Professor of Rock

CY Curnin, lead singer and songwriter behind 80s New Wave icons the Fixx, on the story of their biggest hit One thing Leads to Another. Cy wrote the song in 1983 but it fits our day in age. from the Fixx’s classic album “Reach the Beach”, One Thing went to #4 on Billboard Hot 100. Here Cy tells the story of this iconic song. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See...

The otherworldly story of how an indie band went global with the unlikeliest hit.. maybe ever… R.E.M. Losing my Religion from their 1991 masterpiece blockbuster Out of Time. Months before 90s grunge took over, REM set the tone with a song about madness using an old southern saying… Michael Stipe masterfully sang the tune, with Peter Buck’s Mandolin and Mike Mills and Bill Berry holding their own…t...

The story of the 70s rock soul hit I Just Want to Celebrate as told by drummer/ singer Pete Rivera. The song went to the top 10 in 1971 and the band played CAL JAM to over 300k fans. 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-info .

Up next we’re going to go behind the top 10 songs of this VERY same week from the year 1966. Hailed by many as the finest year in music history..55 years ago to be exact.. Will the new number one be the Beach Boys, the Beatles, The Monkees, The Supremes, Herman’s Hermits or someone else? Including exclusive interviews with Brian Wilson, Mitch Ryder, Lamont Dozier, and many more. Learn more about y...

An interview with a legendary voice actor who is also a Rockstar. In fact he’s so great at mimicking voices, he was once sued by a famous singer for sounding too much like him. The lead singer of Rock Sugar and the voice of Wacko Warner from Animaniacs, Crash Bandicoot and Roger Rabbit., a man of 1000 voices on his story… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Pri...

he story of how a regular guy named Alfred Yankovic became the foremost pop culture satirist Weird Al through his mastering of the accordion and parodying rock and pop classics in the 80s including his breakout hit Eat It a parody of Michael Jackson's 1983 #1 hit BEAT IT. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Califo...

The story behind New Wave pioneers Devo and their history making performance on Saturday Night Live performing their unique cover of the Rolling Stones’ “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”. Jerry Casale gives wonderful insight on their performance and on the origins of some of the most iconic elements of DEVO including the red energy domes the band wears. Get Jerry's new song and more at: https://www.ge...

Glenn Phillips on the story of Toad the West Sprocket’s classic 90s hit All I Want from their masterpiece album FEAR. How the band formed and was named after a Monty Python sketch, all in our toad the wet sprocket interview. 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...

The story of Iron Maiden’s 1980s classic the Trooper from their spectacular album Piece of Mind. After their first their first lead singer left due to substance abuse, Bruce Dickinson came into Iron Maiden with a Fury and between he and bassist Steve Harris, created a the Trooper inspired by an Tennyson poem. How this Heavy Metal classic scared us senseless... Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...

The story of Van Halen’s 5th studio record: Diver Down inducing the story of Eddie and Alex Van Halen, Micheal Anthony and David Lee roth’s romp through the hit covers Oh’ Pretty Woman and Dancing’ In the Street and stand out tracks Little Guitars and Hang ‘Em High. The story of Van Halen’s most underrated album from the 80s Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See...

The story of Steve Miller Band’s classic rock standard from 1973, Fly Like An Eagle. The story of how this 70s hit came about is very interesting, Steve Miller wrote it for Native Americans as protest song. It was part of a legendary top 5 that included Bob Seger’s Night Movies and Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s remake of Blinded by the Light. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.co...

We go behind the top 10 songs of this VERY same week from the year 1976. 45 years ago. Then we re rank them based on their legacy since that week. including songs by Heart, Chicago, the Bee Gees, Gordon Lighfoot and Steve Miller band, as well as one of the worst songs ever? Take a walk down memory lane and find out what happened to music! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/...

Before Adele, another blockbuster music queen was Norah Jones. Here we celebrate the 20th anniversary of her amazing song Don’t Know Why from her multiplatinum record Come Away with Me. An excessive interview that goes through the history of this jazz phenomenon... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Pr...

The story of the biggest tv soundtrack of the 1980s: Miami Vice from the Theme by Jan Hammer to the two Glenn Frey tracks You Belong to the City and Smuggler’s Blues… cowritten by frequent Eagles collaborator Jack Tempchin who tells the story of writing them. Get ready for a showstopper we’re going back to 1985. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Privacy Polic...

We count down the top 10 songs of this VERY same week from the year 1981. 40 years ago and then we rerank them based on their performance since, with your stories and artist commentary. Including hits from hall and Oates, Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks, Journey, Lionel Richie and Diana Ross The Rollins Stones and Christopher Cross. Drake has nothing on these artists. Learn more about your ad choices....

We unbox 2 live albums: Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live 2 LP and Donald Fagen's The NightFly Live LP. We tell the story behind their 80s hit HEY NINETEEN as well as Donald Fagen’s solo masterpiece The Nightfly including the story of IGY (What A Beautiful World). Both of these live albums capture flawless performances by Donald Fagen and Steely Dan, as a tribute to the late Walter Becker. Learn...

Rock and Roll hall of famer Jon Anderson tells the story of the band Yes and their 70s progressive rock classic hit Roundabout. In a zoom interview he takes us through the process of writing it and recording a song that is beloved by generations including being used as a meme. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and C...

The story of Led Zeppelin’s rock masterpiece, Kashmir from their 70s double album Physical Graffiti. How Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham all came together to create metaphysical song that scared Page and brought Plant to tears. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notic...

The story of Pearl Jam’s breakthrough classic 90s song Alive form their Multi-platinum album TEN. Eddie Vedder was brought in after Mother Love Bone’s singer Andrew Wood tragically died. Stone Gossard, Mike McCready and Jeff Ament forged on and changed their name to Pearl Jam and their new singer Eddie Vedder recorded a personal song about finding out who his real father, was having been lied to f...

Toto tells the story of their epic #2 classic rock hit Rosanna from 1982. Steve Lukather, David Paich and Steve Porcaro tell the details behind creating it and how actress Rosanna Arquette was the Muse. Arquette inspired two of the greatest songs of the 80s In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel and Rosanna By Toto. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Privacy Policy at...

- Try CleanMyMac X for free https://bit.ly/ProfessorOfRock 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-info .

The touching story of Solitaire, the 70s hit that fueled Neil Sedaka’s big comeback. Covered by everyone from Johnny Mathis to Elvis Presley Andy Williams and the Carpenters this emotional interview is one for the ages with one of the last remains legends from the famous Brill Building. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/pri...

The story of the top ten 60s smash You Really Got Me by the Kinks, later covered to great effect by the Mighty Van Halen in the 70s. The first major hit to feature distorted guitar by the brothers Davies. Ray Davies and Dave Davies. How this song changed everything in 1964 and how Eddie Van Halen reignited it in 1978. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices See Privacy...

The story of the Byrds legendary #1 hit Turn! Turn! Turn! (to everything there is a season) from 1965. Originally released by protest folk singer Pete Seeger, the song’s lyrics are from the Holy Bible from Ecclesiastes. Roger McGuinn and David Crosby tell the story of how the Byrds met and began to perform including recording this classic song. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoice...

The story of Michael Jackson’s life changing #1 HIT Man In the Mirror. Every once in a while, a song changes the way you look at the world. The exclusive story of this incredible song by co-writer and frequent MJ collaborator Siedah Garrett. It’s a tale that includes the incomparable touch of the great Quincy Jones and co writer Glen Ballard on Professor of Rock Learn more about your ad choices. V...