Professor of Rock

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Coming up, an interview with Paul Roberts of Sniff 'n' the Tears about one of my favorite songs of 1979, Driver’s Seat. Technically the band is a one-hit wonder and what a story behind this one… First of all, Driver’s Seat sat on the shelf for years… because the label was changing distributors.. and then a worker’s strike at the record plant might’ve kept it from being a #1 hit because the factory couldn’t print the record so fans couldn’t buy it. And then when it did become a hit the band immediately broke up… but then a decade later the song finally hit #1 when it was used in an insurance commercial. The long and winding story of the classic Driver’s Seat 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….the story of an enchanted land, where joy fills the air, and troubles fade away in the rain… A place where everyone is happy and kind, and the light of the human spirit shines brightly for all to share. The song title, Shambala, is over 5000 years old and it was recorded at the same time by two different artists who released them at the same time, Three Dog Night and BW Stevenson… see who won the battle on the charts. With an exceptional vocal by Cory Wells with incredible backups by Chuck Negron and Danny Hutton...Let’s travel together on the road to this mythical paradise that inspired a timeless ‘feel good’ classic that is illegal not to sing along to! …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.

A hopeless romantic named Bruce Blackman asked a beautiful young woman on a date several times and was rejected. Finally, on the third request, she said yes… The date went pretty well and Bruce turned the experience into one of the most famous one-hit wonders of the 70s, a song called Moonlight Feels Right by his band Starbuck. But the story behind it is just as good. Up next Bruce Blackman tells us how actor Gene Hackman, an epic Marimba solo, and an accidental laugh in the chorus came to epitomize this classic…. And how Bruce had to rush to get the song recorded as Lynyrd Skynyrd was kicking him out of the studio... And how the song led to a marriage proposal, and if she said yes… 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 1989 to 1990 Rock on Mainstream radio was dying… Boy Bands and sugary pop was taking over… History says that Nirvana came in and saved it… But the truth is that Chris Robinson, who I am interviewing next, and his band The Black Crowes revitalized rock a full 2 years before Nirvana or Pearl Jam. They did it with a B-Side Cover song from the 60s… Hard to Handle was originally sung by Otis Redding. The Crowes hardened it up and the song and their album Shake Your Money Maker reignited rock and roll…AND BLEW AWAY THE WANNABEES setting the stage for grunge ... 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.

Today, we’re returning to a new show on this channel… One that has us diving deep into the catalogs of the greatest bands of all time, and telling their stories via five essential tracks. But this time around we’ve got a twist for you. Instead of just following the band, we’re following the careers of two iconic musicians, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman, who epitomized the band The Guess Who… including how they came up with the smash hit American Woman on the spot while playing a show. And how Randy’s BTO throwaway track You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet was written just to tease his brother, but then became one of the greatest “singalongs” of all time. Most importantly we’ll get into how the Guess Who’s name was taken from the Cummings and Bachman… and tell you how Burton is taking the so-called nuclear option to snuff out them out… 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.

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One of rock’s definitive frontmen, Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra, was the victim of a serial cheater. Jeff was smitten by this seductress but she made his life a living hell in her path of destruction. So naturally he got even by writing a song about it... He called it Evil Woman. Only he felt it was just filler… after all, he’d written in just a few minutes. In fact Jeff would say Evil Woman was the fastest song he ever wrote and part of the music was from a song he’d written earlier called Nightider that he played backwards. In the end Evil Woman became ELO’s first major hit and one of his favorites. 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….the story of one of the first power ballads: Love Hurts. This one originated during a stormy time for The Everly Brothers, one the most prolific sibling acts in recorded music history. GET THIS... Love Hurts was covered DOZENS OF times by some huge artists but It was NEVER a hit until the Scottish rookie band Nazareth recorded the definitive version. And even then, it struggled to find an audience before blowing up around the globe. We’re going to talk about how this Love Hurts finally got its due, and…and how Nazareth with the spectacular lead vocals of Dan McCafferty was erroneously pronounced DEAD after one of the most notorious plane crashes of the Rock Era. But in the end… it was fake news….the story of this 70s hard rock classic 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, Cutting Crew ruled 1987 with 3 big hits from their album Broadcast… (I Just) Died in You Arms, I’ve Been in Love Before, and One For the Mockingbird. And then by the next year, they were gone… Never to be heard from again. It’s quite perplexing because they had everything going for them to last a decade or more, the looks, the songs, the style... Up next lead singer Nick Van Eede tells the story of a wondrous period when Cutting Crew topped the charts with a platinum album, a #1 single, and 2 other big hits that put them in the running… Find out what happened to them 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.