Back with the B-52s! Coming Up... a song that missed the top 40 in the early 80s but has since then Rock Lobster by the B-52s has become a modern day standard and a major influence after it was released. Cindy Wilson tells the story of how it helped John Lennon come out of retirement and how she and Kate Pierson mimicked sea creatures to get its interesting sound and Fred Schneider’s deadpan delivery. The song was punctuated their homage to Yoko Ono. The story of a classic New Avant Guard classic is coming up next. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up…a year in music that needs some tweaking. It was the best of times, but today we’ll make it even better as well as select the 10 songs that should’ve been #1, including the greatest opening 20 seconds of a song in the history of our planet. And I know I won’t get a single argument from you once you hear the song. Plus, one of the most feel-good singalong classics, Easy, a song that ever came from a singer’s notes that he wrote down at a stressful business meeting… He turned those meeting notes into an all-timer. Plus Aerosmith's Walk This Way, the most miraculous rock song ever, that FAILED the first time it was released, then it hit The top 10 when it was put out again a few years later and then 10 years after that it came out a 3rd time and saved this band’s failed career. Plus, Paul McCartney's Maybe I'm Amazed that wasn’t a hit until 7 years after it was recorded, but a live version was what made all the difference. Plus the nasty lyric from Go Your Own Way that a guitarist wrote to shame his former girlfriend that caused her serious PTSD for decades because she had to sing it every night with him and take his abuse night after night….Let’s do it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today we’re returning to a show that we haven’t done in a long time. It’s a variation on our Bottled Lightning series called One and Done… stories about bands who should have been so much bigger, but for them, lightning only struck once. And after one big album or a short time in the spotlight, they faded back into the shadows forever. For this edition, we’re counting down 6 bands that made their mark and disappeared, including Eric Clapton's supergroup Derek and The Dominoes who created one of the most legendary classic rock albums Layla, that was actually a secret love letter from Clapton to his close friend George Harrison’s wife.Then there’s the band EMF that embedded an F-bomb into the hook of their biggest hit, Unbelievable uttering the profanity 17 times, which would add up to FCC fines of over 36 trillion dollars, enough to pay off our national debt… And finally… the frontman form the band Tonic, wrote the song that would define his entire career on the night his own mother disowned him for getting married. And the line he shot back at her in that final phone call became one of the most recognizable hooks of the decade. Let’s get into it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Let's run it back with this classic! Legendary producer Narada Michael Walden tells us two stories that will make you laugh with joy! One of the most successful producers ever tells us how he was in the middle of working with Aretha Franklin when a 19 year old rookie name Whitney Houston walked in with a powerhouse confidence he’d never seen and recorded the #1 80s smash How Will I Know in 1 take beginning a legendary career few have equaled.. then he retells a story of when another legend named Prince challenged him and others in a game of basketball and with 7 inch heels and a puffy shirt schooled every one on the court. It’s a can't miss 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.

Okay, okay. I’ve been meaning to do this episode for years. And well, I just can’t put it off any longer. Today, I’m counting down my Top 10 picks for the dumbest and cheesiest celebrity music projects that no one asked for… Songs and albums spearheaded by actors and famous personalities who just had to have their cake and eat it too. The good news is that most of these celebrities had a day job to fall back on… because I tell ya, their music careers weren’t going to pay the bills. There’s the story of the larger-than-life WWF icon Hulk Hogan who once claimed he was ready to throw in the towel on his wrestling career to play bass for Metallica. He sent in an audition tape, but it was a pipe dream. Then there’s the teen movie star Corey Feldman, who turned down a guaranteed #1 hit from Michael Jackson to write his own song instead… and his music career has been mocked ever since. And finally, there’s Eddie Murphy, who won a hundred thousand dollar bet by proving he could make a “serious” music album with no jokes in it. But he never got paid. Let’s get into it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A great cover song takes a track you thought you knew, turns it inside out, and makes you forget it ever belonged to anyone else. Today we're counting down the Top 10 greatest covers ever recorded and telling the jaw-dropping stories behind them… including one about Joe Cocker, who walked out onto the biggest stage in rock history, launched into a version of a borrowed Beatles song so primal and transcendent that he summoned a literal rainstorm in the process. And it was from the greatest band ever, who were deemed un-coverable. But even the Beatles conceded that it was better than theirs. Plus there’s the rock and roll pioneer who watched a rival Elvis steal his song while he was lying incapacitated in a hospital bed. And it became the definitive version, but his rival was actually just trying to help him. Plus a cover song that shocked us all. Johnny Cash recorded it because he knew he was about to meet his maker and captured a moment that broke our hearts and even made the original artist, Trent Reznor, admit the song no longer belonged to him…Let’s get into a great debate about the greatest cover songs ever recorded… See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Go to https://buyraycon.com/professorofrockBC to get 30% off. Thanks to Raycon for sponsoring!We need this show right now. I have always believed that music is the universal language, it is the thread that weaves our entire civilization together. Songs serve as hallmarks of our history and as the checkpoints of our lives. Think about it. Songs are like time machines that transport us back to the moments that matter most in our lives. And in times of adversity and in our darkest hours, great music can motivate us to rise above anything. Today, I going to count down my 7 picks for the stories of songs that have rescued someone in times of distress, literally saving lives. Including the story of two men trapped in an underground mining disaster, who survived in large part thanks to an iPod loaded with rock music from one specific band: The Foo Fighters. And then Runaway Train and its milk carton-inspired music video became a powerful crime-solving campaign, saving dozens of missing teens around the world. But our countdown starts with a legendary NBA player who sat in his truck with a loaded weapon ready to take his own life. Until this 1 Pearl Jam song started playing and saved his life… He went on to win 3 consecutive NBA Championships. Let’s do it See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Go to https://www.kachava.com/ and use code POR for 15% off your first order. Coming up… It’s time to rewrite history and give the greatest songs of 1973 their real due. These Top 10 hits missed the #1 spot on the charts, but as you’ll see, they were all actually better than the songs that did hit #1. Let’s put it right. So many classics here. Including the song that a legendary singer wrote as a parody of Bob Dylan. He basically did an impersonation of him, and it made the song an all-time classic. Plus the rock song that Paul McCartney wrote in mere minutes on the spot that was rejected by an iconic movie franchise that wanted a lounge act to replace him on the song… As well as the classic rock song that every casual rock fan knows by heart but almost nobody can remember who sings it. It’s one of the most missed trivia questions in music. There’s also Long Train Running by the Doobie Brothers, a song that came from a 10-minute jam that they sat on for 3 years until their producer forced them to put words to it, and it became a classic. And finally, there’s the classic Steely Dan hit Do It Again that confused the hell out of fans because the lead singer was so overcome by stage fright, he had the band’s backup singer tackle it in concert. Leaving fans trying to figure out who really sang it? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Watch at your own peril….this one is spooky and creepy…Rock has always flirted with the dark side — but some stories go too far beyond the music. Today we're pulling back the curtain on the most harrowing true crime stories the rock world has ever produced. It’s our latest countdown of Rock True Crime Stories… “Halloween Edition.” We’ve got the twisted story of rising star Bobby Fuller on the verge of breaking through to the big time… but he was found unresponsive in a car soaked in gasoline. All signs pointed to foul play. But police ruled it out without even dusting for a single fingerprint. So what really happened? Then there is one of the most dangerous criminals in American history who told investigators that AC/DC's music had soundtracked his crimes. The media firestorm that blew up held the band responsible for the actions of a monster they'd never met. PLUS Frankie Teardrop, one of the scariest songs ever recorded…It was so disturbing the singer threw up in the middle of it. And for decades, several radio stations have sponsored huge contests to see if a listener could get through the song in the dark. Nobody could. Can you? Let's get into it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s been a horrible year in terms of losing legends in music, and sadly we just lost another one. The compelling singer who gifted us with several 80s classics from our youth. Pete Byrne, the singer from the new wave band Naked Eyes. Pete passed away from a stroke brought on by a brief illness. Pete was a fantastic guy who ruled the charts with the one-two punch of Always Something There to Remind Me and Promises Promises. The Music videos were absolute classics that rocked MTV during its peak. Coming up next, in one of his final full-length interviews, I have the story of both of those classics with Pete. I was fortunate to get to know him and have this deep-dive conversation about these classic tunes and his passion for music. Let’s get into it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.