Professor of Rock

Coming up, we’re putting some of the most iconic musicians on trial. and giving you some of the craziest lawsuits in history along with their verdicts… From stolen songs like John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival being sued for sounding too much like himself. …to a tragedy where Ozzie Osbourne was sued due to his song allegedly killing someone. Then Beatle George Harrison was sued for ripping of a song from a decade earlier by an all-girl band named The Chiffons and then during the trial that same girl group would cover his alleged ripped-off song, My Sweet Lord… The one they say he ripped off ??? Then another one where Vanilla Ice, who ripped off the legendary rock group Queen and decided to buy the full copyright to their song because it would be cheaper than the legal fees. You won’t believe some of these… 5 great stories 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.

Even though they were branded as the 2nd coming of the Beatles…today’s band wasn’t actually a band at all. The Monkees were the ultimate pretenders… actors assembled to play struggling musicians on TV. But you know what? The struggle was real. Unhappy with faking it, this manufactured band wanted to prove they could play. But their musical supervisor Don Kirshner wouldn’t let ‘em. Davey Jones, Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith could sing and they could dance… but they were forbidden to play their own instruments. The tension then got so bad, that Michael Nesmith called their Future #1 hit song crap. I’m A Believer, written by Neil Diamond was the song….Pissing off their producer, Nesmith was actually banned from the studio while it was being recorded. And the conflict wouldn’t end there. He then called their second album “the worst in the history of the world.” It’s the crazy story of how four pretenders went head to head with one of the industry’s biggest hitmakers… But was there any way they could win? 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.

Coming up… it started out as a disturbing French song about death... Then it was translated into English and recorded by one of the biggest bands in rock history. The Beach Boys...but then Brian Wilson and his group abandoned the sessions and the song’s producer who was really an unknown at the time decided to record the song… Terry Jacks and his hit Seasons in the Sun…It became one of the biggest hits of the 70s and the best-selling song in Canada’s history.. on its way to sales of 15 million. It was a feel-good song unless one listened to the lyrics very closely or heard the original French version… Up next, the story of a one-hit wonder that is one part happy-go-lucky and one part sad and devastating… 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… Legendary female rock star Lita Ford was visiting with her famous manager, Sharon Osborne who happened to be married to arguably the most famous male heavy metal singer in the world Ozzie… These two rockstars started playing pool and before they knew it they were alone as Ozzie’s wife left. So what happened that night? Well, the one thing we know for sure. is that they wrote and recorded a song that would blow up MTV and Set radio on fire. Close My Eyes Forever... in one crazy sleepless night, these two metal icons created a top ten hit that still moves the needle… It’s a song they say came out of a bottle. They were both drunk when they wrote it and admit it was an accident but What else happened that night and how did it translate in the lyrics of this 80s smash and what does it have to do with a life-size stuffed plush gorillas. Find out next on Professor of Rock in our exclusive interview with Lita Ford. As well as the story of her smash hit Kiss Me Deadly Close My Eyes Forever became Ozzie’s biggest hit ever and Lita’s album cover became a favorite of every boy who came of age at that time! 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.

So the other day I tried counting down the all-time greatest rock riffs ever put to vinyl… by anyone… ever.… with a friend. And the crazy thing is, my top 5 picks all pretty much came from the same band! AC/DC! You know I tried to get some other bands in there. But these classic Riffs three were just too good… all of them pure rock and roll dynamite. So not only are we counting them down… we’re also giving their origin stories and some crazy insights what make these anthemic rockers tick. Including one riff that the band said stuck out like a dog’s balls… (Highway to Hell) But then after they recorded the guitar parts on a cassette, the engineer took it home and let his kid play with it, which unraveled the tape… Would the tape be salvaged? Find out next in an epic episode… It’s a hell-raising, triple-threat episode that will have you banging your head and shaking a leg… It’s the top 5 riffs from AC/DC from the dream teams of Bon Scott, Angus Young, Malcolm Young, and Brian Johnson! 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 an interview with a true pioneer of rock and roll, Dave Burgess of The Champs…. He and his band recorded a single that the label was sure would be a hit Called Train to Nowhere. After their recording session as they were getting ready to leave, they realized they needed a B-side… So they started an instrumental jam session on the spot. They called it Tequila. They recorded it in just 1 take and they added the throwaway word Tequila in a silly attempt to cover up some holes in the song according to to engineer Leo Kulka … after all, it was just going to be a B-side… That is until a DJ in Cleveland flipped the A-sided record over and played this Spontaneous B side… a few weeks later it rocketed to #1 for 5 weeks on the Billboard charts making it one of the biggest hits of the year and the first rookie band to have an instrumental debut single hit #1… They also won the first Grammy award! Up next the last remaining member of this the champs, Dave Burgess tells the story 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.

To the world, WEEZER appears to be one of the most happy-go-lucky bands around. Just four nerdy musicians led by Rivers Cuomo rocking out with crunchy guitars and a touch of sweet pop perfection With music that was more fun than a carnival ride. However, that’s not how this band’s lead singer River Cuomo saw himself at all. He thought he was dark and brooding and troubled. So when everybody started laughing and calling his music hilarious, it was a punch to the gut. Dark, funny, whatever you want to call it, this band’s multi-platinum debut the Blue Album is a modern-day standard. It was so good, 15 plus albums later they have never replicated its success. With songs as perfect as Undone-the Sweater Song, Buddy Holly, My Name is Jonas, and Say it Ain’t So, this album was gold! So did they peak right out of the gate? Well, One zealous anti-fan said yes. Sick of so-called subpar albums, this hater offered to pay the band $10 million to go away for good. But was it enough money to break them up? It's a crazy story. Find out what happened… 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.

Coming up, we go back to the making of a song that came from the basement sessions of an artist that originally wanted to work for the CIA. Songwriting couple Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert were traveling to a family reunion when they read a road sign… It said Westernport Maryland but they misread it as West Virginia and so they wrote a song about the road sign… Their error would become an all-time standard. They originally wrote the song with Johnny Cash in mind but they were playing with a rookie by the name of John Denver who wanted to hear some of their newly written songs as both Denver and the songwriting couple were looking for their first hit. They showed him their West Virginia song called Take Me Home Country Roads but it wasn’t quite finished. They finished the song together and then next day when they played it to a small audience, the crowd went nuts… they were even singing along by the end. Take Me Home Country Roads became a 70s classic and It’s been named by legislation as an official song for West Virginia, even though the co-writers and the music icon that made it a huge hit had never been there before!. Let’s travel through the backroads to reach our destination and honor a true American 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.

Coming up, it’s the story of one of the greatest rock songs of the 80s. Pride in the Name of Love by U2. and it all started with a museum exhibit. U2 was on tour here in America and took in a museum and the song was basically written on the field trip…Then lead singer, Bono convinced a famous producer to put off retirement to work on the track and then it took months to record because the song wasn’t sounding right but U2 had to deliver their record The Unforgettable Fire by a strict deadline so in order to do it they worked 20 hours a day for 2 weeks to finish this masterpiece. Bono and the Edge were going out of their minds. Then they filmed 3 different music videos for the song and the band hated them all. Would this song ever get released? Find out how it did and why Bono changed the famous lyrics decades later! 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 story of an unlucky artist that bootstrapped from coast to coast trying to get his big break. “Ironically, his breakthrough hit came from a spontaneous outburst that he shouted because he was so embarrassed by his voice so he DISSED on himself as a joke and the diss became a Mantra for a generation. The song transformed the artist from a struggling wanderer into a sensation with its self-deprecating lyrics and wild, erratic energy. We’re gonna kill the headlights and put it in neutral… 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.