Professor of Rock

Coming up... Pearl Jam came out of nowhere to sell almost 16 million albums in 1992, of their classic TEN but at the peak of their fame, they completely sabotaged their greatest song: Black. After their album Ten blew up, they hadn’t even released the best song from the record… With most everyone agrees is Black, Because of this the label was psyched knowing Black would push Eddie Vedder and Pearl...

Coming up legendary singer Martha Reeves of Martha and the Vandellas tells us the definitive story of one of the most famous and beloved songs of all time: Dancing in the Street. First of all, Martha worked as a secretary for the label and one of her duties was singing the words to new songs on tapes that would be dispersed to recording artists so they could learn the words… This led to her gettin...

Coming up… it’s the Crash Test Dummies hit song Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm. It’s a #1 song that was written about three different kids intertwined by an unfortunate common thread of isolation and suffering. “Mmmm” for short, was inspired by true life events, which made the song more personal and intriguing. The lead vocals were also weirdly authentic- delivered in an unconventional style by Baritone extraord...

COMING up the story of the #1 1985 smash Sussudio by Phil Collins. Based on a made-up word…. One that just fell out of Phil’s mouth while he was singing. Even Phil had no idea what it meant. Unable to think of anything better, Collins decided to just make up a meaning. But as weird as it is, this song completely captivated listeners. However, as Sussudio started gaining traction as part of Phil Co...

Coming up... the story of AC/DC’s TNT, the track that established the identity of one of the GREATEST BANDS EVER. THIS SONG WAS DESIGNED TO KICK YOUR BUTT… It took AC/DC to the stadiums and made ‘em the kings of hard rock. But not before lead singer Bon Scott had to change some of the risqué lyrics to get it played… but at the time it didn’t matter TNT didn’t chart then.. but decades later it has...

Coming up….The saga of 4 guys from the heartland of America…Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen, Bun. E. Carlos and Rick Peterson who slugged it out on the road together, playing gigs all over the country. Cheap Trick was one of the hardest-working bands in the music industry, but after years of touring, they had hardly anything to show for it. They were hitless, a million dollars in debt, and on the verge...

Coming up… the story of ZZ Top’s 1973 classic La Grange from their third studio Tres Hombres. This song is about a legendary shack that operated illegally for over 60 years. It was a rite of passage for many in the town and frequented by famous dignitaries, who had a secret pact with the law to live and let live. Everything was rolling along smoothly, until ZZ Top wrote La Grange as a tribute to t...

Coming up the story of one of the greatest #1 hit singalongs of the late 80s, Every Rose Has It’s Thorn… From Poison’s hard rock frontman Bret Michaels who was absolutely devastated.… It wasn’t the Greek tragedy that the singer made it out to be, but the revelation of a cheating girlfriend left this struggling rock icon reeling with hurt & betrayal. Michaels drowned his sorrow at the laundroma...

Here’s a question. If you found out one of your favorite bands intentionally tried to sell out, would you like them less? Or would it even matter? Well, today’s band Journey was accused of selling out by an ex-band member, who said they cared more about the money than the music. After just one commercial album he quit. And I’m sure he’d have hated the next album Evolution even more since it featur...

So all I have to say is FINALLY. Today we hear from Foreigner’s legendary vocal and guitar tandem of Lou Gramm and Mick Jones that set the 70s and 80s ablaze with over a dozen rock standards and some of the biggest albums of their time. And they’ve finally been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. One of the biggest snubs ever. Today they tell us the story of one of their greatest rock so...

What a story. Coming up next we have principles John Hall and Lance Hoppen from the 70s band Orleans. These guys lit up radio for a couple of years with 3 big hits including 2 that are still played all the time. But then the group up and vanished… John Hall retired from being a rockstar and went into politics. Today’s classic 70s hit “Still the One” was actually written by a band member’s wife whi...

It’s a B-side track turned Top 10 hit, Walk of Life by Dire Straits. And it ended the run of the world’s biggest band in 1985 and 1986. But don’t blame the song. It’s a truly infectious piece of ear candy that deserves all the success it got. No, as it turns out, Dire Straits' frontman, Mark Knopfler, was just a reluctant hit-making machine. He loved the music, but not the fame. And after creating...

It’s the tremendous story of the 1979 song London Calling by the Clash. In the late 70s, the world’s most influential punk band was convinced the world was falling apart, and they needed to do something about it. Fueled by concerns over widespread famine, the environment, drug addiction, police brutality, tidal waves, and nuclear war, the band’s charismatic leader composed the prophetic manifesto...

Coming up, it's one of the most important interviews I’ve ever done. Right Here Right Now by Jesus Jones has the distinction of conveying a revolutionary message in mere minutes. It says the most in the least amount of words! Frontman and writer Mike Edwards takes us through the inspiration of this all-time 90s classic… a song that has become a hallmark of the ages since it went to the top of the...

Coming up… Get ready for a tale of resilience and redemption as we delve into the story of Jet Airliner… a song that was trapped on an unreleased album by Paul Pena, who was thwarted by legal battles and a ruthless manager, who was hell-bent on destroying his career. But hope emerged from an unexpected source when legendary rock star, and "gangster of love" Steve Miller stepped in to breathe new l...

Coming up, we’re going back to one of our newest shows on Professor of Rock. One that has us digging deep into the catalog of the world’s greatest party band, Kiss! For this episode we’re featuring 5 essential Kiss tracks that together tell their story… including songs about concert car crashes and ROCK VERSUS DISCO. But I’m not telling these stories alone. Today, I’m turning center stage over to...

Coming up… the story behind one of the most amazing, impromptu vocal performances of the Rock Era. Guest vocalist Merry Clayton on the Rolling Stones's Gimme Shelter was so spellbinding it stunned normally nonplussed singer Mick Jagger. Some sources claim that the performance was exerted with so much conviction and power, it actually caused the singer serious harm. It’s an emotional and inspiring...

RIP Eric Carmen… the iconic artist who sang the lead vocal on several, iconic classics, but he never liked his voice. His dream wasn’t to be a singer… In fact, he was a child prodigy who began his classic training as a violinist and pianist, but that all changed when he saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Eric Carmen became the frontman for a short-lived, yet highly influential band named Raspberries,...

Coming up, how a guitar-playing welder & his fishing buddy, gave a lyrical makeover to a cheesy instrumental and transformed it into one of the coolest songs of the '60s - then in a totally different band with the same members ... the singer gave it a rock renovation turning the saxophone solo into guitar classic that lit up classic rock radio with a southern fried twist. I’m talking about Spo...

Coming up an interview with a hilarious singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop who is revered for his lyricism and style… on a song that became his biggest solo hit: “It Might Be You.” But he didn’t write it, even though he was one of the most prolific writers of his time. But the blockbuster movie Tootsie that made the song its theme wanted Stephen for his amazing voice… He actually got a mention in th...

Coming up… It’s one of the most instantly recognizable songs and iconic music videos of the rock era: No Rain by Blind Melon. It instantly blew up radio and MTV. And though this bright and quirky tune will have you singing along from the start... it was hiding a secret sadness. No Rain is much more bitter than sweet. In its time it became so over-hyped that lead singer Shannon Hoon hated singing i...

Coming up, the story of Chicago’s 70s classic “25 or 6 to 4” a song with a killer guitar riff by Terry Kath, a high-octane vocal by Peter Cetera, and a meaning from the songwriter Robert Lamm that was so rife with controversy it was banned in one of the world’s biggest cities, Singapore. But what is “25 or 6 to 4” really about? There are many theories. But one thing is for sure, it’s a song that c...

So today we’re at it again. You asked for it and now we’re delivering the goods. We’re telling the stories of even more artists who rejected Weird Al Yankovic…the king of musical comedy’s parody requests. Including one musician who was a fan but just couldn’t say yes. Another who decades later still regrets saying “no.” And the story of how one artist single-handedly sabotaged the sales of one of...

Coming up…. the story of the breakout smash The Sound of Silence by one of the most prolific duos of the Rock Era, Simon and Garfunkel. When The Sound of Silence was first made, it was placed on an album that was floundering. The duo was so distraught by the poor sales of their debut record, that they split up, and resigned to go down a completely new career path. The historic greatness of Paul Si...

Coming up…..The legendary Bob Seger and his Silver Bullet Band would play a brutal run of 265 live shows in a horrendous year on the road. And it would all blow up in a would-be brawl between rednecks and hippies at a truck stop spawned by an act of bigotry… Bob Seger was smack dab in the middle of it but turned the experience into one of the most distinctive and heart-stopping vocals in history i...