Rock School

"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 former head of Interscope and Geffen records Jimmie Ivine said that streaming has had its time. Spotify will see its demise soon. Whether you believe that or not, the question is what comes next. After Spotify. Many have suggest this next step in music evolution. We will tell you what Ivine said and offer up some possibilities for after Spotify."

"I found a cheeky online piece where the author was using funny put downs to describe some popular bands. Tourist Rock. Ring Tone Rap. Yallternative. So I put it to the Facebook and received a much longer list. I call then Genre Insults and we have a bunch for you."

"I ran across an article that listed three songs that people listen to only to wait for just that one section. It mentioned the drum break in the Phil Collins song In the Air Tonight. I knew exactly what it was talking about and immediately had five examples from my own collection. I put it to Facebook and now I have a slew of examples."

"Major record companies are suing SUNO and Udio over song usage to create AI tunes. The one big thing the companies are looking for is a Walled Garden, the idea that what is created on SUNO will stay on SUNO. It cannot be taken and spread around. One company has already settled but it goes much deeper than that."

"This topic came from a discussion with an English professor. Somehow the idea of a misheard lyric came up and she suggested that was called a Mondegreen. She professed a few more interesting names for English concerns in songs. This will truly be Rock School. However there will not be a test."

"I ran across an article describing when Martha Wash sued over credits and the law was changed because of her suit. I wondered if any other musicians were responsible for the changing of a law. There are ten great stories this week. Martha Wash is the first. "

"I ran across an article listing musicians who are in both the Rock and the Country Halls of Fame. There aren't many. When I started looking into it further I found that the people on the list were in multiple other Halls of Fame as well. I wanted to find out what musician is in the most Halls. There is a clear winner."

"On April 16 2026 A federal jury in Manhattan found that Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation have been acting as a monopoly. The case is wide ranging involving 33 states and the District of Columbia. Live Nation will not appeal any of the verdicts. We will discuss what is a monopoly and what these decisions could mean for the future."

"Just a bit of fun this week. Nobody is perfect so it is pretty easy to hear mistakes in recorded music. Here are some of the big ones in rock and hopefully some you did not know. Once you hear them, you cannot unhear them."

"The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has released its 2026 State of the Industry Report. There are some pretty big take aways including stances on AI and the fact that the music industry is now more profitable than ever before. We will explore the findings."

"Luminate is a company that tracks the Entertainment Industry pointing out data analytics and trends. Their 2025 report has come out and it points to overall listenership being up. Listening to new music is way down. There are also some interesting data points regarding AI."

"The internet loves lists. The click bait ones often choose to list the worst of something and choose the best of it just to upset the audience for engagement. I can usually ignore these but this one really bugged me for some reason. I'll tell you the list and debunk it and offer some of mine."

"The Rockin 1000 is a project that started in Italy as gag to create a video of 1000 musicians playing Learn to Fly in order to get the Foo Fighters to come and put on a concert. It has since grown into full scale concerts across Europe. On January 31 the Rockin 1000 played their first concert in America, in New Orleans, and I was part of the band. Let me tell you the story."

"We are coming into tax season so Tammy and will talk about paying the government. The HITS Act is now in full swing. Foreign governments are changing their tax codes for musicians and we also have a list of what you might not have known was tax deductible."

"Every year I hear people complaining that the NFL makes lousy picks for the Super Bowl halftime show. If the picks are lousy then ratings must tank. But they do not. In fact the halftime show has never been better watched. We have a long list of ratings and demographics to show that the NFL seems to know what they are doing."

"In our New Year show we related an article that suggested that 3D spatial audio was going to be popular in 2026. Tammy asked for an explanation of 3D audio so here it is. We have examples of both new songs and classic music that has been remixed into a spatial audio format."

"A report from Spikerz, as Israeli company that tracks hacking, suggests that in 2025, music hacks were a sizeable number of methods bad actors were using to extract money from unsuspecting persons and companies. We have the numbers and multiple examples."

"This is our second of two year opening shows. We will cover new Public Domain availability, anniversaries for this new year and some predictions for 2026."

"This is our first of two year opening shows. We will cover new Public Domain availability, anniversaries for this new year and some predictions for 2026."

"NOTE. This show is being posted a week early due to our Holiday travel. Enjoy two shows this week. This is our traditional end-of-year show were we give one last tip of the hat to the musicians who passed in 2025. "

"This is our second Christmas show of 2025. We are giving more trivia and history for many of your favorite songs. It is quite a list."

"This is the first show of our annual Christmas double header. We did a show years back that looked at the history and trivia of classic Christmas Carols. For these shows we chose a whole bunch of songs we did not cover in that previous show. Get ready for a lot of information about your favorite songs of the season."

"We have broken down the meaning of American Pie and Creeque Alley and now it its time for We Didnt Start the Fire from Billy Joel. Listen closely. We go pretty quick."

"The The Office of the US Trade Representative has released their 2024 Piracy Report listing the notorious markets for counterfeiting and piracy. The practice is alive and well. This report dedicated an entire section just to music. We will tell you what it said."

"This is our annual Thanksgiving show. Thanksgiving is celebrated in many counties other than the United States. We will tell you the list and and how the people celebrate. Plus play songs about Thanksgiving food."

"Video may have killed the radio star but streaming and individual choices in music killed the video. Paramount Global has begun shutting down Mtv channels in Europe and reports are that soon it will come to the United States. Mtv is 44 and it looks like it may not make it to 45. "

"At least three record companies have extended million dollar contracts to people who create AI music. The US Copyright office has said it will begin extending protection those who use AI as a tool. The PROs will extend licensing. We will tell you what is going on."

"The number changes, but as of the writing of this description, only 1883 songs have topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart including all its earlier versions. This week back in 1990, the first rap song topped the chart. That got me wondering how many other firsts and other interesting facts surround the top spot. Here is a list."

"The NOW CDs, as they are often called, started in the UK in 1998 with Richard Branson. They were a hit out of the gate, each crafted to a specific formula. They are a professionally made mix tape. We have the full history and a good bit of trivia about the series."

"Cryptozoology is the study of a creature that probably doesn ot exist. Think Bigfoot. What is great about it is that every state seems to have its own monster. Maybe people really do think it exists or maybe it was invented to scare children at Halloween. We built up a list along with songs about candy. It is Halloween 2025."

"Many music outlets noticed there was no traditional Summer Song this year. No poppy dance tune that rose to the top of the charts. The Billboard Summer Song chart claimed a number one but it was a down tempo ballad. We will explore what happened and why."

"Many countries around the world take time each year to poll their citizens about their favorite songs. It usually happens around Christmas and a major media outlet plays the songs. We will tell you about some of the biggest ones and try to figure out why we don't do that here in America."

"An Idiom is a group of words that suggest a meaning different than their specific words. Many of them come from the world of music and we have created a solid list. You will recognize a lot of them."

"This past 4th of July someone posted the Preamble and I wondered who the singer was. I watched a few more and wondered who they were. We will answer that today. We will play some of their Schoolhouse Rock song and then one of their singles. Plus we have some trivia about the show."

"Long before American Idol and Americas Got Talent, there was Star Search. It was pretty schmaltzy but looking back, some of the biggest singers, actors and comedians got their big break on Star Search. We have grabbed as many examples as we could."

"Here is a game to play. Name as many two minute songs as you can following these rules. Only one song per group and you cannot name just punk songs. We then go one step farther and change the game to as many one minute songs as you can."

"A band named The Velvet Sundown had a hit a short while ago. The concern was that the band and the music were all fake. They were both fully AI generated. It is easier than you think. We have the story and some examples of when I did the same thing for an audience just to prove how easy it is to do."

"This is a fun parlor game. Name a band, a song by that band and then an album from that band that are all named exactly the same. Here is an example. Bad Company by Bad Company on the album Bad Company. There are many that are close but a true Trilogy is all three exactly the same."

"The Rock School show is now a part of the Library of Congress through their American Archive of Public Broadcasting. I know. I can barely believe it myself. Here is the story of the Library of Congress and how this all came to be. Check the calendar. It is not April and I am not fooling."

"Naming a band can be quite difficult. The list of bands we will discuss today went back into history to grab a name or an event to come up with a moniker. You know a good many of them. "

"The K Pop band EXO claimed that one of their concerts in South Korea sold out in less than two seconds. It sounds impossible because you are not being told the entire story. It is a badge of honor for bands to sell out quickly. Other than EXO, who did legitimately sell out the fastest. We will tell you our pick."

"Often an actor will start a band once her or she is famous. However many actors start as musicians. Some saw great success. We have some surprising names this week."

"Rock and Roll really came into its own in the 1950s and once it did someone was always proclaiming it bad for the youth in one way or another. These were generally called Moral Panics. Here is the history and some examples of a few of the most popular Moral Panics."

"Here is the second show where we play songs you might not know were covers. Often the cover version of a song becomes a bigger hit. And even if you did know the hit was a cover you may not know the original. We will play you a few."

"This is the first of a two show set. Often people are shocked to hear that a hit song is a cover. We have put together a long list of hit songs that are covers and we will play the original to you can hear where the hit you know came from."

"In July of 1962, the Rolling Stones play their first gig in the Marquee Club. The Marquee Club was one of the main venues for 1960s British rock. This week we will discuss the rather interesting history of the Marquee Club."

"Punk music has produced some of the greatest performers and some of the greatest musician nicknames. Here is a list of the best names and where they came form."

"Back in 1973 Muhammad Ali knocks out George Foreman in what was called The Rumble in the Jungle. This victory inspires Johnny Wakelin to write the song Black Superman. He gets a hit with it. So what other songs are written for or about athletes. We have a list."

"Last week we spoke of Dockery Farms which the birthplace of The Blues. As all music does it was expanded and taken to different places by the musicians who played it. Here is a run down and description of the most popular forms of The Blues."