by Devo that sparked controversy so intense, actress Lily Tomlin refused to host a major late-night show unless the band was CUT. Plus, legendary guitarist Neal Schon was told his guitar solo for Who's Cryin' Now was too complex… he was told to simplify it. So he played the dumbest l...

Today we’ve got 10 tracks that were going for the gold but came up just short… bringing home the bronze instead. That’s right, it’s another edition of our #3 Hits Countdown, but this time we are counting down the greatest #3s of the 1970s songs that peaked at just two spots from the top on the Hot 100. On this episode you’ll hear the story of Navy veteran Bill Withers, who spent years installing t...

Coming up next… a song that was so offensive, the Doors were fired on the spot for performing it. Here’s what happened: Jim Morrison, was playing one of The Doors's new songs "The End" as the house band for one of California’s most happening clubs... when Jim suddenly went off on a creative tangent that hearkened back to a story from Greek mythology. But the audience had no idea what was going on…...

The 80s gave us some of the most irresistible, inescapable songs ever put to tape. And today we're going all in on the neon decade, counting down my picks for the Top 8 catchiest 80s songs. These are the songs that you’re grateful when they get stuck in your head. On this episode, we have the story of Jonathan Cain, the broke and broken musician who lost his record deal, his girlfriend, and nearly...

Let's run it back! Coming up, an interview with one of the 80s great hitmakers. The most successful duo of the rock era, Daryl Hall and John Oates Everything they touched turned to Gold and Platinum. Here, John Oates tells the story of a number-one hit from the mid-80s that came at the crossroads of Analog and digital… Out of Touch, it was their final #1 hit after ruling the neon decade with 11 hi...

Coming up… We took a little break from this show but due to popular demand, we’re back. We take the time machine back to the 70s in a year full of classics, where Neil Young, one of rock's most cantankerous icons, had serious back issues but altered his style to create his lone #1 single, Heart of Gold. Instead of celebrating the song’s success, Neil decided to defy commercialism and purposefully...

To me the definition of great hit song is one that is so catchy and undeniable that whenever it comes on you feel like your 20 feet tall and invincible. It’s a song that you are grateful when it get stuck in your head because it never gets old. Today we’re gonna celebrate the 7 catchiest songs of the 70s that are sonic masterworks… including the tale of a struggling songwriter who was surviving on...

The music industry has never had a shortage of shady handshake deals. What many have learned is to have a lawyer look over it and get it in writing. So many musicians were pushed out, had their royalties stolen, & screwed over every which way but loose... Today we have some of the biggest backstabbing stories in rock history. Including Supertramp co-founder Roger Hodgson, who walked away from...

How Led Zeppelin threw this song away is beyond me. Next we break down a classic rock hidden gem Hey Hey What Can I Do which was the B side to the 45 of Immigrant song Written by the world’s biggest rock band Sadly, it never made it onto its intended album, Led Zeppelin 3 or any of the six that followed. And yet it has been hailed as a top-notch tune, living for decades as a holy grail rarity. A s...

I am heartbroken to hear the news about Bonnie Tyler’s passing. Bonnie died in a hospital in Portugal, where she was being treated for an illness, according to a statement, which was posted on her official social media channel. Bonnie was a force to be reckoned with, one of the distinct and emotional voices of the last 50 years. She will continue to blow the minds of listeners for the next 500 yea...

I was thinking the other day, it’s hard to believe that the year 1986 was 40 Years ago. Talk about a Phenomenal year for music. There were so many classic Hits that a lot of them missed out on hitting #1, but they deserved to be. Today we are going to fix that, as we take the time machine back and put it right, with 10 songs that are #1 in our hearts. Including the making of the Dream Academy clas...

Today we cover a decade that produced some of the catchiest, most enduring songs ever recorded — tracks so deeply embedded in our psyches that you can hum them just by hearing their song titles… without even trying. We have a brand new show today about the most addictive songs ever. But these are the Songs we love having stuck in our head… and they have some incredible stories, including one legen...

Coming up, the story of the epic 70s rock track with so many dramatic subplots, it should’ve been made into a full feature bio-pic- like Bohemian Rhapsody or Walk the Line. Derek and the Dominos classic Layla The roots of Layla go back to the the writings of a romantic tragedy by a 12th century poet that was a foreshadowing to Romeo & Juliet. Hundreds of years later, an adaptation of his work...

Today, we’re going back to the 70s for another helping of great TV theme songs. This time we’ve got some perfect themes that will take you back, including a gritty, action-packed cop show Starsky & Hutch, that was named as an “accessory to the crime” in a highly publicized court case… And because of public outcry, the show had to completely rework its theme song. In fact, the hit show changed...

Everyone talks about the Runner ups… The #2 hits the one that almost got to #1, but what about the #3s? Today we are doing something nobody does… Counting down the greatest #3 Hits in history. Including the legend of a cabin that sparked the iconic smash Love Shack, but was left in ashes by an arsonist. Then there's the haunting song Luka that many believed was about a made-up little boy, but deca...

We All Love This Legend But He Wrote THE MOST IRRITATING Song of the 70s & Even He Admits It! For many artists and bands the song that makes you famous is the one that you wish you had never written. Some artists spend decades dodging their biggest hits, cringing every time they hear them on the radio and refusing to play them in concert. Today, I’ve got another Fiver for you. For this episode...

I’ve got a special treat for you today. It’s an interview I released years ago but got taken down within a few hours over copyright claims… Well I worked it out and Now I can put it back up. Clive Davis helped bring it to life. It’s a happy singalong classic that everyone adores. Brandy (you're a Fine Girl) by Looking Glass from a singer songwriter who look and sounds like Dustin Hoffman. the song...

Alright, it’s been a long while since we covered one of these. Today, we’re coming back to a channel favorite: Female Hidden Gems! For this countdown, we’re highlighting some incredible songs sung by amazing female artists that have just gotten lost in the shuffle, and it’s time to dig ‘em up and add them to our playlists. Coming up, we’ve got the story of the Cowboy Junkies, a band so desperate t...

Coming up… It’s our final TIME IN BOTTLE COUNTDOWN for now. I’ve really enjoyed doing this series of songs that take us right back to the moment these song were on radio Today we are traveling back to a big year in the 70s with so many classic songs that will take you back including a song that was written after a member of a legendary band lost his beloved dog it was a sad song but it would end u...

Let's run it back! The 80s classic hit In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins has arguably the most famous urban legend behind it in rock history. Told and retold thousands of times. Did Phil Collins of Genesis really witness a potential murder and then write about it to haunt the killer? Or is it a total farce? The story of a song that has become one of the biggest of its time only to stall outside o...

I love the Mamas and the Papas. They had such a unique style with hits like California Dreamin' and Monday Monday, but today I have a really strange tale. It’s one that most people haven’t heard. How a lead pipe falling at a construction site allegedly gave Cass Elliot of the Mamas and the Papas one of the most iconic voices of the '60s, the ability to sing three octaves higher. As the story goes,...