Professor of Rock

Coming up. IN 1984 a film starring SNL alumni Bill Murray and Dan Ackroyd called Ghostbusters needed a theme song badly but scores of artists had tried or been approached but nothing was working. Ray Parker Jr. came in with just days to go before the song was due… but he had nothing and he had the challenge of fitting the strange and very long movie title into the chorus. But what rhymes with Ghostbusters??? Well one night at 3 in the morning Ray Parker was watching TV half awake when a pest control ad came and right there the song’s genesis came to him… the idea became one of the most recognizable songs ever.. this artist tells the story 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 a musical genius who was in the room for some of the biggest chapters in rock history: Alan Parsons. He was with Pink Floyd on their landmark album The Dark Side of the Moon and the Beatles on several of their masterworks including Abby Road. It doesn’t get any bigger than that. But you know what? This prodigy wrote a mind-blowing chapter of his own. Masterminding an unprecedented rock experiment, he not only gave us some of the most thought-provoking albums of the 70s and 80s but also one of the era’s most iconic tracks… Eye in the Sky a song that has provoked a lot of speculation about its meaning. Is it about Big Brother? A dystopian future? Gambling? Or maybe it’s a break-up song… Plus, get the story of the copycat song that has been called a nothing more than “lazy rip-off” of this epic track we get the story straight form the genius himself 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.

It was the biggest song of 1980, by a band that defied all classification. Blondie. I mean you just couldn’t put this band in a box. With connections to new wave, rock, punk, disco, reggae, and r&b, you never knew what you were going to get with Blondie. Versatile and experimental, they were musical chameleons. So it’s no surprise that they jumped at the chance to try something new when the opportunity came knocking… Even if they were the 2nd choice...the chance to headline a movie soundtrack with a completely new sound. Call Me became a 6-week #1 smash. Enter an eccentric Italian producer named Giorgio Moroder who worked tirelessly; to write the perfect song for this band… only Blondie's phenomenal front-woman Deborah Harry liked the music but re-wrote the lyrics on the fly after watching a rough cut of this movie. As you’ll find out, the song was better than the movie. In the end, though, the song was put on the soundtrack and not this band’s new album denying them millions of album sales... Find out why 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.

Up next, the last musical will and testament of an all-time legend. Jim Morrison of the Doors! Taken from the planet at the age of 27… Today’s song, Riders on the Storm was nearly as haunting as his death… It’s a sinister and mystical epic about a spree killer that has some incredible insight into the artist who created it as well as the human psyche. After lighting up the world with Break on Through and Light My Fire the Doors took their mystical rock to a new level of brilliance, but at what cost? We break down the epic rock track and the band 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 story of Glam Metal band Warrant and their MASSIVE 1990 Hit Cherry Pie! Written by lead singer Jani Lane. The song may've been a curse. Jani said as much himself.. It was also one of the last big hits of the Glam Metal genre that towered over the 80s. It may have been the song that ended the genre, coming at a time that GRUNGE took over and obliterated the excess of the music and the neon decade. Current Warrant band members Erik Turner and Joey Allen tell the story of writing and recording Cherry Pie and its impact on the 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.

Coming up…. an electrifying tale about a fateful encounter between a musical prodigy and the devil himself. Set against the backdrop of the American South, the encounter boldly turns into a fiery, foot-stomping duel known as The Devil Went Down to Georgia by The Charlie Daniels Band. A musician’s life is on the line. In the 80s classic hit, if he loses the bout, the devil gets his soul forever! It’s an epic battle of good vs. evil, a southern rock country fiddle classic, and an irresistible blend of story-telling and musical prowess in a classic song that crossed over to every genre and generation and had a swear word you didn’t normally hear on radio… 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 an artist who is on the shortlist of greatest singers ever. Part 2 of our sit down with Paul Rodgers who made his bones with many huge rock bands from Free to Bad Company to The Firm. Paul Rodgers killed it with every band he was in. In fact, he is one of a few artists in rock history to sing and write a top 5 hit with 4 different bands. Today he tells the story of a song that was so atmospheric and cool that the band drug all their recording equipment out to the middle of a field at night in the moonlight. It took hours to get everything hooked up, this was the 70s so it was difficult and Paul nailed it in 1 take. The name of the song would become the name of the band: Bad Company. He tells the story 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.

It’s arguably the greatest duet ever recorded and well it almost didn’t happen. Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie. So First of all the iconic bass riff that galvanized the song was forgotten after the musicians took a dinner break… Then David Bowie almost blocked it from release because he was unhappy with it. the unorthodox structure of the duet came from every member of Queen including Freddie Mercury and David Bowie getting in separate vocal booths and singing improv without hearing what each other was singing… In the end, it fit like a glove… Then it wasn’t even a hit in America until the famous bass riff was Stolen by rapper Vanilla Ice in his song Ice, Ice Baby a decade after it was released reminding everyone of its sonic brilliance. The story behind this one is too good to be true. Yet it 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.

Coming up, Eagles were the most popular band in the world when they released the landmark 70s album Hotel California... It became a #1 hit and made them even bigger with 2 huge hits, the title track and New Kid In Town… Don Henley and Glenn Frey and company were on fire... the irony here is that this #1 song was the band singing about getting replaced by an up and coming artist and becoming forgotten. Next one of the legendary songwriters behind New Kid In Town, JD Souther who co-wrote 3 of the Eagles' #1 hits, tells us the anxiety and pressure the band had trying to maintain their top-of-the-charts status and we’ll find out if they remained on top or faded away… 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 backstory of today’s classic rock epic reads like the front page of The National Enquirer. Another Brick In The Wall by Pink Floyd from their landmark record The Wall but at first it was only a minute long and musically it was a little boring… it would take producer Bob Ezrin's secret mission and a fair amount of subterfuge to turn this Another Brick In the Wall to into the monster anthem it is today. With Roger Waters's prophetic lyrics and David Gilmour’s Disco guitar riff... It’s the tale of one of the most controversial songs ever to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. And you’re not going to believe just how controversial it was. The story is coming up… 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.