Professor of Rock

Elton John and Bernie Taupin were one the most prolific songwriting teams of the Rock Era- So far they’ve collaborated on more than 300 songs. From 1973 through 1976 alone, the duo had a number-one song an average of every four weeks. But their addictions to alcohol & substance forced a dissolution of their partnership, and impeded their respective careers for 7 years… In fact, the 70s biggest superstar actually lost his passion at one point and began to flounder missing the top ten for 3 years and had 3 singles that didn’t even make the charts…but Elton and Bernie came back together and wrote an 80s classic that forged a massive comeback with I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues a love letter from Bernie to his then wife. but says he now regrets writing an iconic lyric from it. Find out which one 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.

One of the most famous openings in music history came from the drummer playing a mistake. Low Rider by WAR became a 70s classic due to this happy accident. He was accidentally playing on the upbeat and when he realized his mistake he was about to change course when all of a sudden everyone else started playing on top of his mistake and the singer stepped up to the mic and said a random phrase and a 70s classic was born. We get the story of this classic From a founding member of one of America’s greatest Funk bands. When this one comes on the radio, we all turn it up to 11 and jam out, best heard when cruising down the freeway. The cool, laid-back hit of 1975 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 was the most anticipated album of its time. Pink Floyd with David Gilmour at the helm hadn’t released a new album in over 6 years! An eternity in rock! It would be the 2nd record released by the band since they parted ways with Roger Waters. The Division Bell hit #1 in 21 countries and it was put out when the musical landscape had completely changed with grunge and hip hop as king… Roger Water Ripped the songs apart, criticizing the fact that David Gilmour’s wife Polly Samson had co-written the first single. Coming up a songwriter who helped with the mesmerizing first single High Hopes and also Take it Back with an interview with the co-writer. What would it be like to write a song with Pink Floyd? Well, we get that answer from an artist who co-wrote two songs with them along with the wisdom that David Gilmour passed on to him. 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.

Many have called it the best record ever made. And the ultimate rock and pop record. It is the ultimate expression and illustration of a recording technique that hundreds of icons have tried to copy but never equaled. You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling by the Righteous Brothers is the most played song in the history of the 20th century and it almost didn’t get played by radio. It was too long when Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield recorded it and Phil Spector produced it. It was almost 4 minutes long at a time when radio wouldn’t play anything over 3 minutes. Written by the legendary songwriting couple Barry Man and Cynthia Weil, the duo decided to fudge the numbers a little and wrote down 3:05 on the tape they sent to radio even though it was closer to 4 mins long. It got played and became a #1 smash. Up next in the mother of all song stories.. the last surviving member of the Righteous Brothers Bill Medley and hall of fame songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil tell the story of this 60s classic that was used in Top Gun! 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.

He didn’t have movie star looks like Burt Reynolds or the rock n’ roll flamboyance of Elton John. Instead, he wore granny glasses and sported a dutch boy haircut. The great John Denver… In spite of his “golly gosh darn” image, he became a bonafide star performing songs that America could relate to. Especially today’s 70s classic Rocky Mountian High… the song made him a 70s legend. It’s a song that everyone loves even if some won’t admit it… It was actually banned during its heyday because radio programmers thought it was about Smoking Dope. The story of a song about nature that is somehow more beautiful than nature...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.

By 1979, tensions were running high within the ranks of America’s most iconic band the Eagles… Don Henley, Glenn Fry, and co had released 6 albums over the course of 7 years, toured relentlessly, and been to hell and back again. It all came to a head at a concert one night when a simple disagreement almost ended in an all-out brawl. As the 70s gave way to the 80s, the Eagles broke up. Solo records came and went but Don Henley struck with several that defined the 80s. He wrote a scathing indictment against the media with Dirty Laundry after they had pried into his personal life. The story of a song that still resonates today and how Hell froze over and the Eagles got back together. 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.

They were coming off a diamond-selling album. A hard rock band at the peak of their career with a singer-guitar duo that was second to none. Van Halen with David Lee Roth up front and the greatest guitarist of his generation Eddie Van Halen. 1984 was a massive record. She had just hit the top of the charts with a rock-pop song that had many excited about her future… Scandal with Patty Smyth hit the top 10 with the Warrior… Van Halen lost their singer and Eddie Van Halen ended up crossing paths with Patty Smyth and offered her what may’ve been the most coveted role in all of music….an interview with both Patty Smyth and Sammy Hagar about what might’ve been. A female fronted Van Halen in the Van Halen multiverse… and a few others who were offered the job including Daryl Hall and Steve Perry? Find out 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.

As a father of 3 daughters this was the most difficult song that Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, one of America’s great rock bands ever had to write… It actually took him 9 months to finish, then a record exec made him censor his own song fearing it wouldn’t get played on pop radio because of 1 word that wasn’t even a swear word… Would he change it? It would be the biggest hit on an 80s hard rock masterpiece. Pump an album that had a pretty good chance of being the first hard rock record to have 3 #1 hits from one album… would it happen … THE ROAD WOULD BE TOUGH… Janie’s Got A Gun got banned and had to compete with a smash hit starring a cartoon cat... find out if this …provocative and haunting song pulled it off 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’s song… what can I say? There’s just nothing else like it. I mean it’s dark, it’s moody, it’s theatrical rock. Listening to it takes you on a heart-pounding sonic journey deep into the shadows and then back into the light. Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler written and produced by the great Jim Steinman is epic in size and scope. The 1983 #1 hit is punctuated by a raspy, larger-than-life vocal performance from Bonnie Tyler who lost her voice some years before and had take throat surgery not knowing if she’d ever sing again.. she also had a huge hit that typecast her as a soft country rock balladeer… then she got a chance at singing a 7-minute song about Vampire love that would go onto become one of the biggest #1 hits ever…but it pissed Jim Steinman’s other constant collaborator Meatloaf off who felt the song was his for the taking… It’s a compelling story of a song that still moves the needle 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.

The snobs and the critics thumbed their noses at KISS as a party rock band with high theatrics and no technique. Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss were ready to prove them wrong, I mean they are the band that really taught us how to rock… up next a song that took them to another level. Detroit Rock City was first written as a party anthem. then the singer decided to change it up and write about a real-life tragedy. They felt they had something special, so they put it out… Then It Totally Bombed.. with radio stations picking up the B SIDE Ballad Beth instead…but redemption would come…even if it took decades. It’s a great comeback... 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.