Professor of Rock

One of the 80s best hit songwriters Holly Knight created the perfect song for an up and coming rookie Patty Smyth or Scandal featuring Patty Smyth called the Warrior… When Patty Smyth heard it she absolutely loved it. She knew it was a hit… She would be proven right as it went to #1 on the rock charts and #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. When it came to the music video…it was a different story and even though the video for the Warrior would rule MTV Pattie loathed it. she loved the song and hated the video find out why from both the artist and songwriter in our exclusive interview coming up next plus how Patty almost fronted Van Halen when David Lee Roth left. 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 is Episode 1 of a compelling interview with Thomas Dolby who most recall as the 80s video star on MTV with his quintessential hit, She Blinded Me With Science and as a Master Producer for many acts including Prefab Sprout but did you know that he played with David Bowie at Live Aid and along the way founded a Silicon Valley Software Company called Beatnik that's technology has been used to play internet audio and ringtones? He was also the Music Director for the Ted Conference for many years and is now an esteemed Professor at Johns Hopkins University. Over several episodes we will break down his amazing career from MTV to where he is today, so stay tuned for future episodes... Today's episode is focused on his bottled lightning classic 1983 hit She Blinded Me with Science. This 80s hit epitomized the decade. He used a whacky TV Scientist, his love for asian women and an affinity for the films of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to cultivate an 80s synth pop classic that is forever tattooed on our brain. This musical icon shares the secrets of the song and the unforgettable music video in an exclusive interview 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.

Coming up a conversation with the hilarious duo They Might Be Giants who helped originate geek rock from with alternative vibe. Diving into their double platinum record Flood from 1990 including an in depth discussion on their modern rock hits Birdhouse in Your Soul.. early on, the two Johns… John Flansburgh and John Linnell found that Writing one minute songs was their forte and then they sprung up from the underground and sold a million records with one of the most explosive ear catching songs of the time along with other great songs from the album including Particle Man and Istanbul (not Constantinople) and Minimum Wage... both members of the duo tell us how being the album of the month for Columbia House’s famous 8 albums for a penny offer helped them break through 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.

The most streamed song for the band Kiss is I was Made For Loving You.. this 1979 hit started as a challenge between a disco producer & legendary front man Paul Stanley… Paul maintained, that it was much easier to write a “disco hit” than it was to write a rock hit. We go ‘behind the masks’ to reveal how the world’s most famous glam rock band created their biggest international hit…from the Kiss album Dynasty and how it was the original lineups last big hit and how Gene Simmons wasn’t happy about this part 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.

Joe Jackson Stepping Out was the best song of1982. That’s saying something because 82 was a massive year in music, it was the year of mega chart singles like Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, Physical by Olivia Newton John and I love Rock and Roll by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and big albums like Men at Work’s Business as Usual Prince 1999, Duran Duran Rio even Michael Jackson Thriller came out at the end of the year… Joe Jackson was just on a higher musical vibrations. He rocked the end of the 70s with his New Wave Hit Is She Really Going Out with Him but then after several albums he got tired of being categorized as New Wave so he wrote a song that called on the ghosts of George Gershwin and Cole Porter and thought it stalled just outside of the top 5 it had a sonic quality that could whisk you away to musical ecstasy. Up next the story of the most unsung hit of the 80s by a man who still has an air of mystery surrounding 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.

80s rock band Survivor was flying high in 1982. They’d just scored their first #1 hit with Eye of the Tiger spending 6 weeks at the top of the summit and were ready for more but when their next album flopped and their lead singer Dave Bickler lost his voice, Many wondered if this band would survive… after auditioning many singers they found the perfect frontman in Jimi Jamison as well as the perfect song to take them back to the top. I Can’t Hold Back from there 1984 blockbuster album Vital Signs put them on the right track for multiple hits including High On You and the Search Is Over Up next founding member and co writer Jim Peterik tells the story behind their comeback and the song that took them back to #1 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 a rock legend and metal god Rob Halford of Judas Priest gives the straight story behind the 80s heavy metal classic You’ve Got Another Thing Coming which started out as a b side until radio and their label turned it into the spark that pushed mainstream radio to play the music that was meant for the outcasts and misfits. Rob also talks about being part of Tipper Gore’s Filthy 15 list of banned songs and how the phrase may have come of a thesaurus becoming a mantra for the outcasts.. and his words became part of our culture! . coming up the story of an underdog rock song that has become one of music’s greatest rock expressions… 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 80s classic hit In the Air Tonight by Phil Collins has arguably the most famous urban legend behind it in rock history. Told and retold thousands of times. Did Phil Collins of Genesis really witness a potential murder and then write about it to haunt the killer? Or is it a total farce? The story of a song that has become one of the biggest of its time only to stall outside of the top 10 back in the early 80s. we give it it’s due as a #1 in our hearts and find out the real story 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…A tale of two lead singers Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth. Both fronted Van Halen… Both had different philosophies. WE look at them through two classic song from both eras… Aint Talkin’ Bout Love from the 70s debut and Why Can’t This Be Love from the 80s album 5150. They are both great because the music for each was written by the genius Eddie Van Halen along with the usual offerings by Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen. The story of both songs along with an interview from Sammy Hagar about the #3 hit 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.

Tom Petty risked everything to earn his freedom form a cheating record label. The Result was captured in one of his greatest 80s hits, Refugee. Tom Petty risked His finances, his reputation, his future in music, even his mental health... it was all on the line. But the alternative was something much worse, working under a dishonest contract that was more or less musical servitude. Going bankrupt in the process, this fearless artist took his label to court while at the same time writing and recording what many consider to be his masterpiece album Damn the Torpedoes. The story of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers fight for liberty including an exclusive interview with the song’s co-writer Mike Campbell. 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.