Professor of Rock

We’re rewriting history again today as we revisit a year when one band completely took over and overshadowed many classic songs that deserved better. Today we put those songs where they belong at #1. Including The Drifters Under the Boardwalk, a song that was recorded just a day after an iconic band’s lead singer passed away. Their singer was gone, but they still had a session planned, so an outsider walked in and sang a perfect vocal that gave them their most famous hit. Plus the Innocent Classic by the Zombies, She's Not There, that got banned nationwide 37 years after it peaked on the charts for offensive lyrics, but everyone’s still trying to figure out what was offensive about it, including the band who’s here to comment. Plus the creepy song Last Kiss that was inspired by a fatal car crash, but it got even creepier after the song became a hit, and life imitated art when the band got into a fan carwreck that would destroy their group. Plus, I tracked down the mysterious girl behind the classic Beach Boys car song Fun Fun Fun, who got in trouble for driving her dad’s T-Bird. And lastly the biggest band in the world The Beatles took over the charts for one fateful week they made up 7 of the top 10 spots on the countdown but their best song, that was ruled by their singer’s sick as a dog vocal missed #1…Let's do it.

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I know you are gonna love this episode! Because i’m gonna give you some familiar songs that were hits that I guarantee you haven’t heard in ages. Radio and streaming playlists are filled with the same songs we hear over and over again. So I just spent about 6 hours going through every chart from the 80s to find songs that were hits in their day and songs you know and love but have fallen through the cracks. They’re never played today, but once you hear them, you will be like Oh man, I remember that song! I love it. I’m choosing one from each year in the 80s. Along the way, I’ll tell you the stories behind them. Including how Saga's producer decided the only way to get the right vocal performance for an epic song was to rig a microphone to a crossbeam 60 feet in the air… and then convinced his singer Michael Sadler to climb to the top and record it. He did it without rope or a harness… If he fell, he would have been toast. That’s why his vocals sound so ALIVE. Plus there’s the solo rocker John Mellencamp, whose record labels made him change his name 4 times… So he had hits under different names. Plus Van Halen's Most Badass guitar riff of the 80s that has been forgotten cuz the song has been the victim of cancel culture! And finally, I’ll cover Billy Joel who shocked radio when he put out the first major hit about phone S-E-X.

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Every now and again I have an idea for a show, and as I put it together I’m blown away by the stories behind the songs and the fact that they’ve never been shared before. That’s this episode in a nutshell. Today, we’re counting down the Top 10 songs that soundtracked your favorite TV game shows. And itspacked with more scandals, schemes, and behind-the-scenes absurdity than about any episode I’ve done. Game show music just might be the most underestimated music in television… engineered down to the beat to make your pulse race and keep your eyes glued to the screen. We’ve got the story of an unemployed Ice Cream Truck driver who spent weeks freeze-framing episodes on his VCR to figure out how beat the system and he actually cracked the code… He accrued more than $100k and there was nothing the show could do about it. Then there’s the Family Feud theme song that has been pumping up viewers for decades on one of TV’s longest-running game shows. Only that song was stolen from a musical cue from the #1 game show of the time… Plus the Jeopardy theme was actually a lullaby that the game show mogul made up to get his baby son to sleep. Years later when he sold the rights to the game show he smartly held on to the song rights, and it ended up making him over 100 million in royalties. Let’s go back in time…

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Coming up next, we rewrite history and put it right. 10 songs that deserved to be #1 and were better than the songs that did hit the top spot, including the story of a song that saved the B-52s from breaking up after they lost one of their founding members. The rock smash Dr Feelgood that the Mötley Crüe’s ex-manager claimed was ripped off from Guns N’ Roses. Plus the Bon Jovi song that Dolly Parton heard and assumed was a cover of a gospel hymn about the laying on of hands, but Bon Jovi meant a different type of laying on of hands, and it was spiritual! Plus the Guns N Roses classic Patience that Axl made up on the spot and then had to have Don Henley play the drums on since their drummer was in rehab. Plus the song a famous Goth frontman wrote as a wedding present for his wife. But he secretly hated the song and hated it even more when it became a massive hit. Plus, what happened when one of the most distinctive voices of the rock era had a huge comeback, but sadly died before he had a chance to enjoy the success. It’s time to take the Time machine back to the 80s… let’s do it.

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Ah, man - this is one of my favorites!
Former Beatle Paul McCartney was trying to establish his band Wings when he flew to Nigeria to record Band on the Run. 2 key members quite right before and then when they arrived equipment in the studio was dismal and one day when Paul and Linda were walking the streets they were threatened at knifepoint by a gang of terrorists… Paul had to keep calm if he was going to save he and wife’s life. So along with his wallet, he handed over a bag containing two of his most prized possessions... a notebook of lyrics and a demo tape of songs for his new album. Neither of which he had copies of. These thieves, having no idea who was standing in front of them, stole one of the 70s greatest #1 hits. Band on the Run alone with 70s classics Jet and Helen Wheels. After surviving the ordeal this musical genius knew he either had to track down the stolen lyrics and tape or try to remember it and recreate it… Find out what happened next on professor of rock.
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