Professor of Rock

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the worlds of rock and roll and history’s most beloved sci-fi franchise collided in ways nobody ever expected. That’s right, on this episode of Professor of Rock, we’re counting down the greatest rock meets Star Wars stories around. And from the casting room to the recording booth, popular musicians and Star Wars have a surprisingly in-depth history. Including members of NSYNC who got their greatest wish... to be cast as Lightsaber-wielding JEDIs. They went out and filmed and were excited to see themselves in Star Wars but were crestfallen when George Lucas cut them out of the film after fan backlash. Plus, the iconic future front-woman Terri Nunn was almost cast as Princess Leia. She made it to the final round of auditions, impressed the director, but was turned away because Harrison Ford didn’t like her. So she had to settle for music stardom instead. Then there is Joseph Williams, the son of one of the greatest composers in Hollywood history and the replacement singer for one of the biggest rock bands of the 80s. He penned the lyrics to two of The Return of the Jedi’s original songs… only to have them later replaced in the 1997 Special Editions. And finally, the King of Pop personally lobbied George Lucas for a role in the most anticipated film of a generation… But he got nixed too. But he dodged a bullet…

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Coming up next, Kenny Loggins, the Co-Captain of Yacht Rock and the King of the Movie Soundtrack, tells the story of his first big movie hit from Caddyshack, I’m Alright! First, this legendary singer-songwriter was told by a big-time movie producer his movie song would be used for a dancing puppet, which he thought would be lame… Secondly, during the recording of the song, this singer invited another famous rocker to do background vocals, but he forgot to give him credit when the song became famous, which started a decades-long rivalry. Lastly, to make matters worse, they had a mediocre drummer who could only play a basic beat… It actually made this song the classic it is. An entertaining story of the song everyone knows next in Professor of Rock.

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Let's take it back with this POR Classic!
Celebrating the power of Summer, Donna Summer, one of the most influential artists of any era and my Top 5 Donna Summer Songs. Many know her as the Queen of Disco, but she was so much more than that, inspiring artists from every genre including New Wave, R&B, and Dance pop. Featuring appearences from Peter Hook formerly of New Order, Narada Michael Walden producer/songwriter behind some of Whitney Houston's biggest hits, and Limahl former lead singer of Kajagoogoo.
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If you’re a rockstar. There’s nothing quite as brutal as watching the song you despise become the one the world won't let you forget. Today we're counting down the musicians who built their legacies on songs they absolutely could not stand. Including a teenage rock prodigy whose debut smash turned him into an overnight rockstar. But he spent the next two decades refusing to perform it and stating that no amount of money would ever make him play it again. Then there’s one of rock's hardest-hitting bands that buried a soft, sentimental love ballad so deep in their back catalog that even the man who recorded it can’t remember the words. Also, there’s a singer-songwriter whose biggest hit made him a global superstar who walked onto American television specifically to tell millions of viewers he was not coming to America to perform it… and that he wanted nothing to do with it! And finally, there’s the band that accidentally created the best-selling 12-inch single ever, but lost money on every copy sold, racking up 70,000 pounds of dollars in debt from their signature song.

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Rock history is full of legendary songs that almost never existed. Today we're counting down the most jaw-dropping near-miss disasters in rock history… songs that were almost derailed by decisions and incidents that should have designated them to garbage heap. And the world would have never heard them! First… The Clash's roadie was handed the demo recordings for one of the greatest double albums ever made: London Calling. But after stopping at a pub, he got drunk and fell asleep on the subway. When he jolted awake at his stop, he sprinted off the train, but left the tapes sitting on the seat behind him, and they were lost forever! Then there’s the story of a last-minute mixing session for a Led Zeppelin hard rock masterpiece. While working on it, two engineers discovered a phantom voice haunting that was bled into the tape. With no time to fix it, their split-second decision created one of the most iconic moments in rock. And finally, a Heartbreaker Mike Campbell's dream song was rejected by Tom Petty before getting picked up by another rock legend, Don Henley… But while working on it in the studio, the master tape began physically disintegrating. And he knew that if he lost it he would never be able to reproduce the magical session. Plus, the song that was a disaster and thrown away by Kenny Rogers till a bubbly blonde named Dolly Parton, who was recording next door, walked in and made the song a duet... becoming 1 of the biggest hits of the year. These are the stories of songs saved from oblivion… Let’s get into it.

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