Professor of Rock

It was a song unlike anything he’d done before—a complete departure from the rough edges and restless spirit that made him the voice of a generation. With his track Lay Lady Lay, Bob Dylan didn’t just change his sound; he flipped the script on what fans thought they knew about him. But here’s the kicker: If it were solely up to him, Lay Lady Lay wouldn’t have been released at all! Dylan begged the label not to put it out. So… what changed his mind? And what’s the real story behind the song that became one of Bob Dylan's most unforgettable? Was it about a mystery woman, or was it really meant for a public figure that shocked everyone later? It probably missed #1 because of a misunderstanding that the song was dirty. and the vocal was sped up making the icon unrecognizable plus a famous janitor helped play the drums… It’s a great story coming up next. 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 we’re talking lost songs, underrated classics, and B-sides that should have been A-sides… all coming from the rock’s mightiest band Led Zeppelin… It’s a mystery how some of these tracks weren’t bigger than they were. In the mix, we’re uncovering one of rock’s holy grail songs. An epic song that could have rivaled Zeppelin's most iconic tracks… But it didn’t made the cut for its album. So it was broken up and scattered across at least four other songs… so you can hear parts of it, but what does the actual song sound like and why wasn’t it released? Especially since it had the potential to be Led Zeppelin's biggest anthem… It’s an episode packed with some of the best odds and ends and hidden gems from classic rock’s most legendary band… NEXT on 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.

Today’s classic band Kansas was coming off a massive rock hit Carry On Wayward Son and album Leftoveture and needed to keep the momentum going. And the answer came in one of the most unlikely hits of the 70s, Dust in the Wind. First of all the song was a simple fingerpicking exercise that the guitarist Kerry Livgren was working on to get more limber. As he was playing it, his wife commented on how great the song was and that’s when Kerry laughed and explained it was just a simple exercise. But his wife told him he should put lyrics to it. Kerry was worried about showing the band this crazy idea, it didn’t fit their sound at all and it wasn’t even really a song! But against his better judgment, he listened to his wife and put some lyrics to it. But not just any lyrics, words from a 6000-year-old book. So he played it for the band and they all knew it had to be their next single. It was not an easy song to record though it made Kerry's fingers bleed and lead singer Steve Walsh had to pull the emotional vocal from deep in his soul. … it was a revelation… It became Kansas’s only Top 10 hit and is one of the most famous songs of all time. Up next, an interview with the band on the unbelievable story. 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.

Go to incogni.com/professorofrock, and use my code PROFESSOROFROCK (ALL CAPS) on the link below to get 60% off an annual plan. 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.

In the early 80s, this Survivor co-founder Jim Peterik came home for Lunch and checked his answering machine. He couldn’t believe his ears, Sylvester Stallone asked him to call him right back. He thought it was someone trying to prank him. but when he called back it was really him… Sly Stallone wanted unknown band Survivor to write the Anthem to a sequel to one of the greatest franchises ever, Rocky 3-apparently Queen had turned down the use of their #1 hit Another Bites the Dust… In a very cool interview, Jim tells us how he and guitarist Frankie Sullivan wrote Eye of the Tiger for the opening montage of Rocky 3 when he went up against Clubber Lange (Mr. T) and went to #1 for 6 weeks because Stallone was willing to give his rookie band the chance even though they’d never had a hit. They couldn’t get the lyrics down so they ended up stealing a line from the movie and it became a classic! How they created the perfect 80s classic rock anthem that still rules. 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 I’m fortunate to have a true legend with us. Neil Sedaka, part of the brill building legends! He had 12 hits by the age of 21 including one of the most memorable #1 hits of all time in Breaking Up is Hard to Do but then the Beatles came on the scene and his music went out of style in a flash. He was considered square and for over a decade he was Shut out of the charts, not only that he had to move to England to get gigs and times were so tough he had to play dives to as little as 20 people and several times had to follow strippers then one night the #1 star in the world, Elton John caught his act and hatched a plan to wage one of the greatest comebacks ever He had his first #1 hit in 12 years with Laughter in the Rain and followed that up with a duet with Elton John that was a pretty edgy for Sedaka’s Goody two shoes persona called Bad Blood and somehow it got past censors with profanity to hit #1 and Neil also became the 1st artist to remake his first #1 hit turning it into a ballad and hitting #1 again. Get ready for a great show next. 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.

Get ready for a lively blast from the past as we countdown the Top 10 One-Hit Wonders! These tracks skyrocketed to fame, only to see the artists who recorded them fade into the background of music history. From the band Kajagoogoo whose lead singer took them to #1 and then they canned him to Autograph who were a bunch of drinking buddies who jammed on weekends got a chance to open for the #1 band on the planet because their drummer was jogging buddies with their lead singer to a song by Nena that the label refused to release because it was in a different language until a DJ accidentally played it and it lit up phones lines… So they hurried and did an English translation but the foreign language one did better. We have great stories and interviews… 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.

Up next we’re going to go go behind the top 10 songs of this VERY same week from the year 1986. 38 years ago. Once again we will re rank them based on their performance since and we have some Insightful artist interviews… In this chart we Have what may be the most unlikely #1 hit of the decade as well as the biggest hit of 1987 battling it out as well as a couple of great songs that didn’t even make the top 10 that year that years later have been massive find out what the real #1 song is next. Is it Bon Jovi, Bruce Hornsby and the Range, the Bangles, Toto, Journey, Huey Lewis, Billy Idol or a one hit wonder? Find out next on our hit song redux! 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.

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It’s the age-old tale… Toto didn’t think much of their song Africa and it became a huge hit. But this one is totally nuts because it was written on a $16,000 instrument that only 3 people in the world could actually play. And it was written about a place the singer had never been. And it has become the ultimate pop culture punchline. Africa came from flipping through National Geographic and it almost didn’t make the album. And to make matters worse, the lead singer had a tough time pronouncing the words of the chorus, and on the recording half of the singers sang the wrong lyrics. So you actually have 2 different lyrics being sung. Get the real story straight from Toto, 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.