Professor of Rock

Up next legendary rock singer Dennis DeYoung formerly of the band STYX tells the story of 70s classic Lady, the first quote-unquote power ballad The song was the breakout single for this future stadium band and it’s all because of a trusty DJ. The song had failed and stiffed on the charts because it’s tempo started slow and then revved up and so it really didn’t fit any format. But then a Chicago...

Neil Diamond was a shy kid who got mixed up with a rough crowd, and came dangerously close to being shot in the left eye during a street fight. He quit the gang after that and had to choose between a guitar and a sword… You see he was a master at fencing, winning nationals and earning a scholarship to NYU… Then he dropped out of college to pursue his real dream of being a singer/ songwriter- livin...

So what happens when you give rock’s greatest frontmen ever, a relationship ultimatum? As in “It’s either me or your music. What’s it going to be?” Well, this actually happened with a girl that Rock God Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin was deeply in love with. Okay, to be fair, this happened before Plant joined Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham of rock’s heaviest band Led Zeppelin In fact, P...

Face punches, stolen demo tapes, a controversial sound, and well, a Drummer arrested for stealing a car on his way to the video shoot? All of this happened to the Cult when recoding their 80s hard rock classic She Sells Sanctuary… It’s the preeminent song from Singer Ian Asturbry and Guitarist Billy Duffy...an all-out rocker that launched the band into the international spotlight. Only the thing i...

Coming up.. an interview with Yacht Rocker Robbie Dupree what wrote one of the all time 80s classics… Steal Away is as popular today as it was when it peaked near the top of the charts in 1980 and amazingly it almost didn’t get recorded. Robbie moved out to LA and paid his dues for years but nothing came of it. He submitted demos including "Steal Away" to every label he could and they rejected him...

Up next guitarist Dave “the Snake” Sabo from late 80s premier hard rock groups Skid Row tells the story of the anthem that started it all. “Youth Gone Wild” Snake Sabo was actually good friends with the biggest selling rock frontman of the late 80s, John Bon Jovi and was actually in Bon Jovi early on but it didn’t work out so John Bon Jovi helped his friend to get a record deal and then had the ro...

Coming up it’s a fiver countdown starring one of rock’s mightiest bands ever Van Halen with a fun Sammy Hagar interview to go along with it. Van Halen was so great they had 2 distinct eras the David Lee Roth era and the Sammy Hagar one.. and though fans fight about which was better they were both powerful in their own way because both included the greatest ever… Eddie Van Halen. and both are cover...

Today, we’re getting into the entertaining story behind an up-tempo 80s track that landed in the Guinness Book of World Records… You Spin Round (Like a Record) by 80s dance-pop group Dead or Alive Written by colorful, larger-than-life frontman Pete Burns… Before Pete got his big break, he spent his time terrorizing patrons at an independent record store. There as a sales clerk, he gained a reputat...

Today’s featured song is an undeniable masterpiece. Not only has it been hailed not only as Queen's greatest track, but also as one of the foremost rock songs ever written. Two words:  Bohemian Rhapsody! Technically, it is three of the best songs ever written… since it is made of three distinct sections… Rock, ballad, and opera. Yes opera. And it all flows together seamlessly. So naturally, the re...

The Grateful Dead may have the most passionate & loyal following of the Rock Era. The Dead were jamming their way to the highest echelons of live music when In 1986, this legendary band’s front man Jerry Garcia nearly died, and the future of the group was in serious jeopardy. Jerry recovered, and the Grateful Dead made a miraculous comeback with their first album in 6 years In the Dark which l...

Coming up an interview with 80s icon Paul Young about his #1 hit Every Time you Go Away that has one of the funniest misheard lyrics of all time. As a kid I botched it until i was corrected… Also many people don’t realize it’s actually a cover song. A cover of song originally written and recorded by one of the most successful groups ever, Daryl Hall and John Oates. Daryl Hall says he didn’t think...

Up next an interview with 2 rock hall of famers who were in the 60s band Buffalo Springfield. Stephen Stills, who also went on to form Crosby Stills and Nash and Ritchie Furay. Both share their experience of creating a historic hit that defined its time. They were part of a supergroup and at the time nobody was aware that it was a supergroup…This rookie band actually recorded this classic secretly...

Coming up it’s one of the most heart-wrenching stories of a classic song from real life… Fire and Rain by legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor...It's a song we all sing today. James Taylor (JT) was dealing with serious mental illness, and he had voluntarily checked himself into an institution at 18. He dropped out of school and formed a band. That band failed…. He began to sink further into da...

Today, it’s an epic track from a throwaway album… Or at least that’s what the band called it. This song though, it set a new standard for how rock bands wrote and released singles in the 80s, and in the process became one of their signature hits. Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue… Unfortunately, it never got its due on the charts. In fact, because their label hated it and refused to promote it, Home...

In 1980 AC/DC was on top of the world releasing one of the biggest-selling rock records in history Back in Black…Then they had years of dwindling sales, in fact, their next three records drastically underperformed and with rock bands like Guns N Roses, Def Leppard, and Bon Jovi coming on strong in the charts. Some thought this best band’s best days were behind them. but those who thought that didn...

Coming up, we’re showcasing a song that boasts the most recognizable date ever used in a lyric. September 21st! For decades people have wondered why the band who wrote this 70s classic chose this particular day. Earth Wind and Fire and their classic hit September made that date famous but the truth may not be what you think it is. Earth Wind and Fire or EWF, is known for the pure positivity that t...

Coming up the story of a very unique rockstar. Adam Ant... First of all his mother was Paul McCartney’s Housekeeper and he in turn got to walk Paul’s Dog and even snuck into his music room. later he and his band Adam and the Ants had 7 songs in the top 40 at the same time. Then in 1983, he was voted “World’s Sexiest Man” in the MTV viewer’s poll. His odd image was envied by many, including the Kin...

Coming up, legendary singer-songwriter Jackson Browne was asked to write a song for the 80s teen movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High. It was a Huge Departure for him and it took a few famous friends to convince him to do it. When he finished the song known as Somebody’s Baby, everyone KNEW it was a smash and told him to put it on his new album. He REFUSED the song saying it was a meaningless pop tu...

After hitchhiking across America and stowing away on a plane and bumming around Europe as a youth, Huey Lewis toiled in band after band trying to make it in music for almost a decade. He actually dropped out of Cornell University to chase his music dreams and formed the bar band Huey Lewis and the News. They broke into the Billboard Top 10 with a brilliant hit written by Mutt Lange called We Both...

Coming up….Jim Croce was an emerging superstar whose promising career started to enter its peak when he made a decision to quit the business altogether to spend time with his wife and newborn son. But a fatal moment would tragically change it all. At that point, after years of futility, he became a hit parade, marching off 5 consecutive Top 40 singles, including I Got A Name, Don’t Mess Around wit...

Throughout the late 70s and early 80s THIS BAND WAS ON fire. Between the US and the UK, The Police had 14 Top 20 hits and for a while they were easily the biggest band in the world. Today we’re checking out one of their highest charting hits. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic. And it almost never happened. The song was ignored by two out of the three band members for years. So the lead singer S...

Bob Seger had been a regional sensation for over a decade but when it was all said and done he had only had one hit in 15 years and by 1976 it had been 8 years since that hit. He couldn’t seem to break through. Well, one night after seeing a popular film of the time he started to have a vision for a song. the 70s rock classic NIGHT MOVES was a very emotional and private experience from his adolesc...

Coming up, an all-time rock hit is put under the microscope by the entire band and this one has so many layers to it. Time of the Season by the Zombies was released in 1969 going into the 1970s and it was the perfect song as the psychedelic 60 bled into the excessive 70s and it has so many backstories. First of all, It didn’t become a hit until a year after the band had actually broken up. Its uni...

It was the blockbuster record that put rock back on the front burner in the middle of disco…and it came out of nowhere… Tom Scholz and his upstart band Boston saved rock and roll with it’s power chords thought 70s classics like More Than a Feeling, Peace of Mind, Foreplay/Long Time and Rock & Roll Band to name a few of the powerful song that ignited radio. It sent shockwaves through the indust...

Coming up next, a rare interview with rock singer-songwriter Dave Pirner of 80s and 90s Minneapolis scene group Soul Asylum on the 1993 classic hit Runaway Train. The song started out as one thing and ended up making a seismic change worldwide. Dave Pirner actually wrote the song about depression but it took years to finish. The lyrics were too similar to another #1 song from long before but after...