If you made a venn diagram and one circle included only musicians skilled and talented enough to jam and record with some of the greatest players of all time: Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, Jeff Beck, Allen Holdsworth, Pat Metheny, Billy Cobham. And the other circle included only hit record producers who have produced at least 9 Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles, there would only be one name overlapping both circles and that’s our guest this week: Narada Michael Walden. As a drummer, Narada has played with all of the above and more. As a lead performer, he’s releaed 13 solo albums. And as a producer, he’s created all time smashes like “I Wanna Dance With Somebody Who Loves Me” and “How Will I Know” for Whitney Houston; “Vision Of Love” for Mariah Carey and “Freeway of Love” and “I Knew You Were Waiting For Me” for Aretha Franklin. An absolutely fascinating career and a fantastic episode of our Rock & Roll High School podcast. 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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1:25:53
Roger McGuinn (The Byrds)
Roger McGuinn is best known as the frontman and leader of the influential 1960s folk-rock band, The Byrds, and for his signature Rickenbacker 12-string electric guitar playing. The Byrds achieved many firsts: they were the first rock band ever to be signed to Columbia Records; they were the first major label band to fuse folk and rock; and they were the first band to record what's now known as alt-country with their seminal 1968 album Sweetheart Of The Rodeo. The Byrds all-time classic hits include "Mr Tambourine Man," "Turn Turn Turn," "Eight Miles High," "So You Want To Be A Rock & Roll Star," and "My Back Pages;" and their music has influenced a generation of musicians from REM and Tom Petty to Husker Du and Wilco. Roger was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Byrds in 1991.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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1:04:55
Curt Smith (Tears For Fears)
Curt Smith is co-founder, co-lead vocalist and bassist of the legendary duo Tears For Fears. With over 30 million albums sold worldwide and performances to countless sold-out audiences, the band represent an inimitable intersection of pop palatability, clever and cognizant lyricism, guitar bombast, and new wave innovation. The duo’s hit making DNA - as heard on songs like "Everybody Wants To Rule The World," "Shout," "Head Over Heels," and "Mad World" - remains embedded within three generations of artists on both subtle and overt levels, casting a shadow of influence over rock, hip-hop, electronic dance music, indie, and beyond.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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1:11:48
Al Stewart
Scottish-born singer/songwriter Al Stewart pretty much invented the genre of historical folk rock, weaving real world events into cinematic tapestries of song. As he mentions in this episode, Al will sometimes open a world atlas, point to a random spot in the world and write a song about it. His passion for history and the accuracy of which he writes has led to such aural history lessons as "Road To Moscow" and "Nostradamus." Perhaps best known for his run of hits in the mid-late 1970's like "Year Of The Cat," "Time Passages," and "Song On The Radio," Al's story is fascinating. Having started out in the London folk scene of the late 1960's, where he encountered everyone from Paul Simon and Cat Stevens to Jimmy Page and Richard Thompson, Al is currently celebrating close to 60 years in music and is continuing to tour both in the US and abroad throughout 2025.Editor's note: this is one of our favorite episodes of this (or any) season.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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1:06:20
Peter Noone (Herman's Hermits)
In 1965, when Peter Noone was only 17 years old, his band Herman's Hermits had 7 Top Ten singles in America in one calendar year alone! With songs like "I'm Into Something Good," "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter," "There's A Kind Of Hush," "I'm Henry VIII, I Am," "Can't You Hear My Hearbeat," and many more, Herman's Hermits became one of the most successful acts of the post-Beatles British Invasion.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Season 4 Out Now!Rock & Roll High School is an interview series that tells the story of contemporary music history as told by those who helped create it.Hosted by Pete Ganbarg--------------------------------------About Pete:Pete Ganbarg has been doing major label A&R for over 35 years. He's a 2X Grammy award winning record producer as well a member of the board of directors of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Pete has held senior A&R positions at Atlantic, Arista, Epic and SBK/EMI and is currently the president of Pure Tone Music.As a music publisher, Pete operates Songs With A Pure Tone and Margetts Road Music, joint ventures currently in partnership with Warner Chappell Music. Songs published by Pure Tone include 2024's Grammy winning Record of the Year, "Flowers" by Miley Cyrus as well as hits by Benson Boone, Justin Bieber, Maroon 5, Katy Perry, OneRepublic, Charli XCX, Lewis Capaldi, Ed Sheeran, Andy Grammer, Lizzo, Beyoncé, Alex Warren, and more.Pete is the recipient of two Grammy Awards for his role as producer on the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Dear Evan Hansen and the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Jagged Little Pill. At Atlantic, among the artists and projects that Pete has overseen are twenty one pilots, Halestorm, Jason Mraz, Christina Perri, Melanie Martinez, Skillet, GAYLE, Brett Eldredge, Matchbox Twenty & Rob Thomas, Theory Of A Deadman, and Icona Pop; as well as the Original Broadway Cast Recordings of Hamilton, Mean Girls, Jagged Little Pill, Dear Evan Hansen, and the multi-platinum Billboard No. 1 soundtrack album The Greatest Showman.Pete began his A&R career in 1989 at SBK Records. In 1997, he joined Clive Davis at Arista Records, where, as Senior Director of A&R, he conceived and A&R’d Santana’s 30x platinum worldwide, nine-time GRAMMY-winning album, Supernatural. Additionally, Pete was named International Music Person Of The Year in 2023 by the music industry organization MUSEXPO.
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