When Rock Reclaimed the Charts: 1978’s Most Unbelievable Stories
Today’s year was something else. Where it was the last hurrah for one Genre… Rock made a huge comeback with songs that have become like old friends. Including Who Are You by The Who that dropped the F-bomb clearly several times, but somehow got past the censors and is still played today…Then there was the Punk Icon that questioned Freddie Mercury's masculinity, and then Mercury turned around and wrote the Toughest Rock Anthem of the time: We Will Rock You. Then there was the rookie band Foreigner that ran out of songs at their first festival, so they ad-libbed Hot Blooded on the spot, and it became a classic. Plus, the Saxophone song Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty made sales of the instrument skyrocket across the world. But the guy who played the sax part only got paid 36 bucks for it, and the check bounced! We’ve got a great countdown coming up on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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36:13
Dead or Alive’s Wild Ride: From “You Spin Me Round” to Sudden Disappearance
Coming up, the unbelievable story of the quintessential 80s classic that made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest hike to #1... from the strange and entraining band Dead or Alive, led by larger than life frontman Pete Burns, whose botched plastic surgery became his downfall. He started out as a militant record store clerk berating customers whose musical tastes didn’t align with his! He even got nasty, throwing their purchases back in their face. But then, later, he threw down a record of his very own… a song that would flood any dance floor or club anywhere: You Spin Me Round (Like a Record). Later, it would become the most rehashed karaoke song of the time… The band would have 7 top 10 hits over just a couple of years, even though to this day, people all think of them as a one-hit wonder. The problem is that, the moment the 80s ended, the band vanished. But 21 years after the song hit #1 in 1985, it hit #1 again! The story is next on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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22:00
How Gordon Lightfoot Turned Heartbreak and History Into Rock Classics
Writing songs that felt like letters from a lonely highway or the deck of a sinking ship, Gordon Lightfoot turned heartbreak and history into chart-topping hits. And sometimes, the stories behind the songs were just as intense as the ones he told through lyrics. On this episode, we’re telling the story of one of Canada’s finest through five defining songs. Including the chart-topping hit Sundown, fueled by jealous obsession over a passionate relationship with a woman who would later be jailed in connection with the death of a major icon.. And there is also The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a song that stopped radio listeners cold—a six-minute ballad about a doomed freighter. It became one of the most haunting songs of the 70s. Plus, If You Could Read My Mind, a song that was so commercially successful, the artist’s label changed the name of the album to match it. We’re tracing the evolution of one of the premier troubadours of the rock era… NEXT on the Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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30:09
The Accidental Genius Behind “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” with Rupert Holmes
Coming up, possibly the most likable person I’ve ever interviewed. Rupert Holmes…He’s Such a great storyteller… Well it’s a special one today as he tells the story of a beloved song that was the final #1 Hit of the 70s and would’ve been the first #1 of the 80s but Payola ruined that… Escape (the Pina Colada Song) Although he did hit #1 a week into the new decade but it’s ironic that this song was the last #1 of the 70s and one of the first of the 80s because the song itself has one foot in both decades and to think it’s singer and creator had a completely different lyric when he went into the recording booth but in a split second he changed the main lyric from one unique phrase to another that was completely off the wall and the split second decision changed everything. He was freaking out because he had to some crazy word play to make the syllables fit and the song had to have a second drummer to make it all fit but it became one of the most famous songs ever… The story is next on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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19:58
The Forgotten Legacy of Adam Ant: 7 Chart Hits and a Pop Culture Icon
Coming up, the story of the nearly forgotten rockstar Adam Ant… He should be remembered more than he is… He started out destined for the top of the charts… His mother was Paul McCartney’s housekeeper, so he ended up walking McCartney’s Dog and later got the guts to sneak into his music room. Later, he formed a band, and they actually had 7 songs in the top 40 charts at the same time… He got so big he was voted World’s Sexiest Man in an MTV poll, which may have been the strangest choice, as he beat out everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran. But it was his odd style and persona that won over everyone and influenced the biggest stars of the time, including the King of Pop. Adam Ant's music dominated the new romantic new wave landscape of early MTV. He really was the face of early MTV with Goody Two Shoes that many confused as a critique of righteous living. But as you’ll find out today, it was actually about him in a way. And later, we’d find out that he made his bandmates sign an agreement they wouldn’t drink or smoke! It’s a story that has rarely been told. Next on Professor of Rock.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
A podcast celebrating the power of music - featuring stories of the greatest songs and artists of the Rock Era, as told by the artists themselves. Find the Professor of Rock on YouTube, ProfessorofRock.com or wherever you get podcasts.
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