Professor of Rock

Coming off one of the most ground-breaking albums of the early 80s in The Hurting, today’s featured duo, Tears for Fears really upped the ante for their 1985 follow-up Songs from the Big Chair. True titans of rock and pop, nobody was bigger that year. And the echoes of today’s featured song still shake us…Shout not only went to #1 it became A key track that would have the arenas chanting along in unison, and the song was intended to be nothing more than an interesting album cut. In fact, it was just a repetitive chorus, and the song’s composer, singer Roland Orzabal was reluctant to even finish it. But his bandmates including his other half Curt Smith, knew it would be a worldwide hit It took some convincing, and a whole lot of time to finish: The longest process of the band’s career. and it’s a good thing too because it led to another #1 hit called Everybody Wants to Rule the World and an inside joke inside the song about a music exec bullying the band to cut 5 seconds off of it to make it radio-friendly. 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.

Back in 1984, today’s featured band was teetering on the brink of extinction… After crushing it with four straight landmark LPs in the 70s, everything went sideways for the rock band Heart led by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson to start the neon decade. Band members quit, three albums failed to deliver, and their record company kicked them to the curb. Word on the street was they had lost their mojo. In fact, five labels in a row took a hard pass on them. And they really wondered if their careers were over. Then miraculously, they were given one last chance… and they had to make the best of this chance. They had arguably the greatest female voice to deliver the songs in Ann Wilson but their first #1 came from the backup singer slash guitarist sister Nancy who never sang lead. and she got a distinct vocal performance because she was sick… In fact, she tried to re-record when she got better and it wasn’t the same… Find out how this band pulled off a miracle comeback in the strangest way. 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 WORST SONG OF ALL TIME… it’s a question that’s been asked and answered a million times It’s been voted on. it’s been the subject of intense debate. Well, today’s song has been part of most of the polls out there… We Built This City by Starship. In many of these lists, it’s always #1. yet this song continues to drive our culture decades later…we still can’t resist its charm.” Written by Elton John’s Lyricist Bernie Taupin and up-and-comer Martin Page and given to Mickey Thomas and Grace Slick who kill on it. Most critics hated it because it came from Starship who was once Jefferson Starship who was once Jefferson Airplane and they felt the new band had sold out with a middle-of-the-road pop hit… This history of it is very interesting. The story of a #1 smash from the 80s from both the co-writer and lead singer and why this song still moves the needle is coming up 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.

He was a left-handed virtuoso that loved science fiction, parakeets, and getting high…But not everything about this Jimi Hendrix was as it seemed.  Since his untimely death, there are myths galore about his life, and some strange fiction that helped inspire one of rock’s most influential tracks… the 60s classic Purple Haze.   We sift through the different theories from a stalker kidnapping a victim to a visionary dream and on and on from a virtuoso who hated his singing voice so much he could barely record it.  The story  its coming up 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.

Today, we’re going to go behind the Top 10 songs of this very same week from the year 1986. If you need a break from the sheer insanity of the 2020s, we’ve got you covered. We’re hopping into the DeLorean and returning to the golden era of rock. After counting down the Top 10 songs from 37 years ago, we’re re-ranking them according to how much the world has listened to them since. So by the end, we’ll have an entirely new Top 10 for you. This time around countdown contenders include multiple movie soundtrack hits including Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins a comeback single from legendary band the Moody Blues with In Your Wildest Dreams who found new life in the neon decade, and not one, but two heavy-weight rivalries between iconic bands and their former frontmen Including Van Halen with Sammy Hagar vs. David Lee Roth solo... You’re not going to want to miss one. It’s all 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.

They were likely Rock’s first supergroup and it all started when these virtuosos who went by the name of CREAM starring Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker all took in a Jimi Hendrix concert, and the bassist Jack Bruce was so juiced with inspiration by what he saw, he went home and created one of rock music’s most familiar and magical riffs. Sunshine of Your Love One that gets stuck in your head for days and that’s a good thing. However when they showed the guaranteed hit to the label head, legend Ahmet Ertegun he hated it. He thought it was crap. Some famous artists outside of the band had to talk him into putting it out. The supergroup was only together for a couple of years and they almost killed each other but their music will last a millennia creating genres and subgenera’s in the process. The story 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.

Making a comeback is a punishing challenge. In the entertainment business, it is extremely difficult, if not utterly impossible. But the Bee Gees beat ASTRONOMICAL ODDS by mounting a successful comeback not once, not twice but an amazing THREE times and on the third comeback they had to do it twice.. once in the UK and then again in American with two different songs. Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb and Robin Gibb were the biggest band in the world and then Vanished from the charts for a decade. They didn’t have a hit for 10 years! The ruled the 70s with the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack with hits like Staying Alive and How Deep Is Your Love and then were pushed out by tastemakers but their hit You Win Again gave them a #1 hit in 1987 in the Uk and One a top 10 in America in 1989. 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.

Sibling rivalry, band-member infighting, and an ongoing wrestle for creative control all led to the break up of today’s featured band. Creedence Clearwater Revival... Theirs was a bottled lightning career, but they were no one hit-wonder. In fact, they kicked out 9 Top 10 hits in the space of two years… John Fogerty and his band never landed a #1, but they did have a record 5 #2 hits. Today’s song was certainly worthy of a #1. It is a true standard of the rock canon. It was also prophetic… predicting the collapse of this illustrious band. Have You Ever Seen the Rain predicted what was about to happen. But only Fogerty knew what it meant. The rest of the guys had no idea. Find out how one of the biggest bands in the world went from clear blue skies to pouring rain almost overnight and then they were gone forever… 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, a tale about legendary singer songwriter Jackson Browne who wrote plenty of entries in the great American songbook including a deeply poignant classic that he wrote when he was only 16 years old called These days He was an old soul and after taking radio by storm in the 70s he decided to do something no other band or musician had done before Cut a completely Live rock album of all new material while touring America. Life on the road can be grim and bittersweet, living our of your suitcase severely exhausted from gig to gig This legend wanted to capture that so he made a concept album with all new material live… And not just onstage… But in hotel rooms, rehearsal spaces, and even on a moving tour bus. The result is iconic. Today, we’re giving you the story of behind this album and it’s title track Running on Empty, a moving masterpiece that makes you feel like you are there. Coming up 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 next, an interview with one of history's only rock singer-songwriters that has had a big hit in the 70s, 80s, and the 90s. Dennis DeYoung of Styx is a bonafide "3 Decades Icon." He did in the 70s with Babe, in the 80s with Mr. Roboto, and Show Me The Way in the 90s. Well, In the late 70s, Dennis needed a birthday present for his wife, so on the fly, he sat at the piano and wrote a very personal song to give to her… Well, the song was so good his bandmates begged him to put it on their new album. He wasn’t so sure but at the last second his bandmates got him to agree and it became the band’s first #1 hit and one of the biggest songs of 1979. Babe started out as a birthday present. He tells us the story next as well as insight on the iconic guitar solo. It’s a can’t miss. 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.