Professor of Rock

Today the lords of rock Led Zeppelin are back in full force. We take Another deep dive into the heaviest band in history with Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham… It’s the story of A key track from their landmark fourth album, Led Zeppelin IV otherwise known as Rock N Roll and it actually came out of an improv jam session while the band was taking a break from writing another classic track. Written in only 15 minutes, it was like the band pulled this one out of thin air. The legendary guitarist even called the creation of this song, “spontaneous combustion” and it was a big middle finger to the critics who claimed the band had lost their rock edge. Now, decades later it is still revered as an all-time standard. It’s the tale of the unlimited fist-pumping, heart-stopping classic… 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.

It was one of the most storied #2 hits in rock and roll history from a band that was criminally underappreciated in their day. The Zombies' 1964 classic “She’s Not There” blew everyone’s mind including the Beatles. Half a century later, People are getting hip to their genius. Up next the entire band from Rod Argent to Colin Bluntstone tell the story of this their biggest hit. It hypnotized listeners in the 60s and it was the first ever rock hit to use an electric piano as a lead instrument… and then decades after its peak on the charts it was Banned from radio for being lyrically inappropriate after 911 The story is 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.

“Over the first 22 years in the history of the Grammy Awards, no single artist had swept the so-called “BIG FOUR,” Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and New Artist of the Year.” Until 1981…. Christopher Cross made history while competing against some of music's heaviest hitters: Barbara Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Barry Gibb, Lionel Richie, Billy Joel, and Pink Floyd. He did it with his #1 smooth 80s classic Sailing... the song that defined Yacht Rock, a genre that wouldn’t be named for 30 years. He won the Oscar, 5 grammys and more and then banished them to his garage. The story is 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.

Coming up.. they were a rock supergroup Made up of parts from 3 legendary Prog rock bands Yes, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and a new wave band The Buggles… Together they formed Asia who mastered the early 80s with the biggest straight ahead blockbuster rock record of 1982…they stole the #1 spot from the likes of ACDC, Foreigner, Pau McCartney and Fleetwood Mac it was actually the biggest selling album of the year pop rock or soul. The main hit from the record The Heat of The Moment was an apology letter to the singer’s girlfriend and it actually started as a country song but cooler heads prevailed and it became the singalong rocker of 1982. A founding member and co writer of the song tells the story personally 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 artist who changed everything. He grew up with aspergers. He was lonely and misunderstood but found solace in the writings of science fiction..he wrote this song as a teenager on an out of tune piano about a robot prostitute.. It ended up selling a million copies and going to #1 and no one knew what the song was really about. Up next in our interview this artist tells us 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, another great story from an interview I did with one of rock's greatest storytellers. Mr. Randy Bachman from the Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive BTO… This 70s rock hit came when BTO was on tour with the Doobie Brothers. The band was on the road going to a gig when during a traffic jam a truck driver boxed their tour bus in… so a little while later this rock legend confronted the trucker at a rest stop. A brawl was about to go down… from this incident... the trucker said something that would inspire a rock classic. Let it Ride… It became a 70s guitar classic. Get the story from this rocker 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.

On the run from a dishonest record label and a bum contract, multi-platinum, grammy award-winning, rock hall of Famer Billy Joel dropped off the grid and hid out in a dive bar in LA. There under an alias, he spent six months on the down low playing music for down-and-out crowds. It didn’t pay much, and there was no glory in it, but it was a life-altering decision. That’s because it taught him how to take his song-craft to a new level and gave him the inspiration to write the signature song all signature songs are judged by…Piano Man. It would break him into the mainstream and make him a superstar. It’s a song that generations of fans have turned into a go-to karaoke classic and an essential track for any Saturday night and years later Joel would find out he initially made only about 8 grand off of it even though it’s one of the biggest songs ever. The story of a 70s classic is 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.

Up next we go behind the signature song behind a ground-breaking album that boasted 11 Top 40 singles on the Hot 100, and seven #1 hits*. Just unbelievable numbers. I’m talking about Saturday Night Fever the soundtrack from 1978 that really is a Bee Gees album. the record was so big you almost have to call it a movement…The song most associated with this movement the Bee Gees Staying Alive has been misunderstood for decades! Everyone knows it as a carefree, jolt of swagger but it’s actually a very serious song from a group that absolutely dominated the charts even doing something the Beatles didn’t do. Barry Gibb replaced himself at #1 not once, not twice but three times with four straight #1 hits. With Staying Alive, Night Fever, If I Can’t Have You, and Love Is Thicker Than Water… Stayin’ Alive started the momentum and it almost didn’t get released… the story is 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.

In the space of just over two years, Phil Collins scored twelve Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. 12...That’s insane. And actually, that list includes five #1s, and the lowest single really came in at #7. So 12 Top 7 singles? And as it just so happens, today we’re covering that #7 song. Take Me Home from his 25 X Platinum album No Jacket Required from 1985. But what makes this story even more compelling, is the fact that Phil Collins hired the singer he once replaced to sing on the track. Peter Gabriel…. And when I say replaced, I’m talking about fronting one of the biggest bands of the rock era... Genesis. So you would expect there to be some bad blood. Find out if there was. This is definitely one of my favorite tracks from this artist and honestly, it deserved a higher ranking than it got. Get ready, the story is 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.

Wow. You’re in for a treat, the greatest female rock singer in history, Ann Wilson takes us through her band, Heart’s greatest Hidden gems including a walk through their peak in the 70s. After Dreamboat Annie, their first album made the global superstars they had a legal battle with their label Mushroom Records when the label released their follow-up album without the band’s approval and unfinished. They fought them and were able to get them to stop production and a judge gave them just 2 days to finish songs, mix, and master theirs. so 2 versions exist. also the story of this legend’s favorite album track and how it devastated her to write it. 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.