Professor of Rock

This all time rock classic appeared on the biggest selling album of all time. Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975… Already Gone was the most rocking single that Glenn Frey and Don Henley and the Eagles ever did.… It came out of funny situation…while in the backroom of a place he used to gig at Hall of Fame songwriter Jack Tempchin was thirsty and searching for something to Drink. when he opened an old fridge and found a jug full of a strange liquid. He was so thirsty he drank it… it ended up being very heavy as in no time he was three sheets to the wind. … about 20 minutes later he had written a song that would bring him Millions. Find out this and more in our new interview with Jack 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.

For a lot of US listeners, today’s band is a well-kept Canadian secret. And that’s not a good thing, because these classic rockers have turned out a killer catalog that includes multiple Top 40 hits... just not on this side of the border. It’s Tom Cochrane’ and his band Red Rider. Their classic rock battle cry: Lunatic Fringe is continually cited as one of the best one hit wonder of the 80s only it was never a hit on the charts. It missed the top 40 completely thought it did go top 20 on the rock charts IN fact Red Rider never had a top 40 hit in America. Even so Lunatic Fringe has become a classic of rock radio.... It’s a haunting battle cry, burning with righteous indignation. A call to defend the downtrodden and stand against hate. Tom’s management actually tried to talk him out of even recording it and he nearly listened to them but a devastating tragedy motivated him to see it through.. This is the story of a singer who never gave up and found redemption in the chart later on because of it… his band barely missed the U.S. top 40 for almost 20 years but his first solo single Life Is A Highway hit the top 5 everywhere. 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 anyone thinks of the baddest rock stars on the planet, Billy Joel would likely be at the back of the line because they judge his work and persona off of a few radio hits. Uptown Girl, Just the Way You Are, We Didn’t Start the Fire... Well that bias has caused many to miss out on one of the greatest back catalogs of songs in history and one of baddest cats in the business… Mr. Billy Joel the Piano Man. Truth is he’s one of the baddest dudes in the game and one of the greatest artists in rock history and he’s been hiding in plain site all these years. Let me just give you some starters… 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 icon of the 80s was using a urinal when a fan recognized him and came up midstream and pitched him his demo. He gave him the tape when he was finished. the icon was Rick Springfield mourned the times Jessie’s Girl was a hit. Part of the music on that demo became his top 10 hit Affair of the Heart. Then a few years later another 80s icon (Steve Kilby of the Church) was using the bathroom of a woman he had come home with and heard a strange noise in the adjacent bathtub.. He pulled back the shower curtain and found a huge Lizard lurking which inspired another great 80s song, 80s hit Reptile. These interviews as well as one with John Oates and Colin Hay of Men at Work from the stories of the 5 best underplayed hits of the 80s including One hit wonder, The Captain of her Heart by Double and the amazing Electric Blue by Icehouse. . Urinals inspiring big hits… Anxiety keeping one artist up at night… Its all hear in the best of 80s hidden gems. 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 band’s heavy Debut single was one of the biggest rock hits of the year but critics wrote them off as a Grunge also ran. Collective Soul hit #1 on the Rock charts with Shine. Critics were dead wrong. It was a huge mistake on their part since Ed Roland and Collective Soul weren’t of that caliber just in the same time frame.. Their second album 90s classic December blew the sophomore jinx out of the water with several #1 hits including today’s feature. The World I Know Ed Roland walked out of his hotel room in New York City and just moved around the skyscrapers by foot observing the grittiness and the turmoil of the people in this metropolis inspiring him to write this #1 smash. Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls borrowed from it considerably and in my interview with Ed he has the perfect comeback. Also with their other #1 Rock hit, the rest of the band called the song the worst shit ever and didn’t want to record the song. Ed told them to forget it…THEY WERE RECORDING IT.. he was right.. It was one of their biggest this. 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.

Gary Puckett and the Union Gap were playing wherever they could when they got discovered. They got their big break while they were playing a gig inside of a bowling alley. IN fact they signed the record contract inside the same bowling alley about a month later they hit the charts with fury, with 6 consecutive gold hits and actually outsold the Beatles in 1968. Young Girl was the big hit for them in 68 going all the way to #2. TH Up next Gary Puckett and his producer songwriter Jerry Fuller (who produced and wrote hits for everyone from Ricky Nelson to Elvis) both tell the story of this nostalgic hit which even to this day has remained controversial because people don’t listen to the lyrics they just jump to conclusions. We unravel the mystery of the 60s 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 ZZ TOP was doing well in the 70s but when they entered the 80s they wanted to up their game after hearing the modern sound of several New Wave and Synth pop acts of the 80s like Depeche Mode and Duran Duran so they updated their sound adding keyboards to their guitar attack along with some high tech music videos for MTV and instantly blew up as one of the most recognizable bands in history with the hit Sharp Dressed Man as well as Legs and Gimme All your Loving taking their 1983 blockbuster Eliminator into he stratosphere The thing is they didn’t really change at all, outside of a little synth.. They already had the most iconic look and sound in music, they just needed more exposure and it could’t have happened to a nicer bunch.. They were always focused on the music, not the money. ZZ Top was offered millions to shave off their beards by Gillette back in the day but they declined. Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard and the late Dusty Hill were one of a kind. 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 story LA punk band X and their 1980s masterpiece album Los Angeles. Both John Doe and Xene Cervenka give their recollections of the scene and music that has influenced everyone since with X’s distinct brand of rockabilly, punk, American and folk. X is one of the most compelling and influential underground bands of the 80s punk and alternative scene with a new perspective on an indie record that has been called one of the finest recordings of it’s genre. Released in 1980, this album has been name to so many top 10 lists we can’t cover them all here It’s been inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame as well. Songs covered include the title track, Johnny Hit and Run Paulene, the Door’s cover Soul Kitchen, the Unheard Music, Your Phone’s Off the Hook, The World’s A Mess It’s in His Kiss and Sex and Dying in High School 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.

Daryl Hall and John Oates 1981 hit I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do) is one of the most sampled songs in music history. It went to #1 after Olivia Newton John spent an 80s record 10 weeks at #1 Stopping Hall and Oates from replacing themselves at #1 since Private Eyes was at #1 just before Physical’s run. (It also kept Foreigner at #2 for a record 10 weeks! Not only has been sampled by numerous iconic songs over the years Furthermore it also influenced one of the biggest records of all time Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. Jackson told Hall and Oates at concert backstage that he would always dance to the record and he lifted the bass part from it. Years later it would be sampled on numerous rap and hip hop albums. John Oates tells the story of the #1 hit and how it has been misunderstood by many listeners thinking it was a lovesong but that it is actually as song against the power brokers of the entertainment industry. 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.

How Led Zeppelin threw this song away is beyond me. Next we break down a classic rock hidden gem Hey Hey What Can I Do which was the B side to the 45 of Immigrant song Written by the world’s biggest rock band Sadly, it never made it onto its intended album, Led Zeppelin 3 or any of the six that followed. And yet it has been hailed as a top-notch tune, living for decades as a holy grail rarity. A status reinforced by the fact that Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham never played it live. It’s a 70s hidden gem for the ages. One that was forgotten to almost everyone aside from avid record collectors and classic rock DJs. Would fans ever get their hands on this incredible track? Find out... 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.