Professor of Rock

They were likely Rock’s first supergroup and it all started when these virtuosos who went by the name of CREAM starring Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker all took in a Jimi Hendrix concert, and the bassist Jack Bruce was so juiced with inspiration by what he saw, he went home and created one of rock music’s most familiar and magical riffs. Sunshine of Your Love One that gets stuck in your...

Coming up we’re counting down the Top 10 songs from an unbelievable year. Some of the biggest rock songs ever, but they were never actually hits, and truly, most of these are even better than the hit singles of the day. We’ve got some wild backstories on this one, including how Queen's album Jazz was shredded in a nasty hit piece that called the band sexist. Then their big single Don't Stop Me Now...

The Foo Fighters spent over a million dollars on their hyped new album, but they had to throw it away to write their opus: Times Like These. Coming up, they wrestled, creating an album that should have been the biggest of its time. But after a year of work, they trashed it because the band hated it. The songs were infamously called the Million Dollars Demo, but to make matters even worse, the band...

Coming up, we’re going to have fun with the stories of songs that were denied the coveted position of reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, settling for #2. I always call them the bridesmaids. Well, today they really are the bridesmaid to the bride, as in the greatest female #2 hits of the 70s, with some of your favorite singers ever. Including the legendary Linda Ronstadt, who had 21 Big hits in...

It began with a simple remark during a lover’s quarrel—and became one of the most iconic anthems in rock history. Ronnie Van Zant didn’t think much of it at first, until one night he laid on his back in the studio and wrote the lyrics in minutes. The song eventually stretched to 17 minutes and was nearly cut from the album after the label pushed back. But “Free Bird” went on to become a symbol of...

Coming up an interview with a legend about a song that came into his head from the sound of his tires rolling over a bridge. He was on his way to record with his famous band, they were expecting him to bring them a song for their new album but he didn’t have one well as soon as the he heard it in his head he kept humming it over and over until he ran into the studio and yelled at the band to grab...

Today, we are going back to the 80s for a countdown you are gonna love. See if you can guess the year. Raiders of the Lost Ark ruled the box office, and Donkey Kong dominated the arcades. And the best songs missed the charts. We’ve got some crazy stories behind these classics. Like the guitar genius Eddie Van Halen who was so fed up with frontman David Lee Roth, he started sneaking into the studio...

FROM THE VAULT: Metallica’s 1986 masterpiece  “Master of Puppets”  wasn’t a chart-topper when it was first released, but it became the band’s defining anthem—a dark parable about control, addiction, and power set to one of the heaviest riffs of the ‘80s. Decades later, the song exploded back into pop culture thanks to its unforgettable placement in  Stranger Things  Season 4, w...

Today, it’s the best of the rest. Not too long ago, we began counting down the top television theme songs from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. And you guys loved it. However, I was lambasted for a few oversights. I mean, really lambasted! So for this episode, we’re going to right the wrongs. That’s right, I’ve got 8 more iconic television themes that deserve some serious love. Including the Laverne &a...

Coming up, Queen's classic rock standard Killer Queen, a song that will certainly rearrange your mind, or most likely it already has. But here’s the thing, it’s a song story that got taken down by the powers that be. In fact, I tried to do this video a few times, and because I use a word that... isn’t really a bad word per se… but because I used that word from a story told by Freddie Mercury, I go...

Coming up… We’ve covered the Greatest IMPROV songs that became Magic. Well, today we're doing a sister series… We're counting down the Top 7 Mistakes That Turned into Gold. Screw ups that actually resulted in TRUE GREATNESS. We’re exposing songs that didn’t fail—they exploded after a stumble, a split-second miscue that stuck and became iconic. You’ll hear about a Kinks guitarist, Dave Davies, who...

We lost legendary singer-songwriter JD Souther a while back, and it didn’t make the news. It was extremely frustrating because he wrote some of the biggest hits of the 70s and 80s, even into the 90s. He truly deserved better. I was so grateful I got to interview him. In fact, it was the last in-depth interview he ever did. It was an honor. Well, next we have that interview, and he tells us the sto...

Today, we have a special episode about Pat Benatar's We Belong that has always been a favorite. One of the catchiest songs of the 80s. If you don’t feel great after listening to it, you may need to seek serious therapy. Just kidding. But seriously, it’s quintessential 80s with one of the best female rock voices shepherding it. Today, we have Neil Giraldo, the man who made it so catchy and undeniab...

Coming up, we’re cracking open a special edition of Bottled Lightning — and we’ve never done anything quite like this before. We’re counting down the Top 10 one-hit Wonders who left powerhouse bands to go it alone. These were musicians who already had it made in the shade, already had a ton of hits with their band, but when they went solo… it turns out lightning only struck once. And the stories a...

Coming up, we’re diving into ten unforgettable rock classics from 1976 that never cracked the Hot 100’s Top 40 — songs you know by heart, but were never “hit singles.” And most of these are better than some of the biggest smash hits of their day. You’ll hear the story of a Robert Plant who was confined to a wheelchair after a serious car crash. And his band named the title Achilles Last Stand afte...

Coming up next today's Chrissie Hynde went through the most trying time of her life. One day, she had to fire bassist Pete Farndon, one of the co-founders of her band, and then 2 days later, she faced the death of her right-hand man, James Honeyman-Scott, one of the greatest guitarists of his time. To top it all off, Chrissie was pregnant and going through a breakup with her iconic husband Ra...

Coming up, we tell the incredible, outrageous stories of 5 acts that were LEGENDARY for being downright awful, and yet they managed to become cult heroes. Some people actually worshipped them, including some true legends of music. There’s the story of The Shaggs, 3 sisters who were forced to be a trio by their domineering father... because his mother had a dream that his daughters were going...

Coming up… Bad to the Bone, it may be the most recognizable guitar riff ever. George Thorogood, the famous guitarist who wrote it, is with us today. He actually wrote it for his hero, but it was rejected. So he did it himself. And he added a snarling stutter to its chorus that made it a classic. But it wasn’t a hit when it was released in 1982; instead, it ramped up every year after that, becoming...

Coming up next, the story of a perfect pop song, Chicago's Hard Habit to Break... In fact, it may be the 80s' greatest pocket symphony that hearkens back to heavenly vocal harmonies of the Beach Boys and the Beatles at their peak. Hard Habit has one of the most powerful and enduring vocal duets of all time, with Peter Cetera and Bill Champlin, who somehow blended perfectly even though they were so...

Coming up next, the story of one of the three most played rock songs in history: Bon Jovi's Livin' On A Prayer. It was a #1 smash in the 80s, and Jon Bon Jovi wanted to give the song away. He didn’t think it was strong enough for the album until he was convinced it was Great. I have the song's co-writer, Desmond Child, with me today, who happens to be one of the most successful writers ever. Today...

Coming up… we’re taking a trip back to the year rock hit overdrive, and counting down 10 albums that made it a gold standard year in music history. Man, there were so many CLASSICS to choose from, I gotta warn you now — a few fan favorite albums are gonna be left on the cutting room floor. Will your favorites make it? There are some incredible stories here. On one album, iconic singer-songwriter J...

Sibling rivalry, band-member infighting, and an ongoing wrestle for creative control all led to the break up of today’s featured band. Creedence Clearwater Revival... Theirs was a bottled lightning career, but they were no one hit-wonder. In fact, they kicked out 9 Top 10 hits in the space of two years… John Fogerty and his band never landed a #1, but they did have a record 5 #2 hits. Today’s song...

Coming up…Some massive hits with unbelievable stories, including the story of Elvis, who had to record a cheesy middle section in “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” that was so bad he had to do two dozen takes because he would burst out in laughter. The song went on to become a #1 smash. As well as the song I'm Sorry that was delivered by Brenda Lee, a remarkably mature 15-year-old who many scorned...

The Thompson Twins, an up-and-coming band, were trying to finish their second album and needed one more song to fill it out. They had a tight deadline and were running out of time. So that night, frontman Tom Bailey wrote one in a jiffy called Hold Me Now. He knew it was filler, but he could tack it on the end of the album and their record would finally be finished. Hold Me Now ended up being a #1...

Get ready for a good one. Today, we’re telling the wildest stories behind the television tunes that ruled the 80s. The ones that played in between your favorite shows. They’re those quick bite-sized hits that were permanently burned into your brain, and you’ll know them when you hear them. It’s nostalgia overload. You may know them even more than the biggest hit songs of the time. So one was a thr...