Professor of Rock

Two legends, Paul McCartney from the Beatles and Pete Townshend from The Who were talking shop back in the late 60s. Pete showed Paul his band’s new song I Can See For Miles and bragged that it was the loudest dirtiest rockiest song ever. Paul McCartney took his bragging as a challenge. He went back to the Beatles and challenged them to get loud and crazy and move the sound meter as far into the r...

In early 70s they were one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Some call them the first stadium rock band…they sold more records than anyone for a few years with 21 top 40 hits in a row and 11 top 10s…and most people don’t realize.. they were all cover songs! I’m talking about Three Dog Night! With 11 top ten cover songs, you could say they are the greatest cover band ever. But the thing is, t...

Up next, the greatest band in the history of the planet… who NEVER had a top-20 hit. In fact, they only had one hit but to call them a one-hit wonder would be blasphemy…I’m talking about Rush... I’m pretty sure they would’ve been SHAKESPEARE's favorite band. Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and the professor Neal Peart make up a band so unorthodox they play time signatures that don’t actually exist but th...

His voice was the soundtrack for the groovy 70s. He wrote songs with a band that mesmerized the Me Generation, and ushered in the genre of ‘soft rock. I’m talking about David Gates and his mellow gold masters Bread’ He ruled the 70s with his soothing voice and charming charisma with classic hits like Make It With You, If, Diary, Baby I’m a Want You, Everything I own and Guitar Man... But after yea...

In the mid-80s one of the greatest bands ever couldn’t get arrested… They were down and out until, they had a hit with a rap group… Walk This Way was originally an Aerosmith tune but RUN DMC remade it and Rick Rubin had the idea of including Steven Tyler and Joe Perry and co and it turned out to the opening shot on one of the greatest comebacks ever… the Story of Aerosmith’s classic 1987 album Per...

One day Billy Joel was working on material for a new album he would later call Storm Front, when a famous friend came by with a guest, grumbling about how hard it was to be coming of age in the 80s, but Joel, nearly 25 years older, recalled similar challenges when he was a teenager, the young man dismissed his empathy, saying Nothing bad happened in your day… When the obstinate young man left, The...

Coming up an interview with one of the greatest rock singers in the history of our planet… Paul Rodgers who fronted Free, Bad Company, and Queen at different times... tells a story that will leave you dumbfounded. He once formed a supergroup called the Firm with arguably the greatest guitarist of all time in Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, and they were working on their first single Radioactive and thi...

The incredible story of the Creedence Clearwater Revival “CCR” 1969 classic rock hit Fortunate Son. Written and performed by lead singer John Fogerty during the traumatic time of Vietnam when young men were being drafted to fight in a war where there were no clear answers. The song was written to protest more than the war though… it was the ultimate middle finger against the establishment and put...

Today’s featured artist is one of the most mysterious frontmen you could ever meet. Legally changing his name to a symbol and he did it before Prince! He claimed to be a time traveler from another planet… And he also says that he’s lived a past life on prehistoric Earth, back when the dinosaurs were roaming around. So I guess it’s no surprise that the name of his band came from a cult classic 1950...

Today, we’re dropping the needle on a track that a revolutionary artist wrote as a favor for his bandmate’s side project. When Prince and the Revolution bassist Brown Mark asked Prince to write him a song for his side project Mazarati Prince picked up his acoustic guitar and whipped up the song “KISS” in a few minutes. He didn’t think anything of it. But when Prince checked on the song’s progress...

Coming up…the band who taught us how to rock KISS…like many band before them, hated their biggest hit. The ballad “Beth" was allegedly written by drummer Peter Criss. Though Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons don’t believe he actually composed it. The band loathed Beth. They hated it so much they didn’t even show up to record it, so half the band didn’t even play on it, including Gene Simmons and Paul...

Coming up, an interview with a legendary singer-songwriter who’s had various hits but the biggest Hit he wrote…was sung by another artist, and then the biggest hit he sang...he didn’t write! both were nominated for Oscars…Stephen Bishop had a #1 hit in 1985 with the Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin duet Separate Lives from the film White Nights… He didn’t sing it. but he did sing the 1983 #1 Hit It...

He was a small-time criminal… he was also a mailman… Then he was a chauffeur…He drove bands to and from shows. His name was Bon Scott… He went from being one of AC/DC’s driver to their lead singer literally overnight! He jumped on stage one night when AC/DC was playing instrumentals and started singing. Angus Young and his brother Malcolm Young were floored. This guy had chops… They turned their s...

Coming up, This group was on a tear to start the decade. Wham! starring legend George Michael and his pal Andrew Ridgely were on top of the world. but George in particular was obsessed with dominating the charts. His goal in 1984 was to score four #1 singles. And you know what, by November he and his partner had three… With time running out, he pulled out a surefire hit he wrote in the middle of w...

This 1982 rock classic is played every Friday when the weekend starts since it became a hit. Mike Reno, Lead Singer of canadian stadium rockers Loverboy tells the story of their signature song "Working for the Weekend! in an exclusive interview.. When he was recording he sang the wrong lyrics and the mistake made it a classic hit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoice...

It was the final single in the storied career of one of the most hard-hitting, epic rock bands ever assembled. Fool in the Rain by Led Zeppelin. For a decade Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones turned the world upside-down and inside out with their cutting-edge, all-out rock compositions… But they also did it with tracks that undercut audience expectations. And that is exact...

It may just be the greatest cover song of all time..If not, it deserves that distinction for the 80s. Tainted Love by Soft Cell. Marc Almond's hypnotic and sinister vocal and Dave Ball's synth pop magic made Gloria Jones original into an 80s smash hit... and combined it with the Supreme's #Staying1 hit Where Did Our Love go! on the billboard hot 100 for 43 weeks in a row. A record that stood for d...

Coming up, a song that contains arguably the most iconic line in the history of the rock era… Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio A Nation Turns its Lonely Eyes to You… So poetic, so perfect. A tribute from the greatest: Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel… or Simon and Garfunkel from the Graduate film. Only problem is. This sports legend felt slighted by the lyrics. He was pissed! He totally misunderstood...

Dennis DeYoung formerly of STYX tells the story of his only solo hit. Deseret Moon. Styx pretty much broke up after Kilroy Was Here and their massive but polarizing hit Mr. Roboto. And actually Desert Moon was as good as anything he did with STYX! It's captivating lyrics and beautiful melody make it one of the 80s greatest hidden gems. Tommy Shaw was the first one to put out a solo hit with Girls...

Today, we’re going behind the Top 10 rock songs from this very same week in the year 1982… Can you imagine, a top 10 billboard chart filled with all rock songs? In the past we’ve done redux episodes, covering the most popular songs on the Billboard Hot 100, but today we’re putting a new twist on an old favorite. Going 100% rock. Then after counting them down, we rerank each song according to how m...

The Compelling story of the Pet Shop Boys masterful 1986 #1 hit, West End Girls. A synth-pop miracle that put this duo on the map and started a career that so far has produced 44 top 40 hits in the UK. West End Girl was released in 1984 but it failed visually everywhere except in Belgium, where it hit #1. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe knew they had a hit but couldn’t get the sound right. This was af...

Coming up an interview with 38 Special singer Don Barnes who’s band started out as with a southern rock sound but by the early 80s they were a straight ahead arena rock band with several huge songs including today’s 1982 #1 rock hit: Caught up in You... It was a co write between Don Barnes, Guitarist Jeff Carlisi and a rival band’s main songwriter. Jim Peterik of Survivor. In fact when Survivor’s...

Coming up a saga of two musicians that fell in love, and put a band together, but the band broke up, and so did their romantic relationship. Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart formed then formed Eurythmics… They were Thousands of miles from home and broken up but the couple decided to stay united, professionally, and continue to make music together. The future looked bleak, the darkest point was a day...

It's known as one of the 80s most Iconic one hit wonders. It leads the pack of most infamous one hit wonders of all time! Only problem is "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow wasn't actually a hit. It barely made the top 50. But it's such a huge part of our culture it will go down as one of the biggest non hits ever. In my interview with former Bow Wow Wow singer Annabelle Lwin tells the story of recordi...

How I learned to love a song I once hated… Journey and their #1 power ballad Open Arms…But I’m not the only one. Neal Schon the guitarist of Journey also loathed it and refused to play it live for some time. Written by Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain… Well first of all, et me ask you...Have you ever disliked a song so much, that for most of your life, you just couldn’t stand to listen to it? I’m tal...