Music

Professor of Rock

The ultimate rock music history podcast for fans of the greatest era of music. If you’ve ever wondered about the true stories behind your favorite songs, or wanted to hear directly from the legends who made them, Professor of Rock is your new go-to podcast. Hosted by music historian and superfan Adam Reader, this show brings the golden era of music back to life with exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes stories, and deep dives into the songs that shaped our lives. This podcast uncovers how timeless tracks were made, the creative breakthroughs, the near-breakups, and the powerful moments that defined music history. Each episode is a masterclass in rock culture and nostalgia—whether it’s a chart-topping ‘80s anthem, a one-hit wonder with a wild backstory, or a candid conversation with the legends themselves. Hear the Stories. Relive the Music. Only on Professor of Rock.

Latest Episodes:

How “Signs” Became a ’70s Rock Classic: Interview with Five Man Electrical Band Oct 12, 2025

Show notes

Coming up an interview with a band that you’ve probably forgotten or don’t remember, but I guarantee that you know the opening line of their most famous song. It's the Five Man Electrical Band and their classic song Signs that came to its creator when he was racing down Route 66 and saw billboards advertising products in the middle of beautiful scenery. Ads right smack dab in the middle of Mother Nature. It was covering up true beauty, so he wrote a protest song, he threw it onto the B side of a song that the band thought would be a hit, but instead, DJs turned the record over and played the lesser-known song, and it became a 70s classic. Up next, the surviving member of the band gives us the story 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.

Top 5 Greatest Album Covers of the ’80s—With the Wildest Backstories Oct 11, 2025

Show notes

Coming up… We have a spectacular show for you. It’s become a lost art. But for those who grew up and came of age in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the album cover was paramount, and today we count down the greatest album covers of the 80s with some stories that are almost too good to be true, including the colorful album cover every 80s kid knows by heart. It may be the most famous album cover of the decade, and everyone thought it was just a random drawing, but over 40 years after it hit #1, a real person was shocked to find out the image was actually a drawing of her! Find out how the mystery was solved next. Plus, the controversial album cover that came from bribing a kid with candy cigarettes, when his mother saw the album in stores she freaked out. Plus a striking image captured on a train track in Thailand—and the famous rock band in the pic were, allegedly, almost killed by a train. And finally, the album cover came from a total screw up we’ve all dealt with in our lives… a printer paper jam that turned into one of the coolest album covers ever!

It's all coming up next on POR.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Disco, Drama, and a Smash Hit: Desmond Child Tells All About Kiss’s Bold Reinvention Oct 10, 2025

Show notes

Up next, we have one of the most prolific rock writers, Desmond Child, to tell the story of the biggest songs by one of rock’s most legendary bands, I Was Made for Loving You by Kiss. First of all, he wrote it with Kiss's lead singer, Paul Stanley, who claims he wrote his part of the song as an answer to a challenge from the song’s producer. The Paul singer got into a discussion with this disco producer about whether it was easier to write a disco song than it was to write a rock song. So it became a bet. He was out to prove he could write the song quickly, and lo and behold, the song became a monster hit. But then one of the principal members of the band publicly said he HATED it, and Desmond got pissed, especially since he’d given the band a smash hit that made them millions, so he told Paul to go blank himself. And then this hardcore icon gave the only apology he’s ever given. The drama is intense 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.

FROM THE VAULT: The 80s Classic 'Come On Eileen': Controversy, Claims of Theft, and an Unwilling Star Oct 09, 2025

Show notes

Where do I even start with this POR classic?

Over 50 musicians came in and out of this one-hit wonder band in its time... Dexys Midnight Runners. And its principal, the singer Kevin Rowland absolutely detested his #1 hit Come On Eileen. He hated it because he didn’t think it was mixed right… He was so angry about it, he didn’t listen to the song for 40 years, which is hard to believe because we all LOVED IT. Come On Eileen was such a big song it bested the biggest-selling artist on the planet during its unprecedented peak. This was the song that stopped him. It was a dirty song in more ways than one and it still moves the needle. A bottle-lightning classic and besides its controversy a former band member would come out of the woodwork and claim the singer stole it from him.

The story of an 80s classic 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.

Rock’s Greatest Letdowns: The Stories Behind the Albums That Broke Fans’ Hearts Oct 08, 2025

Show notes

Sadly, it’s now a lost art, but we've all been there. That moment when your favorite band announced their new album and you could practically feel the electricity in the air. Remember when that anticipation built for months, sometimes even years. You're counting down the days… then finally the album drops, and… you hate it. You can’t believe what you’re listening to. And you can’t even force yourself to finish the record. Well, today we're diving into some of rock's most crushing letdowns – those highly anticipated albums and songs that fell flat, and made you want to get your money back. You’ll hear the story of Heart's #2 hit All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You that a top producer wrote for one of rock’s best vocalists, but it made her want to gag. She reluctantly recorded it, but later refused to sing it again. Also, there’s Guns N Roses' Chinese Democracy that was hyped up for the better part of two decades and cost $13 million to make, and it turned out to be one of the biggest flops of all time. That went through 10 different guitarists in the process, including 2 of the best ever. Plus, Metallica the band that sued their fans and made a list of 335 K fans they wanted to punish for downloading their new song without permission. And then the Red Hot Chili Peppers album One Hot Minute, which was actually a pretty big hit, but the band hated it so much that they’ve essentially erased it from their history. Get ready for some good stories from some bad albums, NEXT on the 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.

FROM THE VAULT: How Yes Revived Their Career with "Owner of a Lonely Heart"—A Song Written in the Bathroom Oct 07, 2025

Show notes

Coming up, it’s the remarkable story of a #1 rock song from 1984 that was written on the porcelain throne. ya the Yes #1 classic rock standard, Owner of a Lonely Heart was written by Trevor Rabin while sitting on the pot In fact, Trevor said he wasn’t ashamed to sing in the loo. well, it’s hard to argue with the results. But even more importantly, this song was instrumental in bringing one of the greatest prog-rock bands of the 70s back from the dead and into the 80s. After years of being broken up, the founding members including Chris Squire and singer Jon Anderson, plus some new faces including producer Trevor Horn all converged around this song… giving them a new lease on life and a new musical direction. And to help us tell the story, we’ve got exclusive interviews with the iconic frontman Jon Anderson who co-wrote and sang this song… as well as some behind the scenes insight from the legendary record man Phil Carson who helped reunite this band. You’re not going to want to say “no” to this one.

The story is… 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.

How a Made Up Word Became a Rock Classic: 1983’s Musical Mysteries Oct 06, 2025

Show notes

Today we're going “Casey Kasem style,” counting down ten stone-cold classics from 1983. It’s our weekly Saturday Morning countdown where we feature songs from a throwback year that left a lasting mark on rock history… and shockingly never made the top 40, even though many of these are some of the biggest songs of the time. It's a musical mystery — how did these rock standards get passed over? As usual, we’ve got some great stories and guests, including how Billy Idol stole the master tapes for his new record and held them hostage to get the label to change the cover art on the album. He was about to bootleg them to the public if they didn’t cave. Or how about the song Blue Monday that New Order wrote because they were sick of coming back out on stage for encores. Their plan was to just have sequencers play it and have a robot sing it while they walked off. But it became their most famous song. And then there was the band that made up a word in their song as a joke, and it became a classic. And then there was the Journey classic Ask the Lonely that got pulled from an album at the last second and was banished to a crappy movie. Stick around for the latest episode of 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.

Rita Coolidge Claims “Layla” Was Stolen—Her Untold Side of Rock History Oct 05, 2025

Show notes

Coming up next the story of one of the greatest, most epic rock songs in history: Layla. It has so many subplots, it’s a shock that it hasn’t been made into a biopic because you could never make this up. The song came from the writings of a 12th-century poet, and then hundreds of years later, that ancient story fell into the lap of legendary singer-guitarist Eric Clapton, who happened to be in the same situation as the man in the tragic story. Clapton was in love with his best friend’s wife, but that’s nothing. The song became shrouded in a cocktail of vices, from killing, adultery, drugs, and stealing… When I say stealing, the song was stolen from an iconic singer Rita Coolidge, who I have on the show to explain her side. The angled web of the greatest rock songs ever is finally revealed in all of its truth and drama 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.

90 Million Records and Never Toured! The Top 10 Most Unconventional Musical Feats Oct 04, 2025

Show notes

Next we’re sharing the greatest underdog stories in music history. In our countdown of the strangest feats in music. including athen the incredible the incredible artist who sold almost 90 million records without ever playing a live concert. As well as an instrumental song that had over 2000 overdubs that became the soundtrack for one of the scariest movies ever, the Exorcist & went on to sell 18 million copies. A s well as a group of monks that came out of nowhere and leapfrogged over Soundgarden, Mariah Carey, Pink Floyd, and Pearl Jam to sell 4 million copies in the middle of grunge. Find out what happened in these stories and more, as we count down the Top 10 Most Unconventional Musical Feats ever.

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.

Sebastian Bach on the Iconic Note That Made “I Remember You” a #1 Hit Oct 03, 2025

Show notes

Coming up next, the iconic singer of the #1 rock band in the world tapped his buddy Sebastian Bach and Skid Row to open for him on their world tour in 1989. Skid Row was a bunch of rookies whose debut album hadn’t even come out yet, but they had a secret weapon, Sebastian Bach, a young kid with a five octave range, and these rookies blew the #1 band in rock off the stage… They were the talk of the industry, and once they put out their album, they would scale the top of the charts with several massive hits, including the power ballad I Remember You that most of the band thought was too cheesy for the record… Until Sebastian unleashed an otherworldly note. He said he wanted to hit a note that no one would ever be able to top, and he more than delivered… It took I Remember You to the top of the charts, and I have Sebastian with me today to give the first-hand account 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.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Professor of Rock

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected