Professor of Rock

Coming up… In 1986, these songs didn’t crack the Top 10; some may have thought they were also rans, but over time, they became bigger than songs that did, and some even bigger than the songs that made it to #1, including David Lee Roth, one of the most dynamic frontmen of the Rock Era, released a song about an American symbol of liberty, but there is a bizarre connection with a book that is titled… The Satanic Bible. Plus Tarzan Boy, a song that was sung by a singer who was NOT the person singing in their heavily played music video... and fans are still confused today. Who really sang the hit? You’ll find out. Plus the broadcast from an illegal satellite dish that inspired a song called Russians that many argue Stopped Nuclear War with 1 question. Plus the bitter Van Halen feud between Sammy Hagar and Alex Van Halen about the legacy of the band. Sammy says Alex is erasing his legacy of 4 #1 albums and a dozen massive hits, while Alex recently called Sammy an idiot. We cover the song they recorded together that can’t be denied. We’re counting down the Top 10 In-Betweeners of ’86, songs that peaked between #11 & #22 on the Billboard Hot 100. But they're just as good as the song that hit #1. To Support 80s Movie click here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hrpao/the-80s-a-motion-picture-special-the-distribution-campaign ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Executive Producer Brandon Fugal Honorary Producers Elizabeth Kohll, Sounding Bored, Michele M., Tim Coffey, Aloysius Jr Alday ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to the Professor of Rock Podcast Apple: https://apple.co/445fVov Spotify: https://spoti.fi/42JpfvU Amazon: https://amzn.to/44b5D6m iHeartRadio: https://bit.ly/444h8MO ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Patreon: http://bit.ly/ProfessorofRockVIPFan Merch Store: https://professor-of-rock-lsn-shop.fourthwall.com/ Instagram: https://bit.ly/Instagram_Professor_of_Rock #classicrock #80smusic #vinylstory #onehitwonder Hey Music Junkies, ya know, some songs burn bright and fast, even if they shoot to #1, and disappear from public memory. But this countdown is full of slow-burning classics that didn’t make the Top 10 then- landing between #11 and #20. But they were Late Bloomers and are now as big as the songs that hit #1; it’s our in-betweeners countdown; this time we’re going back 40 years to 1986. The POR countdown of the Top 10 In-Betweeners of 1986 begins with a song that some in the media tried to cancel back then for having ties to Satanism and for being too much sexual innuendo, but they were way off the mark. It’s “Yankee Rose” by David Lee Roth at #10: Even though the music video comes off as pure, high-energy party chaos, with critics pointing to its overt sexual innuendo, many accused the song as being related to Anton Lavey’s book, The Satanic Bible. But “Yankee Rose” was actually written as a straight-up tribute to the Statue of Liberty. That’s right, it wasn’t about a lady of the night, Yankee Rose” came out in ’86, right when the monument was going through major public renovations leading up to its 100th anniversary: The lyrics drop tons of American-history and patriotism references—everything from the American Revolution (“the shot heard ’round the world” from Lexington and Concord), to “America the Beautiful” (“sea to shining sea”), and the spirit of the national anthem (“rockets glare”). One of the coolest (and strangest) parts is how the track starts. It sounds like David Lee Roth is literally “talking” to Steve Vai’s guitar. Vai basically used the guitar to reply—using whammy-bar tricks, pick scrapes, and all kinds of sound effects that bounce back to Roth’s vocal lines. Vai later said he and Roth shared a weird sense of humor and loved doing something quirky that most straight-laced rock stars wouldn’t touch: When DLR hooked up with Steve Vai, he was a rising star who’d played with Frank Zappa, Alcatrazz, and Public Image Ltd., and he was one of the few guitarists who could really match Eddie Van Halen’s creative energy. Plus, like Eddie, he wasn’t just flashy; he just loved to play with great passion. Steve’s songwriting talent helped drive the album’s success. He co-wrote 6 of the 10 tracks on Eat ‘Em and Smile, with Diamond Dave, including “Yankee Rose.” Ok so let’s tackle the critics' attacks that “Yankee Rose was tied to Satanism.” At the end of Anton LaVey’s The Satanic Bible, he references the song Yankee Rose, but LaVey wasn’t referencing Roth’s song. He was a fan of an older, unrelated 1920s patriotic pop tune with the same name (by Sidney Holden and Abe Frankl), which was also a Statue of Liberty tribute. Van Halen, A-ha, Sting, Dire Straits