Professor of Rock

This legendary singer songwriter woke up with a massive hangover after a night of partying. Multiplatinum singer songwriter Peter Frampton vaguely remembered some cool chords he’d been messing with the night before.. so at the studio a few hours later he was trying to recall the song and as he started playing his band members were ecstatic saying you have to put lyrics to that song…To which the si...

70s and 80s Legend Steve Miller was on the ropes before his career really took off.. He was still in his twenties when his label told him that after 7 straight poor selling albums, if his next one didn’t have a hit he was being kicked to the curb. Some time later he would Write that hit… a 70s classic rocker called the Joker with a timeless vernacular that defines the era Space Cowboy, Pompatus of...

After their 1995 album failed to capture the momentum that their breakdown album Blood Sugar Sex Magik did, Red Hot Chili Peppers were in a tailspin so they fired Dave Navarro and recruited original guitarist John Frusciante back into the band. At that time singer Anthony Kiedis and Flea made up with John and started their comeback album… Californication . It started out as song that Kiedis felt w...

It was one of the biggest breakups in rock history. After creating a catalog of desert island albums, Pink Floyd was torn apart by bitter feuding, behind-the-scenes schemes, and as one band member described it, “borderline megalomania.” Sadly, the inability of its two principal members Roger Waters and David Gilmour to put their differences aside made it impossible to continue. Roger Waters said t...

In the 80s an up and coming band was looking to create the best album of their time. They finished half the album and took a break to gain some perspective on what they’s just written. From that break came a massive hit that started as a fast song but when it was slowed down and played on a piano instead of a guitar it became one of the most heart wrenching rock ballads of the late 80s. Michael Hu...

Up next iconic singer-songwriter Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls tells the story of one of the worst points of his life. Going through a Torrid Divorce, he had excessive Writer’s Block, and was on the verge of quitting his own band when he ran away to LA and hid away in a hotel… a major movie exec wanted him to write a song for the film City of Angels and poof--Inspiration struck! Then while c...

Coming up one of the best songs of the 80s came to Tony Lewis and John Spinks of the Outfield when they were hanging out in their flat. The second they wrote down the first sentence or opening line of the song they knew they had a smash hit. The song came effortlessly in less than 20 mins from that point forward and they were exactly right… Your Love ruled radio in the summer of 1986.. A couple of...

Coming up….this artist had dabbled in a lot of different styles to great effect but then he rolled out of bed one day with an awesome song idea… Tommy James and the Shondells would go through the ringer to get Crimson and Clover done. With some serious musical experimentation that regulated in a vocal that sounded like it was underwater. No one had heard anything like. it. He did the whole thing i...

Whenever anyone talk about the greatest movie soundtrack of the 80s you hear the usual suspects… Top Gun, Footloose, some might say Dirty Dancing.. or any of the soundtracks from John Hughes films from Some Kind of Wonderful to the Breakfast Club to Pretty In Pink… but the soundtrack to Rocky IV is worthy of consideration... Up next I talk to several artist who participated the franchise defining...

This song came hit the top 10 in America in 1980 and sounded like it was 100 years a head of it’s time..It came on pop radio where Kenny Rogers and Christopher Cross and Olivia Newton John were the norm. Gary Numan and his 80s synth pop masterwork sounded like it was from mars. It was the instigator of new wave, of dark wave, of industrial music of Electonica or EDM. GARY NUMAN IS a pioneer of eve...

Up next New Wave 80s duo Wang Chung tell the story of writing one of the quintessential pop culture hits of the 80s. singer Jack Hues was worried about using the band’s name in the chorus of the song thinking it would be cheesy instead it became a part of the lexicon of the decade. The catchphrase of the 80s. Everybody Have Fun Tonight (everybody Wang Chung Tonight ) with a video that now has to h...

This multi-million record-selling artist isn’t exactly known for taking suggestions. But that hasn’t stopped legions of fans from sending him ideas for his next song. In fact, Weird Al Yankovic is bombarded with so many pitches that he has called it the bane of his existence. However, that being said... there was one time that he did make an exception. Afterall, when an 80s Icon Madonna told a fri...

After starting the 80s off with a bang these historic pioneers of New Wave had been through the ringer entering the final year of the decade. The B52s were looking at slumping sales and the tragic loss of their guitarist Ricky Wilson in 1985 Kate Peirson, Cindy Wilson, Fred Schneider and co had been in decline for years. They wrote their biggest hit ever, Love Shack! They would set mainstream radi...

The 60s rock classic White Room by Cream was at least 5 years ahead of it’s time and the amazing lyrics came from one of those ‘gut check’ moments in life, when a person faces great adversity, or despair. It’s at that moment you have to make a decision to fight through the pain to get to a better place,..or.. just give up and fall into the abyss forever.. This episode is about one of those critica...

"On this episode, one of the greatest composers of the Rock Era, Mr. Danny Elfman of Oingo Boingo wants to invite you to a party….Not just any party… "It will a party unlike any that you’ve ever attended….a party where no one’s still alive. When you arrive….please leave your body and soul at the door. Don’t run away….It’s only the story of an 80s macabre thriller called Dead Man’s Party inspired b...

How does one try to break down the Led Zeppelin standard Stairway to Heaven? It’s the constitution of Rock! It’s been talked about a million times. People have been trying to figure out what it means for ages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my...

Coming up the story of an all time 70s #1 hit that has as much drama and intrigue as any song every recorded an an example of everyone trying to force a song to be something it wasn’t. In the end the song won the battle. I’m talking about Papa Was A Rolling Stone by the Temptations...First of all it was 12 minutes long with the first four minutes recored as an extended instrumental section that ha...

After more than a decade of paying their dues on the road, nine studio albums of mixed success, and eleven singles that mostly struggled on the Hot 100… The J Geils Band was way overdue for their big break.. As luck would have it they entered the 80s just as a new sound was storming the airwaves, they finally figured out what listeners were looking for. Led by a semi risqué #1 hit, Centerfold abou...

The First 3 studio albums from KISS that taught us how to rock, were actually, commercial disappointments. It was so bad Their record label Casablanca was circling the drain. It was a desperate time for Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, the principal songwriters of Kiss create a song that would vault them to superstardom and keep the band going for the long haul… So they reached deep within themselve...

For years this rock legend had been fighting a losing battle against alcoholism and substance abuse. Ozzy Osbourne is of course FAMOUS for having an extreme on-stage persona, but in the late 80s his personal demons started to take the spotlight. In a drunken act he would forever regret, this musician went completely off the rails and assaulted his wife. Next thing he knew, he was waking up in a ja...

Against all odds, and against better judgement, today’s artist wrote a song that went to #1 on the Hot 100 and sold over 6 million copies…AND IT’S the WORST SONG EVER WRITTEN. To prepare for this episode, I scoured a every valid list of ‘Worst Song Ever Polls’ and was surprised to find that this 70s hit rarely made the cut… I alway try to be positive but you have to trust me, this is TRULY the wor...

This Legendary Rock band knew that this song would be really big. So It was perplexing when it finished in 3rd place out of the four singles released from their 1981 blockbuster album Escape. I’m talking about Don’t Stop Believin’ By Journey. It was a strange song in that Steve Perry’s immaculately sung chorus doesn’t show up until the last 30 seconds of the song and Neal Schon has a blazing solo...

Coming up, an all time anthem by AC/DC that was completely misunderstood by the critics and haters. Thinking that Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was evil and meant to influence children to follow Satan the 70s tune was actually inspired by a cartoon character the band members watched on the telly as little children. It was released on an album that wasn’t released in America for almost 5 years until...

When these guys were still in high school, they were late for class because they were up all night doing recording sessions with Some of the most legendary bands of the 70s… Steve Lukather and David Paich as well as the Late Jeff Porcaro formed Toto soon after and David Paich wrote the riff of the 70s classic Hold the Line in his first apartment so loud and so many times that he was evicted after...

He wrote and performed one of the most eartastic hook laden classics of the 80s. I Can Dream About You, the underrated top 10 hit from 1984 is true sonic time machine.. over it’s 4 minutes it transports you back the greatest year in music history. Sadly it’s singer, the great Dan Hartman would only live for another few years after it was a hit Dying at only 43 from a brain tumor… today’s story is...