Professor of Rock

Olivia Newton John was one of a kind. A beloved icon of the 70s and 80s, she felt like a member of our family. She will always be a key part of our childhood. Her kindness and purity always shined through. She also had the biggest hit of the 80s with Physical spending an amazing 10 weeks at #1. She had five #1 hits including Physical, Magic, I Honestly Love You, Have You Never Been Mellow and Hopelessly Devoted. We remember one of the most LIKABLE icons ever with this tribute to a legend who was part creator of the magical parts of our favorite decades from Sandy in Grease to Xanadu...Olivia Newton John was truly 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.

Riding high on satire…Weird Al Yankovic seemed unstoppable in the mid 80s after Eat It! and Like A Surgeon. but when his fourth record, Polka Party essentially flopped, he almost called it quits. But instead, he started writing for his life. And out of this trepidation, he created a supersized song patterned after the King of Pop Michael Jackson’s latest hit Bad called Fat. It not only won over listeners, but captivated MTV audiences across the world with a hilarious video in 1988. If you lived through the 80s, I don’t think there’s any way you could have missed this one. It was huge! How Weird Al went platinum with Even Worse and rocked 88. 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 of the #1 Eighties (80s) Duet between Aretha Franklin and George Michael...one of the powerhouse duets of all time or was it a match that was too good to be true? We get the inside info from the legendary #1 hit producer Narada Michael Walden who was there orchestrating the whole thing. You had George Michael an up and comer who had already hit #1 a couple of times with Wham! and was ready to step into legendary status as a solo artist right before Faith was released in 1987 going up against one of the greatest voices in history. The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin who was coming off her huge hit Freeway of Love The rookie was nervous singing with his idol and the legend was born ready… would the duet be a hit or a flop? Find out 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.

Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon...Imagine if you will an album so legendary.. So in Demand that there were factories working around the clock to manufacture it and still couldn’t keep up.. or so the legend goes or urban legend that is. . And it'’s still selling like hotcakes. It spent almost 20 years on the charts but never went to #1 in its native land..It has spawned more folk tales than any album ever.. Led by a provocative and talented lyricist/ singer Roger Waters as well as a true guitar legend in David Gilmour. Today we un peel the endless sonic layers of the song Time and the Great Gig in the Sky… Songs so stunningly true to life and space they have the power to stop time. With incredible contributions from Rick Wright and Nick Mason and with Commentary from the great Alan Parsons… The Dark Side of the Moon is a true 70s classic rock manifesto and the breakdown 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.

How Led Zeppelin followed one of the biggest selling albums of all time, the 70s classic, Led Zeppelin IV with a bold venture that utterly confused their core faithful. It would’ve been a ’no-brainer’ to simply stay the course, and give the fans what they were used to. But Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham went the other way, and purposely abandoned the heavy blues rock sound they were famous for. The 2nd single from this long play deviation was a reggae song named after the punchline of an old vaudeville comedy routine. Dyer Maker as in did you make her said in a cockney accent…It became one of the most mispronounced song titles in history. From Houses of the Holy, the story of an all time 70s classic rock standard 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.

Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Jack Tempchin, who wrote several Eagles classics including Peaceful Easy Feeling and Already Gone tells the story of writing with his best friend and eagles co-frontman Glenn Frey after the Eagles broke up in the early 80s. The wrote the first post Eagles hits including the #15 hit, The One You Love. Jack shares the hilarious story of how Glenn set up a room with over 100 candles and served a $20,000 bottle of wine to try and welcome the songwriting muse to help them write a hit and the incredible legacy that Glenn Frey and Don Henley created years after Glenn’s death and why he should’ve been more celebrated! 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 compelling story of Ain’t Too Proud to Beg by the Temptations...An up and coming writer producer named Norman Whitfield got the Temptations to record his song...He purposely put the key a step above the lead singer David Ruffin's top range to push him to reach for his best… a fierce and passionate take.. the legend is the singer was sweating buckets by the time it was done but he killed it! Then this producer had to pitch the song against the groups regular producer who happened to be the hottest in the business…Smokey Robinson. How the 60s classic Aint Too Proud to beg went from underdog to Classic with an interview with the last remaining member of the original Temptations Otis Williams.. 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 the story of one of the biggest #1 soundtrack hits of the 80s.Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship for the 80s cult classic movie Mannequin starring Andrew McCarthy. It was a duet between two power house voices in Mickey Thomas and Grace Slick who started Jefferson Airplane back in the 60s and then became Jefferson Starship in the 70s and just Starship in the 80s. This #1 hit written by by Diane Warren and Albert Hammons wasn’t really working until the legendary producer Narada Michael Walden who had just written massive hits for Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston decided to have the male and female parts swapped. So Mickey and Grace switched their singing parts which brought a completely different sound ..and the song started to explode going to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1987. Then it became a hit again decades later when it was used in a commercial. Up next the singer Mickey Thomas and the producer Narada Michael Walden tell us the story of this movie 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.

It has been called a flop, a letdown, and a failed album... Pretty much erased from the pages of music history, Red Hot Chili Pepper’s 6th studio album, the 90s classic, One Hot Minute has become a ghost record. It has been overshadowed by the massive success of its predecessor Blood Sugar Sex Magik and its follow-up Californication. But climbing to #4 on the Billboard Album Chart and selling over 2 million US units, and 4 million worldwide and producing 3 Top Ten hits including the #1 Hit My Friends is far from a letdown. Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Chad Smith and new guitarist Dave Navarro were going with the flow that took the band through a harrowing experience making the record including Anthony’s relapse. … A 4X platinum album? Most artist would die for that.. But, what happened? How did one of the most anticipated albums of its day become a lost chapter in this band’s history? well it all starts with a key member quitting and then later coming back.... John Frusciante is the key . Get the 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.

In 1971, considered the greatest year in music history by many, with Led Zeppelin, the Who and Joni Mitchell all releasing monumental albums, a band from Fort Worth, Texas horrified & fascinated radio listeners with a song about about a grisly plane crash.The single was widely banned from the airwaves for its explicit subject matter, and for containing the eerie wailing of ambulance sirens that consumed listeners when they were driving… 70s band Bloodrock created their disturbing one hit wonder called simpy DOA from a real life event. Their guitarist had been the witness to a real life plane crash. For the stations that dared to play it,- the request lines immediately lit up like a Christmas tree! . Soon the FCC (Federal Communications Commission tried to outlaw it.and had it not been banned, it might've been a #.1 hit... Up next the story of the most grotesque song ever to crack the Billboard Hot 100 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.