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Artwork for Professor of Rock
Professor of Rock · Wednesday · 35 min

The Songs That Should've Been #1 in 1984

Coming up, We’re going back in time to a perfect year in music and setting it right. Taking some top 10 hits and giving them their due at #1. Including some great stories, including a tragic internal conflict between long-time collaborators Daryl Hall and John Oates, one that led to the issuance of a restraining order, splitting the most successful two-some in rock history. Hey, how are ya gonna write songs together if there's a restraining order?! Then there’s a story of the highest-charting song by Bruce Springsteen that came from a place of real anger because his manager told him he needed to write a hit, even though he had written 70 songs for his forthcoming album. Then, on another classic song, during the making of the video of the mysterious ballad Eyes Without a Face, the singer had a medical emergency when his contacts fused to his eyeballs…and it led to a policeman holding a gun to his head. Plus, Billy Joel apushed the boundaries of his voice to an all-time high in a song that became a classic, only he was never able to hit those notes again and had to have a backup singer do it live when it became a hit. Plus, Prince's Purple Rain, the song ripped offits title and solo from 2 other hits, but the two bands didn’t care because the genius behind it was so respected. 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.

0:00-35:52

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show notes

Coming up, We’re going back in time to a perfect year in music and setting it right. Taking some top 10 hits and giving them their due at #1. Including some great stories, including a tragic internal conflict between long-time collaborators Daryl Hall and John Oates, one that led to the issuance of a restraining order, splitting the most successful two-some in rock history. Hey, how are ya gonna write songs together if there's a restraining order?! Then there’s a story of the highest-charting song by Bruce Springsteen that came from a place of real anger because his manager told him he needed to write a hit, even though he had written 70 songs for his forthcoming album. Then, on another classic song, during the making of the video of the mysterious ballad Eyes Without a Face, the singer had a medical emergency when his contacts fused to his eyeballs…and it led to a policeman holding a gun to his head. Plus, Billy Joel apushed the boundaries of his voice to an all-time high in a song that became a classic, only he was never able to hit those notes again and had to have a backup singer do it live when it became a hit. Plus, Prince's Purple Rain, the song ripped offits title and solo from 2 other hits, but the two bands didn’t care because the genius behind it was so respected. 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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