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Professor of Rock

Professor of Rock

By: Gamut Podcast Network
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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.

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Episodes
  • Top 5 Artists Who Hated Their Biggest Hits: The Who, R.E.M., The Turtles & More
    Jul 5 2026

    We All Love This Legend But He Wrote THE MOST IRRITATING Song of the 70s & Even He Admits It!

    For many artists and bands the song that makes you famous is the one that you wish you had never written. Some artists spend decades dodging their biggest hits, cringing every time they hear them on the radio and refusing to play them in concert. Today, I’ve got another Fiver for you. For this episode, we’re counting down the Top 5 artists who hated their own songs and the strange stories behind them. First… Pete Townsend dashed off Pinball Wizard in a blind panic… as a straight-up bribe to win over a single newspaper critic. He later called it an embarrassment, even as it climbed to the top of the charts in his home country. There’s also the cryptic frontman, Michael Stipe, who was mortified by his band's bubbliest hit: Shiny Happy People. He turned down a deal to make it one of the biggest TV theme songs of all time… His hatred for the song cost him a fortune. And finally, we’ve got the story of a guitarist who passed on a songwriting credit for The Turtles' Happy Together... which would have set him up for life and his kids and their kids. But he refused the writing credit, all because he thought it sounded too simple. Let’s get into it.

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    30 mins
  • The Story Behind “Brandy”: Looking Glass, Guardians of the Galaxy & an Unlikely #1 Hit
    Jul 4 2026

    I’ve got a special treat for you today. It’s an interview I released years ago but got taken down within a few hours over copyright claims… Well I worked it out and Now I can put it back up. Clive Davis helped bring it to life. It’s a happy singalong classic that everyone adores. Brandy (you're a Fine Girl) by Looking Glass from a singer songwriter who look and sounds like Dustin Hoffman. the song is about Girl that many have wondered if was based on a real person… Well it was such a popular song it made the girl’s name blast toward the top of the rankings of baby names for the next 5 years and as you’ll find out from the singer… it has great story first of all the song was too long for radio to play so he fudged the actual running time on the record he send to radio stations saying it was 2:55 when it was longer than that. Then it was merely an album track as part of a muti song acetate that sent to stations and the DJ played the A side but it floundered but the DJ was talked into hearing the other songs and he turned the record around and play the b side or album track and the phones lines lit up and practically overnight the song was a #1 smash. then he was called decades later by Filmmaker James Gunn who wanted to use the track in his big superhero movie Guardians of the Galaxy 2…today’s artist thought it would be cool to have a few seconds of his song in the film but was shocked when most of the song was used, multiple times and even became a plot point and made the song a smash all over again. 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.

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    25 mins
  • Female Hidden Gems: Brandi Carlile, Cowboy Junkies, Natalie Imbruglia & More
    Jul 3 2026

    Alright, it’s been a long while since we covered one of these. Today, we’re coming back to a channel favorite: Female Hidden Gems! For this countdown, we’re highlighting some incredible songs sung by amazing female artists that have just gotten lost in the shuffle, and it’s time to dig ‘em up and add them to our playlists. Coming up, we’ve got the story of the Cowboy Junkies, a band so desperate to record their album in a historic church building that they invented a fake but wholesome band name and lied to church officials to get approval. They had to do a top-secret recording. Find out if it was worth it. Then there’s Brandi Carlile, who was stricken with laryngitis while recording her signature song. As she belted out the track’s climactic finish, her voice cracked under the strain… giving us one of the most “technically wrong but emotionally right” vocals ever. And finally, there’s the artist Anne Preven, who wrote a global chart-topper called Torn, but nobody knows who she is… because when she released her original version of the song, it flopped. But when another singer gave it a pop makeover, it became 1 of the biggest hits of its time, but I’m telling you… Nobody knows this song is a cover. 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.

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    31 mins
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