Professor of Rock

Coming up the story of an all time 70s #1 hit that has as much drama and intrigue as any song every recorded an an example of everyone trying to force a song to be something it wasn’t. In the end the song won the battle. I’m talking about Papa Was A Rolling Stone by the Temptations...First of all it was 12 minutes long with the first four minutes recored as an extended instrumental section that had the legendary group furious that their vocals were being increasingly pushed to the background by an off the wall producer. Then the producer had the Dennis Edwards the singer record dozens of takes to the point of exhaustion. He also didn’t want to sing it. it got so bad that after the song was finished he was fired and it would be the last massive hit So many urban legends have been thrown around about the song and we’ll get the real story from the last remaining member of the this hall of fame group. the interview with Otis Williams set the record straight. 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 more than a decade of paying their dues on the road, nine studio albums of mixed success, and eleven singles that mostly struggled on the Hot 100… The J Geils Band was way overdue for their big break.. As luck would have it they entered the 80s just as a new sound was storming the airwaves, they finally figured out what listeners were looking for. Led by a semi risqué #1 hit, Centerfold about the singer finding out his once girlfriend is posing in magazine this song punctuated with some of the catchiest pop hooks known to the 80s, enabling this band to finally break through years after battling it out on the charts. They paid their dues for 14 years.. They ruled 1982 with Centerfold going to #1 for 6 weeks and the Title track Freeze Frame going to #4, they they pretty much vanished. It was so popular, I sang it in church as a 7 year old kid and got in huge trouble. The story of the song is . . 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.

The First 3 studio albums from KISS that taught us how to rock, were actually, commercial disappointments. It was so bad Their record label Casablanca was circling the drain. It was a desperate time for Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, the principal songwriters of Kiss create a song that would vault them to superstardom and keep the band going for the long haul… So they reached deep within themselves and generated the perfect 70s rock anthem Rock and Roll All Nite and it died on the charts. Desperate to prove themselves, the head of the record label Neil Bogart hatched a plan to take their live show and bring it inside the bedroom of every teen in america… Kiss Alive would change music history and give the band theirs first huge hit an anthem of rebellion that should’ve been a #1 Hit! 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.

For years this rock legend had been fighting a losing battle against alcoholism and substance abuse. Ozzy Osbourne is of course FAMOUS for having an extreme on-stage persona, but in the late 80s his personal demons started to take the spotlight. In a drunken act he would forever regret, this musician went completely off the rails and assaulted his wife. Next thing he knew, he was waking up in a jail cell charged with attempted murder. How can anyone come back from something like that? Well, today we’re telling the unbelievable story of how he did. And how it all relates to a hit song he wrote for his wife called Mama I’m Coming Home. Written with guitarist Zak Wylde and Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, this 1991 power ballad from the album No More Tears returned him to prominence in the charts.. The story is 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.

Against all odds, and against better judgement, today’s artist wrote a song that went to #1 on the Hot 100 and sold over 6 million copies…AND IT’S the WORST SONG EVER WRITTEN. To prepare for this episode, I scoured a every valid list of ‘Worst Song Ever Polls’ and was surprised to find that this 70s hit rarely made the cut… I alway try to be positive but you have to trust me, this is TRULY the worst song of all time. I don’t think there is a person living who would say otherwise. and yet is isn’t included in any of the worst songs list I’ve looked atSo, what’s the deal? Is this actually some kind of a ‘worst song hidden gem?’ I had to wonder if there are there listeners who secretly like this sort of ear poison? Today we discuss Disco Duck by Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots and how the song went from a really bad idea to a #1 hit in the middle of the disco era of the 70s. How Rick was fired for even talking about the song as it was making it’s way up the charts… 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.

This Legendary Rock band knew that this song would be really big. So It was perplexing when it finished in 3rd place out of the four singles released from their 1981 blockbuster album Escape. I’m talking about Don’t Stop Believin’ By Journey. It was a strange song in that Steve Perry’s immaculately sung chorus doesn’t show up until the last 30 seconds of the song and Neal Schon has a blazing solo in the first 30 seconds but it’s promise would grow over the decades after it was released and when Glee wanted to cover it in their landmark episode the Neal Schon in our interview said he was pretty nervous that it would ruin the song and turn it into Mary Poppins, taking all of the Heaviness out of it. Instead it helped turn it into the biggest selling digital rock single ever. In a star studded episode including Carlos Santana, Toto, Sammy Hagar and Panic! at the Disco, we get the story from the principal band members of Journey including Co-writers Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain and current lead singer Arnel Pineda… 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 all time anthem by AC/DC that was completely misunderstood by the critics and haters. Thinking that Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was evil and meant to influence children to follow Satan the 70s tune was actually inspired by a cartoon character the band members watched on the telly as little children. It was released on an album that wasn’t released in America for almost 5 years until Back in Black blew up in the early 80s. By this time their incredible singer Bon Scott had already passed away. the album went on to sell 6 million copies ever 5 years after it was recorded. The band’s label didn’t believe in Bon Scott early on and refused to push AC/DC in the states but the band proved them wrong with sold out stadiums and over 100 million records sold and has been the ultimate kryptonite to cancel culture with their no holds barred, no apologies brand or hard 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.

When these guys were still in high school, they were late for class because they were up all night doing recording sessions with Some of the most legendary bands of the 70s… Steve Lukather and David Paich as well as the Late Jeff Porcaro formed Toto soon after and David Paich wrote the riff of the 70s classic Hold the Line in his first apartment so loud and so many times that he was evicted after other renters complained but in the end the song sold a million copies and put the band on the map. IN this exclusive interview with Steve Lukather and David Paich we get the story first hand as well as the story of 99 and how their classic logo came to be. 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 wrote and performed one of the most eartastic hook laden classics of the 80s. I Can Dream About You, the underrated top 10 hit from 1984 is true sonic time machine.. over it’s 4 minutes it transports you back the greatest year in music history. Sadly it’s singer, the great Dan Hartman would only live for another few years after it was a hit Dying at only 43 from a brain tumor… today’s story is an interesting one… He wrote this song as a demo for Daryl Hall and John Oates only they weren’t able to record it.. So he pretty much recorded the way he thought they would’ve done it imitating their sound with reverence and it was brilliant. Used for the cult classic film Streets of Fire it became a smash of the summer of 1984. Including exclusive interviews with John Oates from Hall and Oates and his former bandmate, Edgar Winder from the the Edgar Winter group, this is a cant miss. 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 evolution of a universal rock standard that was rescued from obscurity by a 17 year old, future icon, who happened to see a live performance of the song while watching TV in a hotel room in London. Joan Jett was touring with the Runaways when she saw the Arrows perform I Love Rock and Roll on TV. Joan made a pact to cover the song no matter what. She Knew it would be a #1 hit. It took 6 years after her band rejected it and it was released as a B-side not once but 2 times. When She finally covered it as Joan Jett and the blackhearts including Ricky Byrd on guitar it was a #1 smash. topping the billboard hot 100 for 6 weeks. The story of perseverance and destiny…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.