Professor of Rock

Before REO Speedwagon became a household name, they had two big songs that changed everything for them: Roll With the Changes and Time for Me to Fly. As you‘ll see in the upcoming interview with lead singer Kevin Cronin, their breakthrough hit came while he was driving his Ford Pinto from his home in the Midwest to LA to make it in the music industry… As he was driving he had a paper bag full of snacks and this song came to him on the freeway so he hurried and wrote it down on this paper bag… It became a signature song for REO Speedwagon but then when he met one of his heroes years later, he made a comment that he may have ripped his previous hit off… Let’s see what Kevin says about it. 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.

From studio gopher to global superstar, Jon Bon Jovi spent years chasing his big break. Working the club circuit as an underage teenager, Jon was shocked one night when his musical idol Bruce Springsteen jumped on stage and started duetting with him! Actually, he was singing The Boss's song at the time. Pretty cool. Later when Bon Jovi finally got a demo for his song Runaway recorded, he was rejected by every record label in the biz. And he thought that maybe it was time to call it quits. But in a last-ditch effort, he decided to sneak into a New York radio station and pitch Runaway straight to the DJ… The DJ ended up playing it and virtually overnight the song was a hit and set this singer up for a record label and a major tour… the only problem was Jon didn’t even have a band! Up next, the story of Jon Bon Jovi’s tenacity, and how he formed a band after Runaway hit it big and transformed a would-be pop idol into a hard rock icon 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.

Coming up…. the story of Fox on the Run by 70s British supergroup Sweet. This band had relied heavily on a famous production team to write all of their big hits, but Sweet was sick of singing only the songs they wrote. So the band decided to show what they could do. They had written a good song but no one thought the song had potential to be a single, except for this one executive at the band’s record label. Only thing is this executive wasn’t getting ANY cooperation from management to retool the track, so when the management and production team was out of town, the guys secretly went into the studio and produced the new version themselves. Sweet proved everyone wrong as Fox on the Run became one of their biggest hits. We retrace the steps of this covert operation that led to a huge international hit, and the beginning of a new era for an immensely influential Glam Rock quartet…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… We take the time machine back to the golden days of glam rock n’ roll... and the psychic artist who created the genre…. Marc Bolan of T Rex was one of a kind. When he was 8 years old, he foretold that he was going to be a rock star, He broke through in the US with the classic song Bang A Gong (Get it On). Between 1970 & 74, he became the biggest rock star in the UK. He also predicted he would die before he was 30, and died in a car accident 2 weeks before his 30th birthday. The story of his biggest international hit, and a lot more 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.

In 1981 at the forefront of the MTV Revolution, a straight-ahead rocking bar band called Tommy Tutone released a song that would become an all-time touchstone of pop culture... 867-5309/Jenny. And it came to the songwriter from a message scrawled on a bathroom stall. After being sung just one time, 867-5309/Jenny it became the most famous digits ever sung in a pop song. Up next 2 members from the one-hit wonder group the singer and the guitarist tell the 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.

Coming up, an interview with Norman Greenbaum. He is a rockstar that I’ve been trying to track down for almost 8 years to get the story of what I believe is the greatest one-hit wonder in the history of music... Spirit in the Sky. But I couldn’t find him. I had heard rumors that he had just disappeared and couldn’t be found. Then fate stepped in and I met him at a concert. To celebrate a million subscribers this is one of a few special episodes we’re doing. Norman started as a goat Farmer and then he developed a guitar effect on today’s classic hit that no one in the world has ever been able to repeat, not even him. A special interview is 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.

Up next, Tony Hadley, the former lead singer of Spandau Ballet, one the 80s leading new romantic bands, tells the story of one of the best songs of 1983: "True". It's a song that has become a bonafide standard… Tony admits that he has sung True at weddings, but when does he has to get really drunk… haha. He admits it’s a very difficult song to sing and he was scared about hitting the notes night after night. Well, it’s been decades and Tony can still nail it. And though he’s sung it over a thousand times, he never gets tired of it. But Tony does get embarrassed when fans tell him the things they do to this song. It’s a fabulous interview coming up and one where Tony is taken aback when I tell him that a famous boy ripped off the melody… Tony had no idea until this interview. 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 next, an interview with legend Otis Williams, who is the only one surviving the Temptations, one of the most successful groups ever. He tells us the story of their biggest hit, My Girl, a song that could be the most recognizable song of the 20th century. Let’s see if you agree. So the legend who wrote this classic, Smokey Robinson, knew it would be massive, but in the end, instead of keeping it for his own group, he gave it to his rivals the Temptations, and even produced it for them. With the signature opening bass line of its time, up next it’s the story of a song that was so classic, one time the Temptations were tired of it and decided not to play it in concert, and the audience came unglued…. 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, Lou Gramm was riding high in the 70s as his band Black Sheep had just opened for one of the biggest bands in the world. And after years of hard work and ultra tenacity they were finally going to break out. But then his world came crashing down when a car wreck destroyed all of their instruments and equipment, and their label wouldn’t front them the money to get new stuff. So they had to cancel their remaining dates. Lou Gramm was horrified, he thought his career was over but then he got a phone call from Mick Jones that changed his life. Asking him to be the lead singer of his new band Foreigner… Up next, how their composition, Feels Like the First Time became the opening shot for Foreigner, on its way to becoming a classic rock standard…giving them the chance to become one of the biggest bands ever. And many think it’s a sex song but it actually means something totally different… 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.

After losing his bandmate in a tragic car crash, rookie Steve Perry was ready to throw it all away. His music career, as far as he was concerned… it was over. He had come so close to that big break too many times. And it always fell apart. It was a mic drop in the worst way possible. But then, if you can believe it, him mom talked him out of quitting. She promised him something good would happen. And she was right. Not long after, he was recruited by Journey’s manager Herbie Herbert to be their frontman. Only, there was a catch. They already had a lead singer. So going undercover as part of this band’s road crew, Steve Perry laid low until Herbert could fire the other singer. And when Steve finally his chance, he didn’t disappoint. Six, multi-platinum albums later, Steve Perry is recognized as one of the greatest rock voices of all time… And today we’re telling the story of his first song with Journey... Lights, including an interview with the great guitarist Neal Schon, who he wrote it with. 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.