Professor of Rock

Up next, one of the greatest feel-good one-hit wonders of the rock era. A song that changed everything and brought peace to a nation that was hurting from an integral voice that made the oft-recoded song shine. I’m talking about Get Together by the Youngbloods with lead singer Jesse Collin Young. It was truly one of rock's most significant appeals for peace and brotherhood during a very turbulent...

Coming up… an interview with a mystery singer who had 2 songs in the top 10 at the same time with 2 different bands but here’s the thing he never got any credit. Nobody knew who he was until much later. One of these songs was so massive it became the #1 song of the year beating out The Beatles, The Stones, and Elvis who all had big hits that year…. I’m taking about the #1 song of 1969… Sugar, Suga...

Coming up, we’re featuring a classic 1980 record from one of the most diverse bands of the era. The Tide is High By Blondie. Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Jimmy Destri, Frank Infante, and Clem Burke were masters of their craft. True masters of hook-laden pop-ditties who had a knack for always hitting pay-dirt… and they did it with a fistful of rock and new wave… unfortunately, this time they had a hi...

In 1980, the quiet, reserved, bassist for one of the most popular rock bands, created a track that LIT up disco balls in the clubs and blasted over the airwaves around the world. John Deacon of Queen embraced disco with a funky bassline and the song THAT WOULD BECOME Another One Bites the Dust was enhanced even more once his flamboyant singer Freddie Mercury got a hold of it and bludgeoned the Dis...

Apparently, it was the world’s worst demo. Ever. No one wanted this song. Tons of artists passed over it. The sound quality was nearly unlistenable. And the performance on the track was even worse. Amateurish, out of time, and highlighted by a bizarre falsetto, it was insanely bad… and about to be lost to oblivion because no one was going to record this mess. It was so bad one of the band members...

It starts out with a drum beat that is so abrupt, you feel as though your head might explode, and then one of the most recognizable guitar riffs in classic rock history, not to mention the singalong chorus that everybody knows by heart. I’m talking about the classic rock standard Slow Ride by Foghat. Speaking of that famous guitar riff…it changes speed and climaxes near the end, apparently, the ba...

Coming up, a couple of great interviews about a song that barely missed #1 with its original artist, and then decades later it hit the top of the charts … In fact, this song has hit the charts in four different decades. I Think We’re Alone Now by Tommy James and the Shondells. The song went to the top 5 in 1967 as part of the rise of bubble gum pop in the charts but Tommy and his band were shocked...

Breaking free from an established band is never easy. Especially when it's one of the most iconic, commercially successful bands of all time. But today’s artist Stevie Nicks had had enough of her bandmates and the continuous flow of drama within their Fleetwood Mac. So she took the plunge into a solo career. However, writing a hit record as a solo artist was harder than she thought. And when her p...

Coming up an interview with one of rock’s greatest drummers Stewart Copeland of the Police. Stewart tells the story of two radio-unfriendly tracks. Roxanne and Can’t Stand Losing You. They were early singles from the Police when Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland were trying to make it. The edgy songs were supposed to be a pair of breakthrough hits that would put this band on the map. Only...

Sometimes it’s all about timing. Well today’s iconic guest Mike Score the singer and writer behind A Flock Of Seagulls and their new wave classic hits I Ran (So Far Away) and Space Age Love Song and (Wish I Had) A Photograph of You tells us how he and his band created the most viral music video in MTV history in about 2 hours. They threw together the iconic video for I Ran in one day and by the ne...

Today, we’re getting into a little bit of trouble. Or at least our featured band is. As some of the most iconic rockers in history, Queen including Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John Deacon, and Roger Taylor were no strangers to controversy. Frontman Freddie Mercury in particular lived to push the envelope. But did today’s two featured tracks take things too far? Fat Bottomed Girls and Bicycle Race...

Coming up… Toni Basil was headed for stardom in her early 20s with her first single for A&M Records, but it FLOPPED. so she started working in the industry as a choreographer. Then 16 years later at nearly 40, she released a song in 1982 that became one of the biggest one-hit wonders ever. Mickey. She took an old song from the band Racey and wrote a cheerleading chant over the top of it then s...

It was a classic song with multiple storylines of danger, deceit, and despair- so cryptic, and even now decades later fans are still trying to figure out exactly what it means. I’m talking about Steely Dan and their 70s rocker Do It Again. It didn’t help that the band played a prank on fans in the way they Listed the song on the back of the album Can’t Buy A Thrill… It also confused everyone when...

Rock immortality. It’s a rarified state reserved for only a select few. And today’s featured band no doubt earned it with the release of their 8th studio album… The Dark Side of the Moon. Pink Floyd's 10-track collection eclipsed the competition. But what do you do after you have realized your wildest dreams? Well, that question almost tore this band apart. Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Richard Wri...

Coming up….we tell the story of the 1960s Classic hit California Dreaming’ by the Mamas and the Papas. First, the song was bestowed upon a famous folk singer riding the wave of a #1 smash. Barry McGuire who had just hit the top of the charts with Eve of Destruction….He was set to follow up his Big hit with California Dreaming... However, when his interpretation of the song was deemed unfit for pop...

Coming up a great interview with a band that ruled the 70s… Dewey Bunnel and Gerry Beckley from the group America and the story of their biggest hit A Horse With Name is a whopper. First of all as rookies This debut single and the album it came from both hit #1… And to top it off, a Horse with No Name might be one the most unlikely #1s of its time…It wasn’t an obvious hit. It was very strange and...

At the dawn of the 80s, Legendary American Rock band REO Speedwagon had their backs against the wall. They needed a hit record or they were finished. Their label told them as much. With the pressure on singer Kevin Cronin… He wrote a piano-based song and brought it to the band. The band hated especially, guitarist Gary Richrath who shredded his guitar so loud during the recording he was trying to...

Coming up, it’s a massive smash hit that was inspired by not one, but multiple stalker encounters. And one of them was by one of the most demented groupies ever. This disturbed fan wrote letter after letter claiming she and this artist were meant to be together… and that he was the father of her baby! Then one day she sent him a package with a weapon… telling him that they should use it on themsel...

Coming up… an interview with some of the members of a band that has been somewhat forgotten in the time we live in... Which is strange because for a couple of years they were as big as any group on radio. In fact in 1999 when BMI compiled their list of the most played songs of the century they had 2 in the top 25… Tied with the Beatles and more than any other band. They actually had 3 in the top 6...

Up next the story of One of the first hard rock songs to light up the charts… Some even call it the first Heavy Metal song…and you’ll understand why next… The story of Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf. The demo came after singer and writer John Kay test-drove a car… the music in his head dictated it would be a cruising song. But at first, it was written as a slow ballad but the second it was sped up...

Forget the auto-tune. Today we’re going back to an era when singers could actually sing… unassisted. Just raw, pure, unadulterated talent. And in fact, we’re bringing you what I believe is the all-time greatest male vocal performance on a rock song. It’s tough to pick but I think Brad Delp of Boston on their 70s rock classic More Than A Feeling is the GOAT. Written by Tom Sholz the wizard who prod...

Coming up, it’s a song that spoke for a generation, but was never intended to. A throwaway track that this band didn’t much like, and one of the guitarists actually tried to sabotage it in the studio. That however backfired. And only made the song better. Lyrically, it tells the story of a doomed, drunken confession the lead singer, Thom Yorke made to a girl he was infatuated with… and well, was b...

Coming up the story of an all-time rock classic that has 2 Legendary versions. All Along the Watchtower by Bob Dylan was actually covered by Guitar Virtuoso Jim Hendrix and realized before Dylan could get his out. Bob Dylan got into a motorcycle accident and shortly after changed the way he wrote and the result is All Along the Watchtower with lyrical inspiration from the book of Isaiah from the B...

Coming up, the story of a brilliant reclusive artist who didn’t want any attention…. He just wanted to make music. Mark Hollis played the game for a while and was miserable doing it. For 10 years, he was the leader of Talk Talk, a band that quietly mesmerized & influenced a generation. In 1984, he wrote a signature song of self-determination and independence called It’s My Life that became the...

Coming up, the story of a rock record that we all owned. Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi was the pinnacle of glam metal and hard rock... in the 80s you couldn’t escape it if you tried. And it came from a rock band who more than paid their dues to make it. Bon Jovi did every job under the sun to make it. The record sold over 12 million copies on the strength of 3 massive hits. (You Give Love) a Bad N...