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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.

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 next the story of a hired gun who stepped into a recording studio in Santa Monica to pull a song out of the doldrums and turn it into one of the greatest guitar tracks of all time, one that Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin called his favorite ever and one that became a 70s classic from their 1973 classic album Can’t Buy a Thrill 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.

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... and fans are still confused today. Who really sang the hit? You’ll find out. Plus the broadcast from an illegal satellite dish that inspired a song called Russians that many argue Stopped Nuclear War with 1 question. Plus the bitter Van Halen feud between Sammy Hagar and Alex Van Halen about the legacy of the band. Sammy says Alex is erasing his legacy of 4 #1 albums and a dozen massive hits, while Alex recently called Sammy an idiot. We cover the song they recorded together that can’t be denied. We’re counting down the Top 10 In-Betweeners of ’86, songs that peaked between #11 & #22 on the Billboard Hot 100. But they're just as good as the song that hit #1. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 family pop group in music history, The Osmonds, who were so fed up with their wholesome image, they snuck off to a basement studio without telling their label and wrote one of the heaviest rock songs of the decade, and it actually influenced proto-metal! And Ozzy and Lemmy loved it. Then, there’s a soft rock duo, Air Supply, that was handed a song they didn't write for a Greatest Hits album that they didn't want to record. But it became a massive hit, and Brad Pitt loved it so much he handpicked it to sing in a big movie. Then there’s Karen Carpenter, who walked into her recording session without knowing the lyrics. Her bandmate scribbled the words on a napkin and handed it to her on the spot. Even though she had a hard time reading the handwritten lyrics, she sang it that one time, and that unrehearsed performance became one of the most heartbreaking vocals in pop history. 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.

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 it by a lunatic. It racked up millions of views on social media… even though the real story behind the record is stranger than any ghost story. Then… a female rock pioneer Wanda Jackson recorded a sensually charged song laced with references to nuclear devastation that American radio banned outright and many felt it was truly offensive to one particular country… only to watch it become one of the biggest hits ever in that exact country! And finally… the song Purple People Eater that its writer dismissed as the worst thing ever written was rescued from obscurity by a group of record label employees who couldn’t stop playing it in the lunchroom. Plus the story of Rock Around the Clock by BIll Haley and his Comets....Let’s go. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 shown or seen. In fact, it was one of my first interviews ever, and I was told it had been accidentally deleted by the channel that my first show was on. I got my start about 12 years ago on a local ABC affiliate, and their camera guys who normally captured local news stories would sometimes shoot my interviews. This happened at the last second. Somebody called me about 30 mins before the interview was filmed and asked, "Can you run over here and do an interview with Duncan Shiek?" So I raced over and did it. I found Duncan to be a great dude, passionate and articulate, and in this interview we talk about his best songs, including Barely Breathing, She Runs Away, Half Life, and the two musicals that he scored, including the Tony Award-winning Spring Awakening and American Psycho. In fact, Duncan, who admitted he didn’t even like Broadway music before he started, became a master of the genre, composing for 12 musicals, including Because of Wynn Dixie, Alice by Heart, The Secret Life of Bees, and many more. Duncan passed away on September 17th from heart failure. He is survived by his wife, Nora, and daughter. Rest in peace. I’m really grateful I found this interview. Again, I was told it had been deleted, so when I heard the news, I reached out one more time to see if there was a possibility it was somehow moved or I had made a backup, and my editor spent over a day searching for it and found it. Here it is. 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 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 ended up becoming a classic. Plus, the cocky college student from Steely Dan who hit on his professor’s pregnant wife and actually got her number, but instead of having an affair, he turned it into his biggest hit on the charts. And the Lynyrd Skynyrd rock icon who ominously predicted his demise, proclaiming that he wouldn’t make it to age 30. His prediction came true when he tragically passed away less than 3 months before his 30th birthday. Then there’s the mysterious man Tony Burrows, who recorded vocals for 5 different bands and strangely enough, each of those songs became a one hit wonder. But we start with the bold teenager Chaka Khan who told the biggest music Icon of his time that the song he gave to her rookie band to record was Trash and he needed to give them something BETTER…  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 homeless under a bridge to explain his song's haunting origins… but it turns out the story was totally fabricated and debunked by his bandmate after he passed. Plus the song that you won’t get through without collapsing in complete devastation. The most soul-crushing song in history. Plus the Smashing Pumpkins song that got its bizarre title from a Japanese translation blunder. It was deemed too long and too strange for radio, but has since become one of their most essential songs. And that’s where we’re starting the countdown. 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.