Behind The Song

By 1983, John Mellencamp had finally gotten the upper hand on his career. After the success of his breakthrough album, 1982’s American Fool, he had all the cards in his deck to change the game when it came to his relationship with the music business executives who had tried to control him from the start, over six years earlier.  For his seventh studio album, Uh Huh, he did just that. Released in the fall of '83, t is the first album that bears his last name, an important step toward freeing himself of artistic shackles. Uh Huh was another success for Mellencamp on the charts, and one of its charting singles could be viewed as his mission statement: a song that encapsulates not only his battle with the folks in the corner offices who tried to dictate his career but the very spirit of the man himself. Let’s get into the story of “Authority Song” in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd stands alone in many ways. By dealing with the uncomfortable concepts of life, death, greed, and mental illness, this body of work chimes with the human experience on a real level, which is remarkable considering that Roger Waters wrote the lyrics when he was just in his late 20’s. The content resonates so completely that The Dark Side Of The Moon holds the record on the Billboard 200 chart for being the longest-charting album in the chart’s history - over a thousand weeks and counting. It is one of the best-selling albums in the world, one of the most important in the entire rock genre. And when it comes to “Time,” track four on side one, we have a song that confronts us with our very path of existence. It traces the whole pattern of life, from youth to death and the great beyond, in six minutes and 53 seconds of pure poetry and amazingly creative audio imagery - ticking clocks and all. Get into it in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” is one of the best examples of Jeff Lynne’s particularly bouncy brand of symphonic rock, a song that holds several surprises and reveals itself more and more with each repeated listen...including the very last line of the song, which is actually an often-misheard request! It has been proven to fit a “Feel Good Song Formula” by a scientist who tested it to find the world’s happiest tune. And for such a bright, happy song, would you be surprised to know that it all came about after Lynne had been suffering from a weather-induced writer’s block, a mental funk, while holed up in Switzerland? A funk that literally ended when the sun came out. Let’s dig in to the awesome story of “Mr. Blue Sky” in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The song is the biggest hit of Pete Townshend’s solo career, an infectious tune that the songwriter behind The Who has called “just a little ditty.” It’s a Hollywood favorite, used in charming romantic scenes in movies and TV shows. But like most things about this artist’s work, “Let My Love Open The Door” has a more complex and deeper meaning than what it sounds like at first. Let’s get into it in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Pat Benatar’s Tropico album was released in 1984, she was on top of the world: an established superstar talent with a string of chart-toppers, and she and her husband and musical partner Neil Giraldo were about to become first-time parents. The biggest hit from the album, “We Belong,” would become a worldwide smash, extending her golden streak on the charts. It’s a love song that was actually written by two Los Angeles musicians who were struggling to make it at the time, and its success became a windfall for them that they didn’t see coming. Get into the story in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By 1981, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were barely talking, having differing opinions on the direction of The Rolling Stones. Making new music together seemed out of the question, but they were booked on a world tour, and needed an album to tour behind. That’s when engineer Chris Kimsey stepped in to save the day, poring over forgotten outtakes from the band’s previous sessions to cobble together what would become the Tattoo You album. The lead track, “Start Me Up,” was the biggest surprise to Keith Richards, who had written it as a reggae song but never liked what he heard when it was recorded. But, Kimsey found a diamond in the rough: when Richards and Charlie Watts briefly went into the rockin’ version we fans have come to know in one of those forgotten sessions. That outtake, after a little polishing, became one of the biggest hits of the Stones’ career, and it’s a miracle it was ever found to begin with. Get into the story in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He was the first former Beatle to release a Christmas single after the band broke up, and he found a way to make a Christmas song carry a message of peace and unity without being overly saccharine. But then again, he was John Lennon. Get into the story of how his and Yoko Ono’s 1971 single “Happy XMas (War Is Over)” arrived just in time for Christmas in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Neil Young’s second solo album, 1969’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, marked the first time he made an album with Crazy Horse as his backing band. Created in a rush of musical output from Young, concurrent with his work with Crosby, Stills, and Nash, it set the stage for the type of sound Young wanted to make as a solo artist: stripped back, without any fancy studio-created bells and whistles. Three of the songs on that album were written while Young had a fever from the flu, and one of them, “Cinnamon Girl,” led to Young earning the nickname “The Godfather of Grunge” decades later when bands like Nirvana embraced the the innovative way he downtuned his guitar. But who is the subject of this gritty, hypnotic tune? Find out in this episode of Behind The Song. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time INXS released their sixth album, 1987’s Kick, the band were perched on the edge of international superstardom, a gig that the late Michael Hutchence seemed born for. Kick turned out to be their biggest success, but it was rejected at first by their US label. It may not have come out at all if it weren’t for a devilishly clever plan put into place by their wily manager. Dig in to the story of how this album overcame a major hurdle and made this band of brothers and friends into one of the biggest acts of the late 1980’s, in this episode of Behind The Song. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time Bachman Turner Overdrive were ready to record their third album, Not Fragile, Randy Bachman had sent demo tapes to almost two dozen record labels, all met with rejection letters. Finally, a twist of fate led to inking a contract with Mercury Records…but they were told they were one song short of “that magic element” the label thought they needed for the album. In this episode of the Behind The Song podcast, find out how “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” was begrudgingly added to the track listing and became a number one smash for B.T.O. even though Randy Bachman had intended for the song to be nothing more than a brotherly inside joke! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Temple Of The Dog’s short-lived status as a Seattle rock supergroup got its start as a tribute project for the late Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone, and ended up yielding one self-titled album that became a platinum seller. The idea to record songs for Wood, who died of an overdose at age 24, was the late Chris Cornell of Soundgarden’s way of coping with the grief of losing his friend, and the band he recruited as the songs became a full album included not only fellow Seattle musicians who would go on to form Pearl Jam, but a then-unknown singer who had flown up from San Diego, Eddie Vedder. Unpack the touching history of this classic tune in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“One Way Or Another” by Blondie is based on an experience frontwoman Debbie Harry had with a stalker ex-boyfriend. In an incredible turnabout of power, the song ended up being one of the major hits on the band’s commercial breakthrough album, Parallel Lines. It’s an inspirational tale about making something positive out of a very negative experience. Find out more in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Live And Let Die” marked some important firsts for the James Bond film franchise. It was the first 007 film to star Roger Moore as James Bond, and when it came to the music, it had a little help from some key players with Beatles pedigrees. Paul McCartney’s title theme was the first rock song ever for a Bond film, and the entire score was created by producer Sir George Martin, the fifth Beatle. Find out how it all came together in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eddie Money seemed to burst onto the national music scene fully formed when his self-titled debut album was released in 1977 and “Two Tickets To Paradise” climbed up the charts, but he had already traveled a long and unlikely road to get there. His journey begins in a New York City police family, quitting the force himself to travel to California, where he realized his dream to become a rock star with the help of legendary promoter Bill Graham. Let’s unpack the incredible journey of this cop-turned-rock’n’roller in this episode of Behind The Song. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A favorite among Dead fans and casual listeners alike, “Casey Jones” has a super catchy melody and an origin story that goes back to early 1900’s Americana. It all started with a real-life train engineer whose heroic act inspired a ballad that eventually became the album closer on the Workingman’s Dead album, released in 1970. As with all things Grateful Dead, there’s a story here, and so let’s get into it in this episode of Behind The Song.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers set out to record their third album, Damn The Torpedoes, they were in a legal mess with MCA Records over a contract sale which resulted in Petty losing all of his publishing rights, among other issues. In a drastic strategy to get the label off his back, he filed for bankruptcy and hid the master tapes of the material he, the band, and co-producer Jimmy Iovine were working on every day. That strategy worked, which resulted in a rare triumph for artists in the music business. When Damn The Torpedoes was released, it became their breakthrough, led by “Refugee,” a song Petty crafted the lyrics for in about 10 minutes. Dig in to the incredible story in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Without the music, the 1983 cult classic film Eddie & The Cruisers just wouldn’t be the same. And without the film, the real-life bar band band who wrote many of the songs for its multi-platinum soundtrack wouldn’t have recorded the Top Ten single from it, “On The Dark Side.” Get into the story of how John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown band got the gig of a lifetime in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time David Bowie wrote the songs for his Aladdin Sane album, which was released in April of 1973, it was his first time writing as an actual rock star. Inspired by the people and places he saw in America while touring as his Ziggy Stardust concept, he called Aladdin Sane his “Ziggy Goes To America” album. Two people in particular that he met in New York City became the muse for its first single, the glam rock bop “The Jean Genie.” Get into the story in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time U2 recorded their seventh album, 1991’s Achtung Baby, they were exhausted from nonstop touring, going through personal struggles at home in Ireland, and were at odds with each other about which direction to take musically. So, they headed to Berlin for a fresh start, landing on the day of the German Unification after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was there that they wrote the song that put them all on the same page as a band again, the timeless “One,” a song about division that actually helped the band transition into a new decade. Get into the whole story in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The late Peter Green was one of the early guitar heroes in England, alongside names like Eric Clapton. He formed Fleetwood Mac in 1967, and their early records during his time leading the band yielded songs that were transcendent, psychedelic, and rooted in the blues music that he loved. Before quitting the band and spending many years afterward battling schizophrenia, he wrote “Black Magic Woman,” a song popularized by Santana when he covered it for his Abraxas album. Get into the whole incredible story in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices