Behind The Song

The Drive | Hubbard Radio
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Behind The Song

Dig into the lyrics of classic rock songs and the storytellers that created them in "Behind The Song," a podcast of essays by The Drive's Janda Lane. Hear what was happening behind the scenes while some of the most iconic songs in rock history were being written.

  1. SEP 18

    How reflection is Bob Seger’s superpower

    It’s a song that finds a center in growing older, by an artist who wrote many of his best songs from a nostalgic viewpoint. In fact, the very title of “Against The Wind” by Bob Seger came from his highschool days, running track and cross country, a runner’s phrase that stuck with Seger and perfectly described how he saw his own life as a road-worn musician, maturing out on the road. The title track of his eleventh studio album - his only album to go to #1 on the album chart - it is one of the best examples of how Seger used his own life’s journey to get to certain personal truths that everyone can sing along to. Let’s look back into “Against The Wind” in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    16 min

  2. AUG 28

    Steve Miller Band, The Joker, and the "pompatous" of love

    It’s the song that put the word “pompatous” into our collective consciousness, a made-up word that was actually a mishearing of ANOTHER made up word. But it sounds great in “The Joker,” proving once again that in rock and roll, if it sounds good no one will bat an eyelash to question it. In fact, “The Joker” was the Steve Miller Band’s first number one hit on the Billboard singles chart, and we’ve been singing along to it since 1973. Let’s get into the story of this ever-popular song in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    15 min

  3. AUG 7

    Get into the inspiration behind ZZ Top's Eliminator album in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.

    It took original thinking to make one of the best-selling albums of an entire decade, and that’s just what ZZ Top did, although they had some help with coming up with the sound. Completely bypassing the notion that nothing new could be done with rock ‘n roll, the trio released Eliminator in 1983, an album that blended their brand of Texas boogie woogie blues rock with synth sounds and drum machines, unleashing danceble rockers that topped the charts. But there is an unsung hero in the ZZ Top story. Dig into it - and how “Sharp Dressed Man” perfectly sums up the 80’s mindset - in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    17 min

  4. JUL 17

    How “Closer To The Heart” by Rush started with a friendship

    It’s been said “Closer To The Heart” by Rush is Canada’s “Stairway To Heaven,” in ways that go beyond the technical, and it struck a chord worldwide to audiences in a way that Rush’s songs hadn’t before. There’s a folk vibe to this song, a message about finding personal balance and how doing that puts the world at large in a better kind of order. It was the first Rush song to have lyrics penned by an outside co-writer, and it became a hit. Geddy Lee said it was “as close as they ever got to a pop song.” But who was that outside writer? Let’s get into “Closer To The Heart” in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    13 min

  5. JUN 26

    Bon Jovi's story that started in "Livin' On A Prayer"

    It was a song that Jon Bon Jovi had to admit that he was wrong about. It took serious convincing for him to agree to put what became Bon Jovi’s signature song on their third album, a make or break album for the band. And the song does what only a very big, monster hit song can do: get in your head and stay there, probably forever. It also tells a story about a couple of kids, Tommy and Gina…the first in a series of songs in which the couple would appear. Get into the story of “Livin’ On A Prayer” in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast with your host, Janda Lane. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    15 min

  6. JUN 5

    The emotional ride of The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses”

    It may be the most delicate song in the entire Rolling Stones catalog, with Mick Jagger delivering every single line of “Wild Horses” with an impassioned weight. And there’s good reason for that. By the time this song was written and recorded for 1971’s Sticky Fingers album, the Stones had more than enough personal drama to sing about. Get into it in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast with Janda Lane.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    13 min

  7. MAY 15

    Who was Heart's "Magic Man?"

    Workplace romances can be challenging…especially when your job is being part of a rock band. That was certainly the case with the band Heart. In fact, their first Top 10 hit in the US was written about the beginnings of what became an intra-band relationship. Get into the story of “Magic Man” in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    12 min

  8. APR 24

    The year John Mellencamp took control

    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 podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    12 min
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About

Dig into the lyrics of classic rock songs and the storytellers that created them in "Behind The Song," a podcast of essays by The Drive's Janda Lane. Hear what was happening behind the scenes while some of the most iconic songs in rock history were being written.

Information

  • Creator
    The Drive | Hubbard Radio
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2024
  • Episodes
    141
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Hubbard Radio Chicago, LLC
  • Show Website
    Behind The Song

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