Professor of Rock

Coming up next, it's a story that you have to hear to believe. Today’s band The 5th Dimension was coming off a huge song that took ‘em to the top of the charts and won them multiple Grammies. But they needed a follow-up song to keep the momentum going. And they found it in the most peculiar place. The band’s singer left his wallet in the backseat of a taxi one night and he knew he’d never see it again. Then out of nowhere, a stranger returned the wallet to him and they got to talking and turns out the man who found his wallet was a songwriter and asked him to bring his band to see his Broadway musical. They attended the play and were blown away by several songs in it that they knew they had to put on their next album. Turns out the song wouldn’t only be a #1 hit but a transformative song in the history of music. The band tells the whole story next on Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s bass line broke 70s radio! It was from the song was Green Eyed Lady by the rookie band Sugarloaf, and it flew out of the gates with mysterious lyrics about a mysterious woman that took them to the top of the charts. But then just as quickly the band fell apart…Then Sugarloaf lost their record deal, not once but two times… desperate to overcome the one-hit wonder label the band re-formed and recorded a demo at a friend's studio, no record deal, just a demo. They actually recorded a song about what they were going through at the moment. it was a song about getting rejected by labels and the quest for a hit song and the song became their second hit and destroyed the one-hit wonder curse... or did they? Turns out they were in trouble with the feds when the random phone number they cited in their song ended up being the phone number to the white house! Find out next as I track down this band to find out what happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up…. Tom Jones, one of the greatest singers of all time, and the story of two of his classic songs that we all know by heart: It's Not Unusual and What's New Pussycat? The first one was recorded by him before anyone knew who he was… He sang it as a demo to show an icon of the time how the song should sound. When this icon heard the demo, she knew it would be a hit but his vocal was so perfect she told him he should record the song because it would be a smash and she was exactly right. Then another song became a top 5 hit and a touchstone of the swingin’ 60s but it was so bizarre when the singer heard a demo of the tune, he asked the prolific lyricist who wrote it “What in the bloody hell do you want ME to sing this for?” thinking the song was a big joke. And it kind of was but the famous musician behind it asked him to be serious and sing it with some authority… he did and it became a standard, the stories are next on Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Billboard Magazine called 1984 as the ‘greatest year ever in pop music.’ I don’t often agree with the music press, but I have to say that I concur with that evaluation. Some of the best singles and albums were released in ’84, including many of my all-time favorites. To celebrate that glorious, impactful year in music, we’re counting down the Ten Best Songs of 1984. Including Night Ranger's Sister Christian one where the singer let the drummer have a go at recording the vocals and it became the band’s biggest song… Another, Prince's Let's Go Crazy, is a party anthem that most people don’t realize is about God and one where Billy Joel hit a high note in the chorus that was so grand he knew he would never be able to hit the notes again and sure enough on his next tour he had to bring in a backup singer to nail it. We have many of the artists participating in this celebration of the best song of music’s best year. See if you agree with my picks, next on Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s band AC/DC was blowing up radio and arena when their frontman Bon Scott passed away in a most horrible fashion. The band was devastated and had no idea what was next. Little did they know that in the form of a large bell, a supernatural visit from their dead singer, and a new singer who said he could write lyrics but then battled writer's block for months this band would create the biggest-selling rock record in history: Back in Black. It has sold 50 million copies but it never went to #1 and didn’t contain any hit singles. And it had a perfectionist producer Mutt Lange who spent months recording to get just a drum sound on 1 song. But here’s the thing…even with all of those hours recording, and 15 mics capturing the sound of a large bell the band had commissioned to be the backbone of one of the album’s most famous tracks, Hell Bells... to this day AC/DC has never been able to capture the exact sound of the bell on the recording when they play it live. Coming up the story of the biggest-selling rock record ever and the uphill battle to get it right and out to the masses and trying to solve the mystery of who really wrote these classic songs the dead singer or the replacement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up, back by popular demand: we’ve already done five. And now we’re doing five more. It’s another countdown of the most controversial songs from the Rock Era. Last time we covered taboo tracks by Heart, the Stones, and even the Beastie Boys. This time, we’ve got five more fiery offerings that rustled up cancel culture, provoked radio censors, and got blacklisted from the airwaves. For Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax, a DJ literally lifted the needle off the record mid-song because he thought the lyrics were too obscene. David Bowie's China Girl was accused of being xenophobic but was actually the opposite. And then there’s Bloodrock's DOA, a song that has to be the most disbarring single of the 70s… It was so bad that drivers were freaking out and pulling off to the side of the road while listening to it And that’s just the beginning. We’ve got five more controversial songs coming up next on Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Johnny Mathis, the 3rd Biggest Selling Solo Artist in History tells the story of both his Christmas album and his #1 hit Chances Are. Johnny Mathis tells how he recorded this all-time standard of the great american songbook in an exclusive interview with the Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up, Wally Palmer and Mike Skill of the famous 80s rock band The Romantics set the record straight on a true mystery… First of all, they had two huge hits that everyone knows. Including one of the most recognizable riffs ever on What I Like About You. But surprisingly the song was never actually a hit! And it was a song where the drummer stepped in to sing instead of the lead singer. It got a lot of MTV and radio play but stalled at #49. Then they had a massive #1 in 1984, Talking in Your Sleep. It hit the top 3 on all of the charts: Dance, Rock, and Pop… The Romantics were poised for stardom, THEN they found out that their managers had been stealing the profits earned by the band from its records and live performance since day one. And they were entangled in a lawsuit that kept them from recording anything for 11 years. The Romantics vanished into thin air and it cost them dearly. …. Up next Wally Palmer and Mike Skill tell the story of their #1 hit and how they came back from an 11-year hiatus to reclaim their legacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up next, one of the greatest living guitarists Journey's Neal Schon tells the story of two of the 80s most famous solos: One he played the hell out of, but it was cut from the song, Who's Crying Now, when it was climbing the charts to the top 5. But angry fans called radio stations and complained so they put it back in. And another song Faithfully was so inspiring that one of the greatest guitar players and geniuses of the 80s, Prince, actually called Journey because he had written one of his greatest songs, Purple Rain. But he was afraid he might’ve subconsciously ripped off the guitar part of Faithfully, from the year prior and he asked them if they would listen to it and see. Journey graciously said it was similar but a whole new song. We have Neal Schon with us to tell the story of these two amazing songs next on Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The complicated story of the best-selling 12-inch single of the 1980s. New Order’s Blue Monday from 1983 would become the stuff of legend. Up next former bassist and co-founder Peter Hook on Professor of Rock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.