Behind The Song

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 thateventually 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