Professor of Rock

Coming up, we’ve got rockstars going off the rails. And yeah, rock stars have always lived by their own rules — but some of them have been known to take things just a little too far from time to time… leaving a trail of wreckage in their wake. Today we’re counting down the most spectacularly unhinged, catastrophic meltdowns in rock history. Including Ozzy Osbourne, one of heavy metal’s most notorious hellraisers, who stumbled out of a hotel in his wife’s evening dress, and got him banned from an entire city for relieving himself on one of America’s mo...

Well, we took a couple of months off from this show, but due to overwhelming feedback, we did another episode… We brought it back at least one more time… It’s outdated… Time in a Bottle show… the songs that take you right back to the moment you first heard them. They sound exactly like the moment they were released, and these songs have compelling stories too… including how one of rock’s most dangerous frontmen, Axl Rose, sat down on a curb outside a Hollywood club, crying over a girl he couldn’t have. Afterwards, he went and threw rocks at h...

Alright, in the past we’ve tried our hand at soundtrack hits, movie scores, television themes, and even cartoon theme songs. But on this episode of POR, we’re trying something new and diving into the world of animated movie songs… tracks that were sung by popular artists and rockstars from the mid-80s to the present. And get ready for some nostalgia… Along the way, you’ll hear the story of Phil Collins, who has been accused of being too vanilla… and when his music beat out the South Park creators for an Oscar, they were so furious that they la...

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 Gu...

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...

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 actual...

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...

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...

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 be...

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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...

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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...

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 witho...

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 fu...

Let's take it back!

Two of most cerebral rockers and known perfectionists Donald Fagen and Walter Becker AKA Steely Dan, just knew they had a song for their debut album with Hit potential. It was called Reeling in the Years and was a bitter retort against Donald’s girlfriend who had ripped his heart out so he wrote a “get even” song that was missing one little thing... it lacked vibrancy and passion. So, the duo followed a deep gut feeling that they needed to bring in a musician that would provide the spark they desperately needed. Up nex...

Coming up… In 1986, these songs didn’t crack the Top 10; some may have thought they were also rans, but over time, they became bigger than songs that did, and some even bigger than the songs that made it to #1, including David Lee Roth, one of the most dynamic frontmen of the Rock Era, released a song about an American symbol of liberty, but there is a bizarre connection with a book that is titled… The Satanic Bible. Plus Tarzan Boy, a song that was sung by a singer who was NOT the person singing in their heavily played music video...

I KNOW YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE THIS EPISODE.

If you don’t, I’ll eat my Hat live on camera. So everyone has that “one” playlist. You know the one with all the cheesy songs you’re embarrassed to admit you love. The ones you sing to the top of your lungs when no one is looking. Well, today, we’re counting down my picks for the Top 8 feel-good songs that are deemed uncool… but that we secretly love and put on blast when no one is around. For this one, we’ve got the most squeaky-clean fami...

The 1950s gave us the birth of rock and roll — and with it a collection of song stories so bizarre and completely unhinged that they sound made up. Behind the poodle skirts and the sock hops was a decade of scandals, accidents, and twists that will shock you. Today we're counting down the Weirdest and Wickedest songs the 50s ever produced. First… the sweet, childlike duet Tonight You Belong to Me that was recorded as a family keepsake somehow became one of the most chilling songs on the internet thanks to a dark urban legend about girls forced to sing...

Sadly, we lost a great artist recently. Duncan Sheik, the singer-songwriter who wrote one of the best songs of the late 90s and, statistically, the biggest one-hit wonder ever. Barely Breathing spent an all-time record 55 consecutive weeks on the Hot 100, and nobody has come close since. The song was written about a manipulative girlfriend, and Duncan captured his pain perfectly. It’s really one of the more complex pop songs of its time, and Duncan truly had a gift as a songwriter. Coming up, a lost interview that I did with Duncan Sheik many years ago… it’s never been s...

Coming up, a grand year in music where once again a bunch of legendary Top 10 hits that missed the #1 spot on the charts were actually better than the songs that did. Today we’re rewriting history by putting them where they belong… at #1. We’ll spotlight a classic from an Elton John who got so upset about the cadence a song was written in that he recorded it with an EXAGGERATED AMERICAN ACCENT, and it made the song a classic. Plus the song Longfellow Serenade that stole its idea from a 19th century poem to seduce an older woman, and it...

Some of the best songs ever recorded were never released as singles. But today, they have become bigger than a lot of these legendary bands’ biggest hits. Today we're counting down the most beloved album cuts that became the band’s signature tracks, and for starters, we have an acoustic track that’s become the most-streamed song in the Beatles catalog… despite being purposely passed over back in the day. It ended up bettering every massive hit the Beatles have ever released, and they had dozens of #1 hits…Then there’s Kurt Cobain, who wrote a harrowing tale about living homel...

You won’t believe this epsidoes. A Rock concert that was so loud and unruly it caused an earthquake from the Foo Fighters? An unfinished 80s instrumental song that sold half a billion copies from an imaginary band who scammed half the world, and a an icon that had a hit song for 7 straight decades Coming up, it’s a countdown that centers on Guinness World Records but for music. And for this episode we’re bringing you six larger than life stories. Including rock band who destroyed the most guitars on a single tour…It’s over 140 by the band M...

Let's take it back with this classic!

The Grateful Dead may have the most passionate & loyal following of the Rock Era. The Dead were jamming their way to the highest echelons of live music when In 1986, this legendary band’s front man Jerry Garcia nearly died, and the future of the group was in serious jeopardy. Jerry recovered, and the Grateful Dead made a miraculous comeback with their first album in 6 years In the Dark which led to their one and only hit song, Touch of Grey! Most are shocked when They realize this all time group on...

You’re gonna love today's episode. Today We’re taking a trip back to the 80s for more of the best that television has to offer. It’s our latest edition of 80s TV Theme Songs. On previous shows have covered primetime juggernauts like Cheers, Family Ties, Knight Rider, The A-Team, and a bunch of others.

That episode had some great stories, like how The A-Team ripped off Cream’s epic rock classic Sunshine of Your Love, but CREAM LOVED IT, and how the Cheers theme started off in a musical. But we’ve got a whole new line-u...

Coming up, we’ve got a brand new show, and I’m pumped for it. We’re telling the tale of songs that, in their time, were considered also-rans... they didn’t crack the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, but, over time, became bigger than songs that did, and even bigger than the songs that made it to #1. We’ll share how Eddie Money, one of the most recognizable vocalists of the Rock Era, was threatened with a lawsuit by an icon of Hollywood’s Golden Age for ripping off her exact lyrics for a 70s rock classic… A boogie-boogie...

I’ve got a great one today. We’re counting down the Catchiest songs of a legendary decade. These songs were all hits, but they are the kinds of hits that you’re pumped when they get stuck in your head… they’re that good. The 60s produced some of the most irresistible, perfectly constructed rock songs ever recorded, and they have even better stories. One of these classics went to the top of the charts, and as it got radio play, fans misheard a key lyric in it… at first it frustrated the legend who wrote it, but in the end h...

Let's run it back to 2022!

How Led Zeppelin created their biggest hit song, their only top 10, the provocative 70s smash Whole Lotta Love through rough waters including conservative radio programmers and later a lawsuit. Jimmy Page’s Riff has been called the best ever, Robert Plant’s evocative vocal and the incredible rhythm section of John Paul Jones and John Bonham, this song is a bonafide rock classic.... Coming up.. the story of a provocative Top 5 smash created by a daredevil supergroup that challenged the gatekeepers of commercial radio conservatism...and wound up being sued...

Today we’re going back to the strange year that separated two decades… where music really had no identity… Hair Metal was waning, and Grunge was still undiscovered, but today we entering an alternate universe where music history has been changed. As we count down the 10 songs that made the top ten but missed #1 but today they get their due… including Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence that a band member stole from its writer and snuck behind his back to CREATE a whole new musical backbone BEHIND IT. SPEEDING IT UP adding a new beat to it AND MAKING IT SOAR...

Coming up, we haven't done one of these in a long time, but it's a special edition of our popular show Taboo Songs. But this time we're gonna give you the 15 songs from the 80s that shook the world with their sheer explicitness. In 1985, Tipper Gore, wife of Al Gore, and several other politicians' wives had a little too much time not here hands and decided to create a committee to save us from offensive and disgusting music that would certainly warp the minds of all the children. More than 40 years later, all of us, Gen Xers that they...

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You’ve heard the Doublecross stories of rock and roll in the past, like the evil manager who stole everything from the band Badfinger, leaving them penniless, and led to two of the members taking their own lives, and how David Bowie fired his whole band mid-concert. Well, I’ve got 5 more backstabbing, relentless double-cross stories, including the Murry Wilson worst father in music history. He went behind his son Brian and his band’s back a...

In 1991, Metallica changed the world forever as they went global with the Black Album including their menacing song: Enter Sandman, the song should’ve been a #1 hit, it’s certainly outlasted the songs form the week it peaked on the charts. up next We celebrate the genius of Enter Sandman and the Black album. The song was written by Metallica’s big three. James Hetfield, Kirk Hammet and Lars Ulrich. A metal masterwork if there ever was one.

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It’s time to jump in the Time Machine and change Music History with the songs that deserved to be #1 in an amazing year from the 80s. Today we have some great songs, including the shy, unknown singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, who was asked to sub in for a legend who was having technical difficulties… The only problem was it was at a sold-out Wembley Stadium with tens of millions watching via satellite. She only had a guitar and a mic, but one song from her called Fast Car blew the audience away and took her record to #1 overnight. Plus the...

Let’s travel back to 1975 and rewrite history. In 75, 36 Songs hit #1, but as we look at the songs that missed #1 but hit the top 10, I would bet my life on the fact that most of these songs were better than the #1 hits. So let’s give them their due with Lady by Styx, the song that invented the power ballad. It was a song that was a total bust on the charts a few years earlier but a Top 40 DJ heard the song on a jukebox at a pizza joint, and played it on his show, and saved the care...

Coming up, a new show where I give you 3 unbelievable rock and roll stories straight from the legends themselves in 10 minutes or less that will make you laugh, cry, or both. It’s our premier episode of Zingers including the young icon Young MC who wasn’t old enough to buy alcohol but he wrote 3 massive hits in about the time it takes to watch a movie and those 3 songs have generated many millions of dollars for him and set him him up for life generating 85% of the his total income as a musician for the rest of his life...

A few weeks ago, I introduced a new show where I did a pop culture crossover of Rock and Roll Meets Star Wars, including a story of how Terri Nunn, the Lead singer of New Wave band Berlin, was a frontrunner for the role of Princess Leia…She even had a final screen test with Harrison Ford, who did not like her. So, getting rejected by Star Wars, she became a new wave icon with the #1 hit, Take Me Breath Away well I got so many requests for more Star Wars and rock, but this time around we’re doin...

Coming up, the story behind Ac/DC’s classic rock hit Big Balls, a song with a dual meaning that made parents angry and the goody-two-shoes blush, but it made every Gen-X kid fall down on the floor laughing. It was written by rock icon Bon Scott, who was always the life of the party to his detriment. In a drunken daze, Bon turned his fascination with his body part into a song meant as filler for an album, but Big Balls became a surprising classic rock standard. One that everyone who has come of age since the 70s ha...

This is the full uncut interview with Rick Beato… a Classic Rock Masterclass. Actually, it’s more of a 90-minute geek-out on music. We just kick back and discuss all our favorites in music from Boston to Led Zeppelin to Pink Floyd to everything in between. I’ve received a lot of requests for the uncut interview, so here it is.

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Coming up, we continue our treasure hunt, tracking down the greatest #3 hits in music history, and this time we got to arguably the best era in music history 1965-1969. Including songs by the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and the Stones, including California Girls, a song that popped into the mind of Brian Wilson after he swallowed his first tab of LSD… You could honestly say that the song that came from that trip started a musical revolution that inspired everything that came after. Plus a track that saved the career of future legend Stevie Wonder during a time when hi...

Let's take it back!

As a father of 3 daughters this was the most difficult song that Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, one of America’s great rock bands ever had to write… It actually took him 9 months to finish, then a record exec made him censor his own song fearing it wouldn’t get played on pop radio because of 1 word that wasn’t even a swear word… Would he change it? It would be the biggest hit on an 80s hard rock masterpiece. Pump an album that had a pretty good chance of being the first hard rock recor...

The catchiest song of the 80s...Some songs are earworms that crawl into your brain and are so annoying you beg for mercy. Some are great, but they get so overplayed you tire of them and hope you never hear them again. But every once in a while, a song is so catchy and satisfying you're on cloud 9 when they get stuck in your head because even if you hear them 100 times, you never get sick of them… Today we celebrate those treasures as we travel back to the 80s to capture those perfect songs and the stories behind th...

Coming up...The story of the greatest TV THEMES of the 60s. Last year we covered some of the greatest TV themes of the 70s, 80s and 90s. But today we're counting down the best TV themes from what many consider the golden age of television… the 60s and 50s. And there’s some wild stories here. First, one of the most recognizable pieces of music in TV history was stitched together from two obscure stock tracks, and the composer had no idea his work was being heard by millions of people in the TV show The Twilight Zone. It w...