Professor of Rock

I try to keep it positive here guys, but every now and then I have to look at songs and artists from a different perspective. And the truth is even the greatest artists can write a stinker. So today we venture into the age-old conundrum... When Bad Songs happen to great artists. And you’re going to have a heyday here. Including a Paul McCartney song that is so annoying that it causes angry convulsions. Another by Heart that they erased from their history. One that was written for Celine Dion and then given to Aerosmith and it became their biggest hit ever. And another that tries so hard to be deep it’s boring. We’re gonna push the envelope a bit on this episode, with a thought-provoking list of '5 Bad Songs by Great Artists’ 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.

How would you like it if you wrote a masterpiece with some pretty deep lyrics and it failed? But then another band cut the song and made it a #1 smash, but then botched your lyrics so badly that it turned the words into a big joke that people are still laughing at today! The lyric in question was from Bruce Springsteen's Blinded by the Light, and it was about a bada$$ hot rod. But the words were so BOTCHED by Manfred Mann's singer Chris Thompson, that it turned the hot rod into a lyric about a hygiene product for private parts!. It became arguably the funniest punchline in rock and one of the most notorious misheard lyrics ever… but the story is even better. And in the end, Bruce Springsteen is still laughing about it... decades after laughing all the way to the bank. The story is 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.

Coming up, another great song mystery. It’s a famous song everyone knows: House of the Rising Sun. But Nobody really knows who wrote it or what it’s specifically about. Today we have a special guest to help us solve it, The Animals Eric Burdon. It was either about a hooker or a prisoner. It’s centuries old but became a #1 hit when the lead singer of today’s Hall of Fame band covered it and may have invented a whole new genre with it. They were also the first British invasion band to wrestle #1 away from the Beatles who had dominated the top spot week after week and in the end, this singer didn’t really get paid for this song since he wasn’t listed as an arranger on the song. Also, other hilarious stories from this legend on several other classic hits from this band is 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.

You are never gonna believe this story! Today’s legend Joan Jett was rejected 23 times by labels. When she finally made it, Joan had a song she wanted to do that she knew would be a smash hit: I Love Rock n Roll. She saw it performed on TV in her hotel room when she was touring with her band... Joan was so blown away she made a vow that she would cover it… The thing is I Love Rock n Roll took 6 years because it was rejected by her band time and again. And then when it was finally recorded it was released as a B side not once but twice. When Joan went solo, She re-recorded it and this time put it out as an A SIDE. It was a #1 smash… It's one of the biggest rock songs ever. Get the 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.

Coming up, it's the untamed story of the Southern rock anthem Midnight Rider which was born in a farmhouse outside of Macon, Georgia. The artist The Allman Brothers' Gregg Allman penned most of it in under an hour, but when he hit a wall with the crucial third verse, inspiration ceased. Refusing to let the moment slip away, Gregg did the unthinkable. In the dead of night, with nowhere open and his creative fire blazing, he called on the band's trusty roadie. Together, they ACTUALLY broke into a recording studio to capture the magic before it faded. Breaking and entering might be a crime. But in this case, it was a necessary step in the fulfillment of his destiny. One that was part of a journey packed with triumph and heartbreak to create one of the greatest rock songs ever…It all unfolds 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.

There is something about an opening lyric that can make or break a song. And as a lyricist, when you get it right, it launches your song into the stratosphere. For today’s show, we’re paying homage to some of the most gripping opening lines of the rock era… written by master wordsmiths. We’ll tell the stories of their songs and where their inspiration came from… including Jackson Browne who found his muse when his car broke down in the desert and had to hitchhike home and inspired him to write Take It Easy for the Eagles. Then there's Roger Waters and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd with the greatest lyric and guitar combo in history. Roger, who was haunted by a bandmate Syd Barrett's ghost. There’s also the Ramones who copy-catted one of the first boy bands and their bubblegum hit with one of the best rockers of the time. And U2's Bono who couldn’t stand to sing his own iconic opening lyric... thinking it was cheesy but it became the masterpiece of The Joshua Tree. We’ve got some killer stories coming up… 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 band Boston REVITALIZED Rock in the Disco era when some thought Rock was dead and buried. Their first two albums lit up the charts and knocked disco down. But then it took 8 years for their 3rd album to come out because of a lawsuit with their label. Boston beat the big bad label in the lawsuits, but as we all know 8 years in the music industry is a lifetime. And by the time they put out their record, the musical landscape had completely changed. And to make matters worse, someone leaked a rough demo of their new song Amanda to radio months before it was supposed to come out. But then Boston did the unthinkable. Their leaked single Amanda went straight to number one as did their album. And they ruled the mid-80s just like they did the 70s. It is a great story filled with a few surprises next on Processor 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… it’s a countdown of the Top 5 hit resurrections of the Rock Era! These are the songs that made it into the upper reaches of the charts not once, but twice—on separate campaigns. Our list includes a Queen song about a homicidal cowboy that lingered in a legend's mind for years before being recorded, a Righteous Brothers track where the lead vocal was decided by a coin toss, a controversial Benny Mardones ballad about a 16-year-old that had radio programmers sweating, a Prince song so ingeniously full of metaphors, it managed to slip by the moral majority, and a timeless classic sung by Chubby Checker who cut the session short because he to go race back to his house and do his homework. The countdown is 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.

You won't believe today's story. The story of the hit rock classic Kryptonite straight from the band, 3 Doors Down. When today’s lead singer Brad Arnold was 15 years old, he was in the middle of his high school math class bored as could be. And so he wrote a song called Kryptonite. That song would later be recorded by his band 3 Doors Down, made up of his school chums. And then they would beg the local radio station for a year to play their rough demo. When the radio station finally did, Kryptonite blew up and went to #1. One day Brad was driving a forklift and virtually the next day he was at #1. And it would launch of the most successful rock bands of their time. And it all came from a silly song he wrote in math class as a freshman… Coming up next, the interview and story from two of the nicest guys in 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, interviews with two legends that we’ve lost over the last few years. One was one of the most successful songwriters in history: Lamont Dozier. Giving Lennon and McCartney all the competition they could handle at their peak. And another was Duke Fakir, the last remaining member of the hall-of-fame music group the Four Tops. Together they tell the story behind several of their biggest hits including their first #1 I Can’t Help Myself (Sugarpie Honeybunch), which came from this famous songwriter’s grandpa and the pet names he used to FLIRT with the women who would come by to get their hair cut by his wife…After it hit #1 the band’s former label put out their early material to capitalize on their popularity and steal their new label’s thunder. So The Tops needed a good follow-up single to head off the threat. And so they took this I Can’t Help Myself and played it backwards putting new lyrics to it. Then the named it The Same Old Song. It hit the top 5 and was almost a carbon copy! See what I mean 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.