Professor of Rock

It’s the story of an 80s mega-hit song that topped the charts in at least 25 countries. But it almost never happened. While a young Rick Astley was looking for his big break, he got picked up by one of the UK’s premiere production teams. Stock Aitken and Waterman (SAW)... Only instead of letting him record an album, they had him doing chores around the studio… assigning him to make tea for the crew. When they finally gave him a chance, they hated his future hit a song called Never Gonna Give You Up and refused to release it. It was only by chance it started to get airplay. But when it did, it stormed the charts and nobody even knew who this mystery man was. After he blew up and had 7 hits , he decided to quit music and he pretty much vanished from the public eye. Decades later this iconic track was resurrected and became the mother of all pop culture tracks, the Rick Roll. Never Gonna Give You up even after hitting #1 in the 1988 It trounced its former glory in the 80s. The story’s… 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, the classic 80s duo OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) tell the unbelievable story of hitting an impossible deadline. They had to write and record a song for the iconic 80s movie Pretty in Pink in just one night. The Director, John Hughes already had a song from them but watched the pivotal ending scene at the prom where they would place the song but he needed something more. The 80s synth pop duo wrote a classic If You Leave... It would become one of the most memorable moments in film history, one that generations after would try to mimic. Their song would be the basis for every high schooler’s dream moment from that point on. But the song would also become a bit of a curse for the band. They would be deemed by many as one hit wonders even thought they had several more hits and were one of the premier bands of the era… Next the duo details the deadline of fury of how they pulled off one of most magical song of the decade in 1 night… 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 the 80s rock band Big Country whose sound was a unique mixture of modern rock and unique Scottish folk elements … After catching a break touring with Alice Cooper, they had bottles of urine thrown at them, but they held on and persevered and their debut album The Crossing would go on to sell over 2 million copies and produced one of the most timeless singles of the 80s… In a Big Country named after the band… Only before it became a huge hit, their lead singer, Stuart Adamson who wrote the song, didn’t think it was any good. It took some serious convincing from his producer Steve Lillywhite and an overhaul of the song to change his mind. But after that, it became their biggest hit in the United States. And also the only hit that most Americans remember. But was this band really a one-hit wonder? Or is there more to their story? 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.

I love stories like our next one. I had the chance to interview one of the nicest guys in music. He’s the equivalent of that children’s story the little engine who could. Technically he only had one hit… It was one of those rare songs where the song’s title is never said in the song…Romeo’s Tune by Steve Forbert… Forbert was a small-town guy who went to new york and made it in music. Truth is Romeo’s tune came out at the wrong time when his type of music was out of style. But the song broke through on the charts and hit #11 and the mystery girl that this song is about has never been revealed. See if he’ll tell who it’s about next on Professor of Rock. The greatest underdog story of 1979 come full circle today with Steve's recollection of this one hit wonder that dominated 70s radio plus info about his latest record! 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…. When punk rock band Blondie recorded a disco song they alienated their punk followers who accused them of selling out. Deborah Harry and Chris Stein loved disco but their fans didn’t. On the flip side, the disco faithful treated them like outsiders who were merely pandering for commercial success. But here’s the thing… It’s one of the coolest songs of its time… In the middle of this identity crisis, that same disco song Heart of Glass, surprisingly, became a huge international hit, and catapulted the band to superstardom… and the iconic title of the song came from the band trying to figure out how to replace a lyric that was a swear word for fear of getting censored on radio. You won’t believe this 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, an interview with a true 80s icon, Huey Lewis and the News on one of the biggest songs of the 80s. The Power of Love from the 1985 blockbuster Back to the Future. He was in the midst of a huge album in Sports that had 4 big hits Heart and Soul, The Heart of Rock and Roll, I Want a New Drug and This is It. Then he got invited to sit down with the biggest director in film history, Steven Spielberg, who wanted Huey to write a song for his new movie because as he explained… the main character Marty McFly would be a fan of his band… Huey had never written for film before and was hesitant… He told Robert Zemeckis and Spielberg he didn’t want to write a song with the same name as the movie. The director said fine just send me the next thing you write… He did just that and it became a #1 smash… Only problem is the filmmakers didn’t capitalize on it and they missed a window to have a big soundtrack album…up next is the story of how this singer gave 10% of the song’s royalties to an old friend for coming up with the title of the song. Only problem is the title was the same as 2 other hits at the time. also how he had a cameo in the movie… See if you remember 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.

The making of one of the biggest rock albums of the 80s was full of drama, comedy, secret messages, and young lust. Def Leppard Pyromania... It started out with Def Leppard having to fire their longtime guitarist Pete Willis who was so drunk he couldn’t play the songs. They brought in a hot shot rookie named Phil Collen who became the missing piece that helped make this band one of the biggest of the rock era and the only rock band outside of Led Zeppelin to have 2 straight 10 times platinum records and this was the start. Joe Elliott was revved up and ready to go with iconic hits like Rock of Ages, Photograph, and Foolin... Up next, the story of a rock song that came from an old hymn book and the origins of the iconic gibberish that everyone has tried to translate for years but came from the band not wanting to say the same old thing. The story of a record that sold over 10 million copies but was cursed to be #2 never reaching the #1 spot… 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 song that can only be described as ‘epic.’ In a Gadda Davida by Iron Butterfly, originally radio-friendly in length,later grew to monster proportions, swallowing up an entire side of an album. All thanks to a prolonged jam session that wouldn’t stop. The engineer liked what he heard and kept the tape rolling… and when it was done, Iron Butterfly had made history. Plus its gibberish title In a Gadda Da Vida had listeners wondering what in the world the song was about. Turns out, the singer was so sloshed when he first sang it, his bandmates thought he was singing something else entirely. But they liked it, so they kept it. Later on they would also have a chance to perform this legendary track at Woodstock… but after they pissed off the Performance Coordinator they found themselves stranded at the airport. Could they get there in time? An epic tale 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, an interview with 80s icon Terri Nunn from New Wave band Berlin about her band’s biggest song. It was a #1 hit… It was a central song from Top Gun one of the biggest movies of the decade. It was even nominated for an Oscar! Thing is, as we’ll find out... some of the band members didn’t want any part of the song because they didn’t write it. First of all, Berlin wasn’t even the first choice. Legendary Producer Georgio Moroder had the Motels as the first band in position, but then when he turned to Berlin, the band’s principals had a major disagreement about doing someone else’s song... then when it became popular it divided their fanbase. Then when you thought there couldn’t possibly be any more drama…When it was nominated for an Oscar the band didn’t even get to perform it… Find out why they chose someone else next in this exclusive interview. 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 down & out songwriter named Mentor Williams and a down & out singer named Dobie Gray after the TV show came together to collaborate on a song that nobody wanted. “Drift Away" The writer was living in his brother Paul Williams's shadow who was one of the most famous songwriters ever having written numerous hits for the Carpenters, Three Dog Night, and Rainbow Connection for Kermit the Frog. and the singer Dobie Gray was well-traveled with a few minor hits but was looking for the big one to set his career in stone… Even though they had no juice in the record business, they landed a pitiful recording budget- went to Nashville, and created a million-selling single beloved by generation after generation. We break down the 70s rock classic Drift Away and “get lost in the Rock n’ Roll” 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.