Professor of Rock

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 record to have 3 #1 hits from one album… would it happen … THE ROAD WOULD BE TOUGH… Janie’s Got A Gun got banned and had to compete with a smash hit starring a cartoon cat... find out if this …provocative and haunting song pulled it off next on Professor of Rock.
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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 them, including the Cheers theme song that puts a lump in our throats every time because it sounds like home or a bygone era. Plus the Frankie Goes to Hollywood song Relax, that was so catchy and dangerous a DJ banned it in the middle of the first time it was played on the radio. Plus the cover song Cum On Feel the Noize that took Quiet Riot and metal to the top of the charts... but the singer behind it ruined his career in one dumb interview.…. And an otherworldly scream that saved a rock band’s career.
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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 would be years before he ever found out, and he only ever took home $700 for one of the most iconic intros of all time. Then… one of the most beloved TV Western themes in history: Bonanza was so perfectly constructed that when a music legend added lyrics and released his own version, it completely bombed. And finally… an Academy Award-winning composer recorded a terrible, throwaway vocal demo about a talking horse… just to show producers what he had in mind for the theme. He was horrified when they loved it and used it as the finished product. Let’s get started. Plus the TV theme that a talented songwriter tried dozens of times. It was sung, it was done with guitar… Nothing was working, so he got so frustrated he just whistled it in 1 take, and it became a classic. Let’s do it.

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Coming up next, an interview with a band that, no joke, had 16 hits in the 80s but, for some strange reason, they are always passed over, and many under the age of 50 don’t remember them. Why have they been forgotten? Well, all you have to do is play someone Hold On Loosely or Caught Up in You, and all of a sudden the light bulb goes off. I’m talking about Southern Rock Royalty 38 Special. Today, I have the uncut Don Barnes interview. Don sang and helped write those hits and made the band a classic rock staple. Coming up, we have the stories of many of their biggest hits straight from Don, including the story of how the band got their name when they had to break into their own rehearsal space and the police surrounded them thinking they were criminals. Plus much more. Here’s Don with the stories of some classics.

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About a month ago, I started a new show where I talked about the catchiest songs of all time. But they are the good catchy, where you love it when they get stuck in your head. Well, I chose 7 from the 70s, and most of you agreed with them, but many said, Well, you have to include this one and this one. Well. We’re gonna do it again. We’re counting down the 7 catchiest songs of the 70s. It’s Round 2, and these songs and the stories behind them are even better than our last list. First, there’s Van Halen, who covered a 60s Kinks classic and so thoroughly reinvented it that fans of the band thought that they had written it. This mix-up led to fans approaching the original band after shows and at airports to compliment them on their cover version of their own song. It made them livid. Then there’s the thoroughly misunderstood rock anthem Sweet Home Alabama that was calling out a corrupt politician, but everyone thought they were cheering him on... leading this corrupt leader to hijack the song and make it his personal campaign track. And finally, there’s the burned-out rock frontman Bon Scott who snapped at his producer and dared him to get in the booth and sing this future hit song better than he could. He had to eat crow as he watched in stunned silence as this producer hit every screaming note perfectly. It’s all coming up next on POR.
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