I got one for ya. Today's song Soul to Squeeze was cut from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' ground-breaking album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik. It was turned into a B-side several times, and then put on the soundtrack of one of the worst movies of its time, The Coneheads, as an afterthought… And then out of nowhere, it flew up the charts and became a #1 smash? Well, Soul to Squeeze did exactly that. The Chili Peppers had it all ready to go as a part of their famous double album, but at the last second, their label demanded they cut the double record in half. And since they’d already written a similar song, they just dropped it. They thought it was just OK anyway, so it was no skin off their noses. But as it turns out, Soul to Squeeze resonated with a lot of people who felt like outcasts. I guess everybody loves an underdog. Up next, we have the unlikely story of a second-class b-side from the soundtrack of the worst movie of the year that became a bona fide rock classic on Professor of Rock.

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Coming up, we’re uncovering the backstories behind the greatest movie themes of the 1980s. Songs that became pop culture history. And some of these backstories are just insane. The Batman theme was recorded in the cramped bathroom of an airplane at 30,000 feet. And the former 80s frontman turned composer, Danny Elfman, had to run back to the lavatory every time inspiration struck with the next part. Another classic adventure score, The Raiders March, actually started as two separate pieces of music—but they were both so good, the director made him stitch the two songs into a single, unforgettable track. Then there was the ET Theme that was so moving that it made Steven Spielberg cry the first time he heard it, and then he actually re-cut the film to match the flow of the music. We’re telling these stories and more… Stick around as we count them down, NEXT on the Professor of Rock.

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Coming up next, a conversation with The Stylistics, a band that helped carve out an Incredible Musical Movement in the 70s. One that would influence everyone from Prince to Judas Priest to Daryl Hall and John Oates with some of the best baby-making music of all time. In fact, the members of this group told me that a couple told them that they have 3 kids and all were conceived to each of their 3 hits: Like You Are Everything, You Make Feel Brand New, and Betcha By Golly Wow. Up next, they tell the story of 2 of the biggest hits ever including one that came from an old Country Bumpkin Saying that they turned into a classic and another one that has one of the most striking falsettos of all time. The story is next on Professor of Rock.

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Coming up, the story of the 80s classic that just gets bigger every year, and it almost didn’t get recorded. Today’s singer-songwriter Robbie Dupree moved to LA and began to pay his dues, and he did for years, but he got nowhere. He submitted demos, including his song that would become an all-time classic: Steal Away. But it was rejected by every single label outright. So Robbie decided to move back to his old town and took a job loading carpets into trucks just to make ends meet, feeling like his chance had passed and he was ready to move on with his life. Then something completely unexpected happened. And it made his song a classic that has had a major resurgence in pop culture and is now one of the most played songs in radio history. Robbie himself tells the story next on Professor of Rock.

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There’s no shortage of opinions when it comes to the greatest Male rock singer of all time—critics, fans, and forums have debated it endlessly. And while we don’t necessarily disagree with the usual names, there are some incredible voices that rarely get the recognition they deserve. So on this episode, we're shining a light on the unsung heroes—the vocalists who should absolutely be in the conversation of the greatest ever, and there are some real surprises in here. It’s our countdown of the Top 10 Most Under-Appreciated Vocalists… including the raspy rocker Bob Seger who was so poetic he made a seedy stripper seem like a Goddess, and Sammy Hagar who had such a talent at this peak that his 1986 hit with his new band was so grand it felt like he was just showing off. And then there’s David Gilmour, who is one of the greatest guitarists ever and the secondary singer in Pink Floyd, but his melancholy performance on 1975's Wish You Were Here was so sensational it’s become the greatest album cut in history. The stories are coming up NEXT on Professor of Rock.

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Today’s year was something else. Where it was the last hurrah for one Genre… Rock made a huge comeback with songs that have become like old friends. Including Who Are You by The Who that dropped the F-bomb clearly several times, but somehow got past the censors and is still played today…Then there was the Punk Icon that questioned Freddie Mercury's masculinity, and then Mercury turned around and wrote the Toughest Rock Anthem of the time: We Will Rock You. Then there was the rookie band Foreigner that ran out of songs at their first festival, so they ad-libbed Hot Blooded on the spot, and it became a classic. Plus, the Saxophone song Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty made sales of the instrument skyrocket across the world. But the guy who played the sax part only got paid 36 bucks for it, and the check bounced! We’ve got a great countdown coming up on Professor of Rock.

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Coming up, the unbelievable story of the quintessential 80s classic that made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest hike to #1... from the strange and entraining band Dead or Alive, led by larger than life frontman Pete Burns, whose botched plastic surgery became his downfall. He started out as a militant record store clerk berating customers whose musical tastes didn’t align with his! He even got nasty, throwing their purchases back in their face. But then, later, he threw down a record of his very own… a song that would flood any dance floor or club anywhere: You Spin Me Round (Like a Record). Later, it would become the most rehashed karaoke song of the time… The band would have 7 top 10 hits over just a couple of years, even though to this day, people all think of them as a one-hit wonder. The problem is that, the moment the 80s ended, the band vanished. But 21 years after the song hit #1 in 1985, it hit #1 again! The story is next on Professor of Rock.

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Writing songs that felt like letters from a lonely highway or the deck of a sinking ship, Gordon Lightfoot turned heartbreak and history into chart-topping hits. And sometimes, the stories behind the songs were just as intense as the ones he told through lyrics. On this episode, we’re telling the story of one of Canada’s finest through five defining songs. Including the chart-topping hit Sundown, fueled by jealous obsession over a passionate relationship with a woman who would later be jailed in connection with the death of a major icon.. And there is also The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a song that stopped radio listeners cold—a six-minute ballad about a doomed freighter. It became one of the most haunting songs of the 70s. Plus, If You Could Read My Mind, a song that was so commercially successful, the artist’s label changed the name of the album to match it. We’re tracing the evolution of one of the premier troubadours of the rock era… NEXT on the Professor of Rock.

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