Rock School

"Michael Jacksons son Blanket is suing his grandmother over her spending the family inheritance on legal fees. It is only one of many families who have sued each other over the money a musician in the family made."

"Now that Beyonce has put out a country album, many are praising her for changing music genres. However artists have been doing it all long. Here is a good long list of musicians and bands who changed genres and succeeded as well."

"Usually we do not get the opportunity to offer updates to stories we cover on the show. Until now. Here are updates to ten of the bigger music stories we have covered in the past."

"Arianna Grande is upset with her fans for deciphering her latest album and then punishing those they feel have harmed the singer. She said she might quite social media. Here is a list of artists that already have quit social media."

"This week back in 1992 Bruce Springsteen released two albums on the same day March 31. Has this happened before or since? We have a list for you."

"This week back in 1958 Elvis went to the Memphis Draft Board and signs up for the Army turning down the chance to work for Special Services. From that we decided to talk about musicians you know that have served as well."

"As AI progresses there have been calls for protections largely unheeded. So now come the lawsuits. There is a long list and some seem to have teeth."

"It used to be that artists wanted to go platinum. Now they are racing to a Billion. It is the new platinum.."

"It only comes around every four years so we need to do something with Leap Year day February 29. Here is our take."

"There are a lot of bands that have not had a number one hit. What is interesting is how close some bands came without ever hitting the top. We have a list."

"This week back in 1981 Rush released Tom Sawyer and all anyone could talk about was the Neil Peart drum work. For fun I asked the internet for other songs where the drum takes the lead. Here is a good long list."

"There is a portion of Copyright law that is starting to come due. It states that if 35 years pass that you can petition for your copyright to be returned. Many are doing that. Here are the facts."

"Yes we are a little late with the topic but here are some of the big predictions found around the internet discussing 2024 and the future of music."

"This week we speak with author Darren Paltrowitz about his new work, DLR Book, How David Lee Roth Changed the World."

"2024 is a year of many anniversaries and one big birthday. The Fender Stratocaster is 70 years old. We will look at the history and why it continues to be such an iconic guitar."

"Here is the second show listing the anniversaries in the music world that will be coming up during this new year, 2024."

"This is our yearly start to the new year. We go back 10 years again and again as far back as we can go and tell you the music anniversaries that will be celebrated this year."

"Every year, we take the final show and say a thank you and raise a glass to the musicians who passed. This is that show."

"Not even Christmas gets away from the law. We begin with Mariah Carey being sued again for All I Want For Christmas is You and go from there."

"With Beyonce and Taylor Swift setting records with their two new concert films, we decided to offer up some other concert films for you to enjoy this holiday season."

"The Beatles released a song with John Lennon which is mainly AI. People love it but is it a good thing? AI is being used more than you might think already. We will talk about it."

"Lets talk turkey. This is our Thanksgiving show."

"This week in 1938 Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann invented LSD. It became a force in the 60s and gave us a new genre of music. Psychedelic."

"Can you give yourself a nickname. Michael Jackson wrote a letter to Mtv this week in 1991 that asked them to call him The King of Pop. Some did many laughed. That said this week is a long list of musician nicknames and where they came from. "

"This week is an interview with authors Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel about their new book, Bob Dylan Mixing up the Medicine. I ask them about the highlights in Dylans career. "

"Here is our second Halloween show. Many musicians and celebrities have been buried with some rather interesting items. We have a rather long list for you this week."

"Music celebrities that have passed often have fans that come to the grave sites and leave gifts. Here is a list of some of the more famous ones. "

"Streaming service Deezer is trying a new format of paying artists and the world is watching. We have the story."

"The Rolling Stones are putting out new hits. Mick Jagger is 80. Is he the oldest person to have a hit? Not by 21 years. The oldest person to go to number one is 101 years old. We will play him and many other seasoned citizens."

"Taylor Swift is re recording all the albums she recorded with Big Machine Records. She is not the first. Not even close. We have a long list of songs and reasons bands and artists re recorded their music."

"Nine days before the recording of this show, I had the Widow Maker Heart Attack. This is my story told as a warning to other to take care of themselves. We will also play music from musicians who had the same. "

"The phrase Big in Japan has become a bit of a joke thanks to Spinal Tap. However, it is a real thing and the Japanese press began noticing and reporting on bands that went to Japan to make it or to stay popular. We will tell you all about it."

"Banning a song is often done for a strong reason. Then there is the show today. Here is a list of songs that were banned for silly or dumb reasons. Just for fun."

"You all know the Windmill from Pete Townshend. You know the Duck Walk from Chuck Berry but there are so many more stage moves named after musicians. We have a whole list for you this week."

"Of course rock stars do commercials. Some believe it is selling out but you have pay the bills. This week is a long list of rock stars you might not believe did commercials but did. We have the audio to prove it."

"The Midnight Special was one of a slew of late night music shows that proved people would stay up late to watch something they liked. This was before DVRs and not many had VCRs. Plus it was one of my favorites."

"Now and again, you will see a rock musician show up in a movie either as a performer or an extra. This week we have a long list of appearences."

"In my music feeds, it often comes up that a musician received his or her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame that day. I decided to investigate. We will discuss how one gets a star, the cost and a few other rather interesting facts."

"Rolling Stone came out with their list of best songs by bands found in movies and television. That means they are songs by bands that do not exist. We don't have time for all 50 but we will do the top 25."

"Believe it or do not but there are scientists out there who have taken their life work and named their findings after a rock star. I would probably do it as well. Here is a list of some bands and songs that mention bugs."

"If the predictions are correct, Swift's Eras tour is set to become the first tour, ever, to break a billion dollars in gross sales. But how? How is it being done and why Swift? We have multiple answers. "

"This week we speak with author Scott Shea about his new book, All the Leaves are Brown: How the Mamas and the Papas Came Together and Broke Apart."

"This week we speak with music author Hank Davis about his new book, Ducktails, Drive-ins and Broken Hearts. An Unsweetened Look at 50s Music."

"This week in 1992, Bill Clinton played saxophone on the Arsinio Hall show. With that and the presidential race heating up, here's a rundown of presidents who were also musicians."

"Many famous music fathers have children who are following them into the family business. Here's a long list of them along with clips and full songs."

"Dolly Parton just had her 57th wedding anniversary to Carl Dean. That may make her the longest married musician alive today. For this hour, we have a list of other musicians married for a good long time."

"Back in 1992 this week, the principal of a school in New Jersey banned We Are the Champions because Freddy Mercury had died of AIDS. Of course people protested and the ban was overturned. This week we have a bunch of stories of schools banning music and what happened."

"Depending on what you read, AI is either the destroyer, the helper or a big nothing burger to the future of music. We will discuss all three."

"It is summer and swimsuit season. Here is a list of musicians who have lost a ton of weight and how they did it."

"Heres some fun for the week. Often musicians will create a false story and the press will run with it. About a month ago, Diddy suggested he was paying Sting thousands of dollars per day for the use of a song. Everyone reported it. It was not true. Fake News. We have a whole list of other fake music news. "

"It is said there is Taylor Swift Effect. Her entering the business made a ton of girls buy guitars and play. The Baker Street Effect made the sax cool again. We have many more to list over the hour. "

"This week, back in 1968, the Broadway musical Hair opens up. It will spawn multiple top 40 hits including a number one, Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In. That got us thinking. Have any other Broadway plays spawned Top 40 hits. You bet. Here are some of the bigger ones."

"Motley Crue are locked in a nasty divorce. Guitarist Mick Mars says he was kicked out and robbed of royalties. The rest of the band says he cant cut it anymore. We will tell you the story and offer up a good many more times when a member sued the band."

"How does a musician or band get to own a record label. Today, its as easy as some paperwork and starting a business. In fact, today, it makes more sense because of royalties and distribution being in your own hands. Here's how you do it. "

"There is once again talk of banning TikTok here in the United States. What if it happens. How large a hole would that leave in the music industry. And what would take its place."

"To Rick Roll someone is to offer one thing and then when he person clicks on it, he or she receives the video for Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up. It's an April Fools tradition. Here is the history of it."

"Who owns a band name. It depends on what legal document the band has created. If there is no legal document, then things get sticky."

"This week in 1819, a serial killer nicknamed, The Axeman, terrorized New Orleans by writing a letter to the newspaper that he loved Jazz music. If a house or business was playing Jazz on Saturday, he would spare them. We will tell the story and tell some more musical favorites of other killers."

"Back in 1981, The Go Gos album Beauty and the Beat hit number one making it the first time an all woman rock band topped the charts. To that end, we have compiled a list of women firsts in the music industry."

"During this week, a few years back, a cattle call was made to choose the five Spice Girls. To that end, we will tell stories of some other band auditions, both successful and failure and talk a bit about the new audition TV shows."

"This week, we will have a discussion with author Richard Aquila about his new book Rock and Roll in Kennedys America. A Cultural History of the Early 1960s."

"This week, we speak with author Dewar MacLeod about his new book, Tommy, Trauma, and Postwar Youth Culture."

"A friend of the show, author James Campion is back to discuss his latest book, Take a Sad Song. It is an in depth discussion and view of The Beatles Hey Jude. We will talk about the song and his findings."

"The King Biscuit Flower Hours was a one hour live music, syndicated radio show. It started in the 70s at the same time as other TV based shows. I grew up listening on WMMS Cleveland. This is the story of the show."

"At the end of 2022, Jeopardy had a category titled Classic Flute Rock. The problem is that the category did not include the one band viewers felt was THE classic flute rock band. So they revolted on Twitter. We will tell you the questions, the missing band, and offer up a few more flute rock questions."

"To start each year, Rock School goes back every ten years to find out what this new year will be the anniversary for. This is part two."

"To start each year, Rock School goes back every ten years to find out what this new year will be the anniversary for. We have a nice long list going back almost 200 years. This is part one."

"This is our yearly end of the year show tipping the hat to musicians who passed. Here is our list of players who died in 2022."

"Why do people choose to perform certain songs during Christmas. I would argue that often it's because the song is not under copyright. Many of your favorites are free for the playing."

"Here is our first of two Christmas shows this year. Songs from Christmas movies. It's all opinion so please offer yours. Here are a few we like. Plus we will list out some of the best Christmas horror movies. Plus plus we will discuss why Die Hard is not a Christmas movie."

"There are three rather interesting copyright concerns that the government will need to deal with in 2023. Copyright and Artificial intelligence, the public domain and movies now that they will all have sound and if comedy performances are the same as a song so should have two levels of copyright protection. We will lay it all out for you."

"This week marks the anniversary of Aerosmith appearing on The Simpsons. While they weren't the first band to guest on the Simpsons, they were the first that people can name. So for fun we will play some musician appearances and the clips to go with it."

"This is our annual Thanksgiving show. This year we'll play artists who contributed recipes to the book Eat Like a Rock Star. We will also talk turkey."

"It came up on our bottom of the hour calendar that three world records were set this week so we began looking for other Musicians world records. There are so many this this week is a list of those who have at least two."

"With this week being the midterm elections, Let's talk about musicians who became politicians."

"It seems to be a badge of honor especially in the rock and blues and country genres to proclaim your are self taught in music. It suggests you are a better musician than a formally taught player. Are you? This is well debated online and we will give you the facts."

"This is our Halloween show. For an hour, we will offer up songs that were written for someone who died. Not much more to it than that."

"Audius is maybe the future of music and streaming. All posts and plays are counted through a crypto blockchain so the artists are paid directly. But artists are not paid in money. They are paid in a new crypto coin named audio. Big people are putting big money into it. We will tell you all about it."

"This week is an interview with Bobby McDaniel, one of the first people to arrive and assist in the crash of the Lynyrd Skynyrd airplane, October 20, 1977. The plane crashed near his family farm. His is a harrowing story and tells it all to us."

"Can a song make a person do something awful. Many believe it can. In fact, there have been multiple court cases where a song was brought into evidence on a crime. We have a long list of court cases that used music as a defense."

"Elvis was not always buried on the Graceland property. After an attempted grave robbing he was moved there. In fact many musicians graves have been invaded or vandalized. We will tell you the list."

"This week back in 1988 Chers Believe was released and the effect introduced everyone to AutoTune. We will talk about the effects history, how its been used and why so many people hate it."

"Pollstar has released their yearly mid year report on live music and the results are good. People are going out and spending money. The one downside is ticket pricing and ticket gouging on secondary markets."

"This week in history, Jimi Hendrix played a concert and RF traffic came through his amplifier. It was his single coil pickups and being too close to a radio source. It became the inspiration for the Air Force base scene in Spinal Tap. We have collected a good number of other inspirations and where the idea for the movie came from."

"Soft 70s and 80s rock has been given the nickname Yacht Rock. Where did it come from and how does Van Halen figure into it. We will tell you all about it."

"Once again another site has come up with another top guitar riffs list. Instead of just reading that one, we compiled ten lists from ten places. Will they agree. Plus we will tell you what we believe is the top guitar riff of all time."

"What was the first stadium concert. Beatles. Are you sure. Stadium concerts are becoming more common because of both financial decisions and an effort to be less taxing on the artist. It sounds the opposite of what you would think. We will explain it all."

"Maybe there is life out there. Maybe UFOs have visited us. The government is even admitting there is a pretty good chance. However, many musicians already believe it and many say they have seen a UFO. Some state they have been taken aboard their starship and headed for the sky."

"It sometimes happens that an older song will be picked up in a television show and break back on the charts for a whole new generation. Stranger Things has done it twice in a single season. We will tell you the stories and list some more long forgotten songs that received new life thanks to TV."

"Now and again, two music artists from seemingly opposite ends of the musical spectrum get together and create a hit. But how did they get together? How did the song come to be? We'll tell you the story of as many as we could find."

"Inflation is high, not only here but around the world. While we may not know exactly how to solve inflation, but what we do know is that it's having an effect on musicians and the music industry. We will tell you what we found."

"Do you remember the 21st of September? You know that date means nothing, right? It fit in the beat of the song. However, there are many songs with dates where the date does mean something. We have a good long list."

"A month, or so, back, the Chicks walked off stage because the lead singer wasn't able to continue due to allergies. This happens more than you might think. We have a full list of times a musician called a concert early for one reason or another and then walked off stage."

"Interpolation in music is a simple, specific thing. Instead of sampling a piece of music, taking the actual song, Interpolation, is reperforming the part and paying a great deal less than the Master License needed to sample. It's a way to take a part of a song at a discount rate and, it is done a lot. We have examples."

"Caruso Sauce. Paganini Ravioli. Bizet Cake. Drinks. Sandwiches. Food trucks. It's amazing how many food and food-related items are named after musicians and bands. We have a full list plus we will talk about some non musician foods. Arnold Palmer? Peach Melba? Chicken a la King? Who are these people? We will tell you."

"This week, we will speak with author Christy Alexander Hallberg about her new book Searching for Jimmy Page."

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine has well passed 100 days. To hurt Russia for its actions, businesses have pulled out of the country. That means a great many businesses that deal with music. This week we will list many of these music outlets and discuss if their actions are hurting Russia itself or just the Russian musicians."

"This week, back in 1979, Fleetwood Mac recorded the Trojan Marching Band for their song Tusk. That started us wondering. Are there other pop and rock songs that feature a marching band? Yes. We will also play some actual marching bands playing rock and pop."

"Donald Trump hosted the Celebrity Apprentice six times and then Arnold took over for a season. Believe it or not musicians played a big part in the show actually winning it a couple times. We will look back and also discuss how other countries said Youre fired!"