Professor of Rock

I shared a video a few months back about the legendary rockstar who walked out of my interview to go eat a burrito. Well, today I have that uncut rollercoaster interview. And as we were prepping it this week, it was funny because the first thing he told me before we even started talking was that I could ask him anything. Well it’s probably the most entertaining interview I’ve ever done because He shares some incredible stories behind some of the greatest songs of all time because He was in 2 different supergroups The Byrds and Crosby Stills and Nash and a vital part of the music of the 60s and 70s but then he turns on me and tells me what for and walks out of the interview only to return about 45 minutes later… I think he was hangry, but no matter, this is a must-see interview, a train wreck that somehow has a cool ending. We get the stories of some of the greatest songs of the 60s and 70s, including Eight Miles High, Mr. Tambourine Man, Turn! Turn! Turn! and Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, Teach your Children, and Ohio here’s my interview with David Crosby Warts, profanity, cuss out and all! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up… a riveting leap back to the ‘80s to celebrate 10 phenomenal songs that don’t get the credit they deserve from some of the greatest female voices ever, including some insane stories behind them. including a Natalie Merchant who was touring a London museum, was suddenly struck by a tingling, then numbness, and searing pain. She would have emergency surgery to save her life and spinal cord. In the surgery, they had to remove 3 bones from her spine & shift her vocal cords to the side. When she awoke, she could no longer sing… There’s also the eerie vocal by Bjork and a strange song that sounded like a Train Wreck, but its peculiarity made its singer a revelation. And then there’s the pivotal day when Sade would give a career-defining performance, and at the time, she was destitute and improvising a life inside an abandoned fire station. Where the building’s utilities failed—the toilet froze, nearly running a career before it began. Plus, the highest note achieved on a hit song in history by Sheena Easton, and it’s not annoying. The stories of the 80s hits by Warlock and Doro which became a one hit wonder, Heart featuring Ann Wilson with a duet Surrender to Me, the Sugarcubes Birthday, Piano in the Dark by Brenda Russell and Magic by Olivia Newton John and Rooms in Fire by Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac,See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sometimes the biggest songs never got their due on the charts. Today we're counting down the Top 10 tracks from 1979 that should have been massive hits but somehow never cracked the Top 40 even though they defined a generation, shaped rock history, and became undeniable classics—And as per usual, we’ve got some crazy stories… like Police frontman Sting who got so drunk in a Munich hotel room that the world was spinning around him—but in the middle of his drunken stupor he came up with one of the most cosmic tracks of the decade, Walking on the Moon. There's also a guitar legend Mark Knopfler who wrote the song Lady Writer about a brilliant woman on TV and used her to absolutely destroy his ex-girlfriend with some seriously savage lyrics. And we'll reveal the infamous lyric from Neil Young that would haunt him forever after it appeared in one of music's most tragic suicide notes. Plus, the top 2 songs on this countdown are 2 of the most played songs in rock history, with about 8 billion streams and listens Pink Floyd Comfortably Numb and AC/DC Highway To Hell, but were never hits. One was almost an instrumental and one is arguably the greatest riff ever. Plus the story of All of My Love from Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant's tribute to his fallen son. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up next the most insane story of a hit song in the annals of insane stories of hit songs. A famous songwriter John D Loudermilk was allegedly kidnapped by three men while resting in his car waiting out a late-night blizzard. He said he was beaten for three days, and then it got worse when they found out he was a famous songwriter… That’s when they made a deal with him under duress. If he would write a song about the unjust treatment of their people, the Cherokees would let him live. Otherwise, they would take his life. There really wasn’t a choice… Now, this songwriter had written a lot of great songs for everyone from Johnny Cash to Roy Orbison, so he was confident he could write a song to save his life. He agreed to the three men’s demands to save his own life. He went about writing a song called Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian) and it became a massive global smash for Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and The Raiders..After the song became massive and he had lived up to his promise… the truth would finally come out, and it would ruin his career… The truth surrounding one of the biggest hits of its time coming up next on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

They had the talent. They had the songs. They had their shot at superstardom. But for these artists, something went off the rails… Dead wrong at exactly the wrong moment—leaving us to wonder what might have been. Today we're counting down eight bands and solo acts who seemed destined for massive, enduring careers… but for reasons ranging from self-sabotage to tragedy to bad timing, it never happened. Including the La's perfectionist frontman, who actually destroyed millions of dollars' worth of his own recorded music because it didn't sound “authentic” enough. He physically destroyed them, and no one will ever hear them! Or what about the Fiona Apple who ruined her career with an out-of-control acceptance speech at an awards show? After that, her career stalled because her label refused to release her latest album… then thousands of fans mailed apples to the label’s headquarters in protest. Find out why. Plus, the mysterious hospital cover-up that robbed us of what could have been rock’s greatest frontman, Mother Love Bone's Andrew Wood. It’s our latest episode of One and Done, NEXT on the Professor of Rock.Plus the story of 80s bands that had a chance to be huge but lost their careers including Shattered Dreams by Johnny Hates Jazz, Wild, Wild West by the Escape Club, I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight by Cutting Crew and You Get What You Give by the new Radicals who chose to be a one hit wonder. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up next… You’ve seen pieces of this interview over the years but here is the uncut full length version with one of the greatest rock vocalists in history. From her formative years to the her legendary years in the 70s to her fall from grace in the early 80s to the comeback in the 80s.  and the stories of all the songs are here including Crazy on You the song that put Heart and Ann Wilson on the map.  When people started calling them a Woman’s answer to Led Zeppelin along with the other massive hits’ magic man and the Scumbag record executive who harassed her that led to the Rock classic Barracuda to the Duet where the label gave her the choice to sing with any rock frontman in the business and how she learned to sing like that…a full uncut interview with rock legend ann wilson is next…Make sure to subscribe below for more interviews like this.  Let’s do it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up next, the legendary Prince who wrote a throwaway song that he gave to his bandmate's solo project. He wrote it quickly, without thought, as a favor for his bandmate to give him a little something. He had just picked up an acoustic guitar and created the song in a matter of minutes. The very next day, Prince came into the studio, and as a courtesy, he checked on his bandmate, who was in the middle of recording that throwaway track. But all of a sudden, Prince heard something more. It was better than he’d originally thought. In fact, as Prince continued to listen, he knew the song was going to be a massive hit, and he knew it was too good for this side project. So he took it back. Prince immediately locked himself in the studio for several hours and transformed the little acoustic ditty into one of the funkiest hits of the 80s: Kiss. Sure enough, it hit #1, and he promised to give his bandmate a writing credit. But it never happened. We have a great story of a throwaway song that hit #1 and the drama that followed next. Let’s do it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up, This group was on a tear to start the decade. Wham! starring legend George Michael and his pal Andrew Ridgely were on top of the world. but George in particular was obsessed with dominating the charts. His goal in 1984 was to score four #1 singles. And you know what, by November he and his partner had three… With time running out, he pulled out a surefire hit he wrote in the middle of watching a football game on TV. He was certain it would hit #1… and it was a holiday song called Last Christmas... However, in December he was invited to sing on a massive charity single. Band-Aid Do They Know It’s Christmas ...when he heard it, he knew it was sure to go #1. Wrestling with guilt, he secretly hoped his song would outperform this charity track. It’s the story of one of the most popular songs of the 80s with almost 3 billion streams yet the song was only a promotional single in the US. Find our if it ever got to #1 NEXT on the Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You know how much I love the stories of the great one-hit wonders of the rock era. Well, today we're starting off a new countdown series on the channel, and this one is going to be a blast… It’s the 10 best Bottled Lightning hits from a single year in the rock era. And to kick off the series, we’re targeting the halfway point of the 80s, including the story of powerhouse vocalist Alison Moyet who publicly rejected her biggest US hit, calling it weak and vowing to never perform it again and she has kept that promise… We’ve also got the supergroup The Firm featuring Jimmy Page, arguably the greatest guitarist ever, who let the lead singer Paul Rodgers play the guitar on their biggest hit, even though the singer could barely play. And then there's the song by Cock Robin that seemed innocent enough in the 80s, but whose lyrics read like a restraining order waiting to happen. The creepiest love song of the 80s, and it’s not Every Breath You Take. Plus Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill that went from millions of streams over 36 years to billions of views overnight due to one single use in a famous show… Let’s do it.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We have another year-end countdown today, and this one is packed with songs that have stood the test of time, including a broke rockstar Johnny Rzenik who had just been screwed over by his label and was coming off a brutal divorce and ready to quit music. But an epiphany while strumming a guitar with many broken strings gave him one of the biggest hits ever, Goo Goo Dolls' Iris. Plus the female powerhouse Alanis Morissette, who sold 33 million copies of her debut, only to lose 30 million of those fans on her follow-up song Thank U, which had a provocative video where she appeared naked & blurred. Plus Lauryn Hill, who said she wasn’t dissing her contemporary in her hit song but ripped her with a one-liner that felt like an uppercut about her booty. Plus the greatest song of the last 30 years, Bittersweet Symphony, that has been one of the most streamed and synced songs ever and the artist behind it made nothing and how a song about getting a BLEEEEP while dancing close became the #1 hit of the year… Let’s do it.To get $35 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames go to: AuraFrames.com and use promo code ROCK at checkout.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.