Professor of Rock

Coming up… an interview with an icon of early rock and roll, Peter Noone. Peter was only 15 years old when he became the singer behind Herman’s Hermits who would go on to garner 18 hits, including 11 that hit the top 10 and several that went to #1. In fact, before Peter had his 18th birthday he and Herman’s Hermits finished ahead of the Beatles on the Billboard year-end survey of top groups. It wa...

Coming up. Rockstar couple Debbie Harry and Chris Stein from Blondie were sitting on the couch watching Pro Wrestling and in the midst of the action they wrote today’s featured song Rapture in about 10 minutes… It was a silly song about a man from Mars eating cars and people. It actually had very rapid-fire lyrics... even so, Debbie recorded it in just one take. They planned to call the song Coca-...

It started with an audition… a strange girl named Dolores O’Riordan in a pink tracksuit walked in to try out to be a singer for an indie band that was going nowhere… The Cranberries. She was surrounded by a bunch of guys who laughed at her mockingly. However, this Dolores had a secret weapon… one of the most powerful and recognizable voices of a generation A few minutes later these jokers were pic...

Coming up, it’s the story of fallen frontman Ian Curtis and Joy Division, a band widely considered one of the most important of their era. Ian was tortured soul, but also a musical mastermind who knew his way around dark and poignant lyricism. And his manic stage presence was no less intriguing… as it featured a berserk dance style that left audiences wondering if he was possessed. Ian Curtis’s st...

The wondrous story of an all-time classic song from the 70s that everyone knows by heart. But the crazy thing is…it was never actually a hit… It’s Heroes by David Bowie. Our story starts in West Berlin in 1977. Two anonymous lovers met in secrecy in front of the Berlin Wall. Above them, armed soldiers in a guard tower scour the scene. What was their secret? Well, legendary artist David Bowie witne...

Here’s one for ya… Today’s song Venus by Shocking Blue was written in a different language… When it was translated to English, guitarist Robbie van Leeuwen wrote down the opening line incorrectly… However, the singer who recorded it, Mariska Veres spoke only Dutch so she sang the lyric wrong. The typo changed how the word was sung… which became very confusing since the word that was sung hadn’t be...

It was only a matter of time, but today’s featured band was going down in flames. One of their album covers even predicted it. And so did one of their songs… Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote That Smell in 1977… It was an eerily prophetic rocker that warned them there would be hell to pay. They posed on their album cover with flames around them! Honestly, no one worked harder than Ronnie Van Zant and the boys...

It’s a blast from the past from the golden age of rock. Today, we’re going behind the Top 10 songs from this very same week in the year 1979 to find out which one is the biggest Hit all these years later. And as we count them down, we’re bringing you some crazy stories you won’t want to miss… Stories of stalkers, ill-advised f-bombs, ladies of the night, and yes, even spandex… But the question is,...

Coming up, the story of a song that writers Gary Brooker and Keith Reid said was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum the song that would sell 10 million copies and the band name most people had no idea how to say! A Whiter Shade of Pale was Very complex and in the end, the song was over 10 minutes long…it had so many layers and lyrical twists and turns it...

Coming up the story behind a song about the trauma the artist endured during his childhood. Mad World by Tears for Fears came from a very dark place. Singer Roland Orzabal felt alienated by the world around him but found no shelter at home because of his abusive parents. Every ounce of emotion he felt went into this 80s classic, but the problem is when he went to record it, he discovered his voice...

Coming up next, an interview with both members of one of the greatest groups or duos of the 70s… Loggins and Messina on a song that was charmed from the get-go…. Jim Messina’s dad HATED rock and Roll. He used to yell at his song for playing the loud music. So Messina wrote a song about it. He called it Your Mama Don’t Dance and then put the lyrics: your Daddy Don’t Don’t Rock and Roll. After he Sh...

Coming up an interview with one of the biggest-selling bands of the 70s, America led by Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley and Dan Peek. Here the 2 principals Dewey and Gerry give us the story of a song that became their third consecutive top 10 hit and a radio staple of the early decade, Ventura Highway. The song conjured up imagery of a wondrous and mystical destination, although the group has taken f...

Up next a story that will shock you. One of rock’s most legendary bands ever... the Doors had a helluva time before they broke out. First of all they almost didn’t get signed. They were highly touted to a label exec who went to see them live and he didn’t get them at all. He didn’t want to sign them. He thought Jim Morrison was just OK. Then they got fired from a standing gig at a prestigious venu...

Coming up… A song that has been hailed as one of the sexiest ever recorded, yet it's also landed on lists for being one of the worst songs of all time. Afternoon Delight by Starland Vocal Band… Love it or hate it, its impact on pop culture is undeniable. Created by a classmate of a former President, Bill Danoff and his future wife Taffy Nivert... it was inspired by the lunch menu at a diner in Was...

Coming up, we’re putting some of the most iconic musicians on trial. and giving you some of the craziest lawsuits in history along with their verdicts… From stolen songs like John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival being sued for sounding too much like himself. …to a tragedy where Ozzie Osbourne was sued due to his song allegedly killing someone. Then Beatle George Harrison was sued for rippi...

Even though they were branded as the 2nd coming of the Beatles…today’s band wasn’t actually a band at all. The Monkees were the ultimate pretenders… actors assembled to play struggling musicians on TV. But you know what? The struggle was real. Unhappy with faking it, this manufactured band wanted to prove they could play. But their musical supervisor Don Kirshner wouldn’t let ‘em. Davey Jones, Mic...

Coming up… it started out as a disturbing French song about death... Then it was translated into English and recorded by one of the biggest bands in rock history. The Beach Boys...but then Brian Wilson and his group abandoned the sessions and the song’s producer who was really an unknown at the time decided to record the song… Terry Jacks and his hit Seasons in the Sun…It became one of the biggest...

Coming up… Legendary female rock star Lita Ford was visiting with her famous manager, Sharon Osborne who happened to be married to arguably the most famous male heavy metal singer in the world Ozzie… These two rockstars started playing pool and before they knew it they were alone as Ozzie’s wife left. So what happened that night? Well, the one thing we know for sure. is that they wrote and recorde...

So the other day I tried counting down the all-time greatest rock riffs ever put to vinyl… by anyone… ever.… with a friend. And the crazy thing is, my top 5 picks all pretty much came from the same band! AC/DC! You know I tried to get some other bands in there. But these classic Riffs three were just too good… all of them pure rock and roll dynamite. So not only are we counting them down… we’re al...

Coming up an interview with a true pioneer of rock and roll, Dave Burgess of The Champs…. He and his band recorded a single that the label was sure would be a hit Called Train to Nowhere. After their recording session as they were getting ready to leave, they realized they needed a B-side… So they started an instrumental jam session on the spot. They called it Tequila. They recorded it in just 1 t...

To the world, WEEZER appears to be one of the most happy-go-lucky bands around. Just four nerdy musicians led by Rivers Cuomo rocking out with crunchy guitars and a touch of sweet pop perfection With music that was more fun than a carnival ride. However, that’s not how this band’s lead singer River Cuomo saw himself at all. He thought he was dark and brooding and troubled. So when everybody starte...

Coming up, we go back to the making of a song that came from the basement sessions of an artist that originally wanted to work for the CIA. Songwriting couple Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert were traveling to a family reunion when they read a road sign… It said Westernport Maryland but they misread it as West Virginia and so they wrote a song about the road sign… Their error would become an all-time...

Coming up, it’s the story of one of the greatest rock songs of the 80s. Pride in the Name of Love by U2. and it all started with a museum exhibit. U2 was on tour here in America and took in a museum and the song was basically written on the field trip…Then lead singer, Bono convinced a famous producer to put off retirement to work on the track and then it took months to record because the song was...

Coming up, the story of an unlucky artist that bootstrapped from coast to coast trying to get his big break. “Ironically, his breakthrough hit came from a spontaneous outburst that he shouted because he was so embarrassed by his voice so he DISSED on himself as a joke and the diss became a Mantra for a generation. The song transformed the artist from a struggling wanderer into a sensation with its...

How do you top the greatest band of all time? You can’t… The Beatles are the most popular group in history because of their flawless song craft…songs that have been covered more than any artist or band in history, more than a million times…but there was this one time that a gravelly-voiced madman named Joe Cocker did outdo the greatest band ever and he did it by spazzing out on the biggest stage i...