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PODCAST

Professor of Rock

Gamut Podcast Network

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

music

All Episodes

00:35:13

Top 5 Haunting Female Vocal Performances of the ’70s:...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/19

Coming up, we’re counting down the most Haunting female vocal performances of the 70s, including Donna Summer with a vocal on “Love to Love You Baby” that was stimulated by an explicit action in the recording studio… so explicit that when she performed the #1 hit live, it got men in attendance so worked up, she feared for her life when they rushed the stage. Then there was an oldies hit by a legendary singer — “Gloria” by Them — that was covered by Patti Smith, who added some of her own lyrics to

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00:22:01

FROM THE VAULT: When The Beatles Took on The Who with...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/18

On this day in 1962, Ringo Starr played his first show with The Beatles, marking the start of the classic Fab Four lineup. To celebrate, we revisit the wild story behind one of their loudest, most chaotic songs. After Pete Townshend bragged to Paul McCartney that I Can See for Miles was the dirtiest, loudest rock song ever, Paul took it as a challenge. The Beatles responded with Helter Skelter, pushing their sound to the limit. Ringo played so hard his hands were covered in blisters and

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00:31:09

Countdown: The Greatest Songs of 1961 Including Roy...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/17

Coming up… I said I was done, but then I got overwhelming feedback to keep going, so let’s take it one by one. Today, we unravel the story of a classic sing-along #1 hit — “Big Bad John” by Jimmy Dean — whose creator quit music to make sausages… and made a fortune from it. Then there’s the song that was reconstructed from an African hunting call — “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Tokens — that became an all-time classic, but its original creator died young without making a dime. Fifty years later,

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00:32:56

When Ego Ruined Everything: Rock’s Most Infamous...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/16

They had the fame. They had the fans. They had it all… until one decision brought it all crashing down. You loved the first one, so here’s part 2, counting down the most infamous self-inflicted wounds in rock history… career killing choices that left fans stunned, and musicians on the wrong side of history. Some of these are full-on swan dives into disaster. One Rookie hitmaker named Terence Trent D'Arby got taken down by both fans and critics after he boasted that his debut album was better than

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00:18:29

The Story Behind Supertramp’s “The Logical Song” – A...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/15

Coming up next, Supertramp, a rock band that may be the most under-appreciated of the classic rock era… We just talked about them in a countdown, and we got so many requests for a deeper dive, we went for it… This band created a classic album that plays like a greatest hits album…Including today’s focused song, The Logical Song… a song where the singer came up with 20 different similar-sounding adjectives and combined them with the sound of a famous 70s handheld video game. In fact, to this day,

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00:22:49

How “Love Is a Battlefield” Was Rewritten and Became...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/14

Coming up, an interview with Neil Giraldo, one of the best guitarists and producers of the 80s, on a true classic from the decade. Here's how it went... Two of the best hitmakers of the time, Mike Chapman and Holly Knight, wrote a song they knew would be a smash: Love Is a Battlefield. They knew the perfect person to record it would be a legendary female rocker, Pat Benatar, who was married to Neil Giraldo, who produced and co-wrote her biggest hits. It was supposed to be the slow, methodical

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00:20:01

FROM THE VAULT: Randy Bachman on How “You Ain’t Seen...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/13

On this day in 1977, Bachman-Turner Overdrive announced their breakup, marking the end of a remarkable run by one of the most powerful rock acts of the '70s.In this classic interview, Professor of Rock sits down with legendary guitarist and songwriter Randy Bachman, the force behind not one but two iconic bands: The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. One of only a handful of artists to score #1 hits with two different bands (a feat matched only by Paul McCartney), Randy shares unforgettable

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00:30:07

7 Hilarious Non-Parody Rock Songs You Won’t Believe...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/12

In a world that is way too serious, we all need a lot more humor in our lives. In this episode, we’re going to spotlight 7 of the funniest non-parody songs of the Rock Era, including a Flaming Lips song about a woman who cooks with nothing but vaseline, as well as an unhinged rant about modern life that became a hilarious and accidental protest song for Gen X, plus the classic song Mellow Yellow that we’ve all been singing along to for years that has a chorus that we all thought was silly but is

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00:23:21

FROM THE VAULT: How George Harrison Inspired Led...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/11

Known to many as hard and heavy rockers, Led Zeppelin has written some of the greatest pulse-pounding classics of the past half-century. But at one point they were actually called out by George Harrison for rocking too much. Challenged to bring it down a few notches, guitar virtuoso Jimmy Page composed a sonic soundscape so lush and surreal that one of rock’s premiere producers said it defied classification. WHEN Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bohnam wrote the 70s album track

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00:38:03

1993’s Top Songs: R.E.M., Billy Joel, Duran Duran,...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/10

Coming up…What may be the last good year for mainstream music…There were about 10 crappy songs for every great one. But don’t worry, the 11 good ones in today’s countdown could compete with most any year... including one song that one of rock’s greatest lyricists, REM's Michael Stipe, could not figure out. The music was perfect, the melody was there, but he was fighting horrible writer’s block until he walked into the studio and came to him right then... Man on the Moon. Stipe recorded it seconds

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00:29:46

5 Unsolved Rock Mysteries: The Strangest Lost Songs...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/09

Coming up, we’re counting down 5 of the most compelling cold cases in rock… songs that were recorded back in the day, but then fell into obscurity… only to resurface online decades later. But without a name or band attached to them. No one really knows where these songs came from. Among them is a mysterious banger that was found on a mysterious documentary, that was hidden on a Little Rascals VHS tape that a girl found in a thrift store. Seriously. Then there’s a sultry pop number that soundtracks a

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00:22:18

Nick Kershaw’s “Wouldn’t It Be Good”: The 80s Anthem...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/08

In 1984, a rookie named Nick Kershaw put out a song that became a teenage anthem called Wouldn’t It Be Good for the outcasts and the have-nots, and it earned him a ticket to play one of the biggest gigs ever. LIVE AID, which put him in front of 2 billion fans. Then the next year, one of the biggest movies of the year, Pretty In Pink, used the song but had it re-recorded by another band that included a lead from the classic rock band Three Dog Night: Danny Hutton Hitters from 20 years before… We

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00:17:25

Styx's “Renegade”: The Accidental Hit That Made Tommy...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/07

Coming up an interview with one of the defining voices of 70s and 80s rock: Tommy Shaw. He joined Styx after they already had a couple of hits, but they weren’t exactly established. But after Tommy came aboard, they were unstoppable with a two-singer attack that made them twice the threat... especially with today’s song Renegade... an all-time classic rock magnum opus. It came from images in the singer’s head from old westerns he watched as a kid, and he came up with a famous a cappella part that

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00:27:48

Improv Magic: The Untold Stories Behind Pink Floyd,...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/06

Improvisation is the X factor behind some of the greatest tracks of the Rock Era—moments of spontaneous genius nborn from gifted talent and instinct. On this episode, we’ll get ninto the captivating stories of how a teenager walking down the street decided to visit a studio that caught his eye. His name was Barrett Strong and he laid down a scratch vocal on a song he improvised… That scratch vocal became Money (That's What I Want), the first big hit for a label that npretty much became it’s own

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00:17:52

FROM THE VAULT: How David Gilmour’s Voice Elevated...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/05

FROM THE VAULT: David Gilmour’s Most Powerful Vocal Performances with Pink FloydIn this special vault episode, we shine a spotlight on one of rock’s most iconic yet often underrated voices: David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. While his guitar solos are legendary, it’s his soaring, soulful vocals that gave depth and emotion to some of the band’s most powerful songs. From the haunting beauty of Comfortably Numb to the raw emotion of Dogsand the melancholy ache of Wish You Were Here, Gilmour’s voice

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00:32:57

Oldies But Goldies: The Untold Stories Behind the...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/04

It was the year of golden oldies. In fact, it was the year that was described when people say the oldies but goodies. So many incredible songs, including the rise of the instrumental track Telstar by The Tornados that would spark the British Invasion, and it was recorded in a kitchen, along with a one-hit wonder, Monster Mash, that we play every single year for a month. Plus, The Twist, a song that hit #1 twice by the same artist (Chubby Checker) 2 years apart… It’s an artist I tried to get an

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00:34:53

Ozzy Osbourne’s Greatest Songs: A Tribute to Heavy...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/03

He was the madman who redefined heavy metal… an unlikely rock hero who became a legend. With the passing of Ozzy Osbourne on July 22, 2025, the world lost more than the “Prince of Darkness”—we lost one of music’s most passionate, misunderstood, and enduring voices. Today, we’re celebrating Ozzy the only way that feels right—by taking a deep dive through the songs that shaped his legacy. Because behind the bat-biting headlines was a man of depth, kindness, and resilience. Let’s tell Ozzy’s story the

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00:24:05

How Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality” Broke...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/02

There are only a few dozen songs that came on the radio and rearranged our brains; they smacked us upside the head and changed the way we looked at the world. Today, we have the two principals from Living Colour behind one such song: Cult of Personality. It exploded onto MTV and Radio in the late 80s with an epic riff and a revolutionary message that had us seeing double. Corey Glover and Vernon Reid behind this force of nature song tell the story of Cult of Personality, a song that became a

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00:27:24

FROM THE VAULT: Interview with Geoff Downes: How...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/08/01

On This Day in Rock History, 1981, music changed forever with the launch of MTV, and the very first video to air was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles. It became an anthem of the new era, but here’s the twist: it wasn’t an '80s song at all. Written, recorded, released, and even charted in the late '70s, the track peaked modestly at #40 in the U.S., yet it became one of the most iconic songs of the MTV generation. In this vault episode, the Professor of Rock talks with Buggles

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00:20:38

England Dan & John Ford Coley: The Soft Rock Duo Who...

Professor of Rock ·

2025/07/31

I love stories like this… I've got one half of the underrated duo England Dan and John Ford Coley, that maybe the kings of the line, "Oh, that’s who sings that song…I’ve always loved it but never knew who sang it." Get This... today’s guests opened for Led Zeppelin as unsigned rookies, and they were so great that the newspaper that reviewed the show said they bettered the golden gods of rock! And not too long after, they put together one of the most successful runs of hits of the late 70s. From 1976

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