Top 10 Songs from a Legendary Year: Bowie vs. Sweet, Elton’s Hidden Hit, and Zeppelin’s Challenge
Coming up, we're counting down the Top 10 songs from one of the greatest years in music history… including the story of David Bowie and Sweet who released singles at the exact same time with identical riffs… they both swear it was pure coincidence, but next we’ll find out the real story. Then there's the tale of a young Sammy Hagar who was so blown away by a guitarist's performance that he broke up his current band on the spot. He tracked down the axeman's address, showed up at his door dressed like David Bowie with a Les Paul and a notebook. They shook hands, and a legendary partnership was born. Plus, the haunting ballad written Elton John as a tribute to a Hollywood LEGEND that was never released as a single, but then years later new lyrics were written to the original music and it became the fastest-selling song ever. Then there’s the classic Zeppelin song that was written after a Beatle made an offhand remark that a famous hard rock band couldn’t write a good ballad, and finally the no-hit wonder who never had a hit in America but sold 145 million records and had 1 that was in the charts for 18 years. 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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How “Signs” Became a ’70s Rock Classic: Interview with Five Man Electrical Band
Coming up an interview with a band that you’ve probably forgotten or don’t remember, but I guarantee that you know the opening line of their most famous song. It's the Five Man Electrical Band and their classic song Signs that came to its creator when he was racing down Route 66 and saw billboards advertising products in the middle of beautiful scenery. Ads right smack dab in the middle of Mother Nature. It was covering up true beauty, so he wrote a protest song, he threw it onto the B side of a song that the band thought would be a hit, but instead, DJs turned the record over and played the lesser-known song, and it became a 70s classic. Up next, the surviving member of the band gives us the story 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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Top 5 Greatest Album Covers of the ’80s—With the Wildest Backstories
Coming up… We have a spectacular show for you. It’s become a lost art. But for those who grew up and came of age in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the album cover was paramount, and today we count down the greatest album covers of the 80s with some stories that are almost too good to be true, including the colorful album cover every 80s kid knows by heart. It may be the most famous album cover of the decade, and everyone thought it was just a random drawing, but over 40 years after it hit #1, a real person was shocked to find out the image was actually a drawing of her! Find out how the mystery was solved next. Plus, the controversial album cover that came from bribing a kid with candy cigarettes, when his mother saw the album in stores she freaked out. Plus a striking image captured on a train track in Thailand—and the famous rock band in the pic were, allegedly, almost killed by a train. And finally, the album cover came from a total screw up we’ve all dealt with in our lives… a printer paper jam that turned into one of the coolest album covers ever! It's all coming up next on POR.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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Disco, Drama, and a Smash Hit: Desmond Child Tells All About Kiss’s Bold Reinvention
Up next, we have one of the most prolific rock writers, Desmond Child, to tell the story of the biggest songs by one of rock’s most legendary bands, I Was Made for Loving You by Kiss. First of all, he wrote it with Kiss's lead singer, Paul Stanley, who claims he wrote his part of the song as an answer to a challenge from the song’s producer. The Paul singer got into a discussion with this disco producer about whether it was easier to write a disco song than it was to write a rock song. So it became a bet. He was out to prove he could write the song quickly, and lo and behold, the song became a monster hit. But then one of the principal members of the band publicly said he HATED it, and Desmond got pissed, especially since he’d given the band a smash hit that made them millions, so he told Paul to go blank himself. And then this hardcore icon gave the only apology he’s ever given. The drama is intense 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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FROM THE VAULT: The 80s Classic 'Come On Eileen': Controversy, Claims of Theft, and an Unwilling Star
Where do I even start with this POR classic? Over 50 musicians came in and out of this one-hit wonder band in its time... Dexys Midnight Runners. And its principal, the singer Kevin Rowland absolutely detested his #1 hit Come On Eileen. He hated it because he didn’t think it was mixed right… He was so angry about it, he didn’t listen to the song for 40 years, which is hard to believe because we all LOVED IT. Come On Eileen was such a big song it bested the biggest-selling artist on the planet during its unprecedented peak. This was the song that stopped him. It was a dirty song in more ways than one and it still moves the needle. A bottle-lightning classic and besides its controversy a former band member would come out of the woodwork and claim the singer stole it from him. The story of an 80s classic 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.
The ultimate rock music history podcast for fans of the greatest era of music. If you’ve ever wondered about the true stories behind your favorite songs, or wanted to hear directly from the legends who made them, Professor of Rock is your new go-to podcast. Hosted by music historian and superfan Adam Reader, this show brings the golden era of music back to life with exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes stories, and deep dives into the songs that shaped our lives. This podcast uncovers how timeless tracks were made, the creative breakthroughs, the near-breakups, and the powerful moments that defined music history. Each episode is a masterclass in rock culture and nostalgia—whether it's a chart-topping ‘80s anthem, a one-hit wonder with a wild backstory, or a candid conversation with the legends themselves. Hear the Stories. Relive the Music. Only on Professor of Rock.
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