Professor of Rock

How Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality” Broke Barriers on MTV and Rock Radio


Listen Later

There are only a few dozen songs that came on the radio and rearranged our brains; they smacked us upside the head and changed the way we looked at the world. Today, we have the two principals from Living Colour behind one such song: Cult of Personality. It exploded onto MTV and Radio in the late 80s with an epic riff and a revolutionary message that had us seeing double. Corey Glover and Vernon Reid behind this force of nature song tell the story of Cult of Personality, a song that became a thinking man’s hard rock… At first, MTV wouldn’t play it until the biggest star in the world, who loved their music, threatened MTV, if they didn’t put this classic song in heavy rotation, he would hold back his new #1 Video. They gave in, and the rest is history. Coming up, a song that had so many famous soundbites in it, the band had no clue if they could get it released. Find out how they did it next on Professor of Rock.


See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Professor of RockBy Gamut Podcast Network

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

111 ratings


More shows like Professor of Rock

View all
Here's The Thing with Alec Baldwin by iHeartPodcasts

Here's The Thing with Alec Baldwin

8,132 Listeners

Dean Delray's LET THERE BE TALK by Cactus Radio Network

Dean Delray's LET THERE BE TALK

2,326 Listeners

The Eddie Trunk Podcast by SiriusXM

The Eddie Trunk Podcast

1,319 Listeners

The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds by Nate Goyer, Record Collector, Music Fan, Vinyl Maniac

The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds

510 Listeners

Rolling Stone Music Now by Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone Music Now

1,005 Listeners

Ongoing History of New Music by Curiouscast

Ongoing History of New Music

567 Listeners

Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond by Pushkin Industries

Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond

4,123 Listeners

The Bob Lefsetz Podcast by iHeartPodcasts

The Bob Lefsetz Podcast

427 Listeners

Behind The Song: Classic Rock Chronicles by Gamut Podcast Network

Behind The Song: Classic Rock Chronicles

380 Listeners

The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers by Next Chapter Podcasts, Josh Adam Meyers

The 500 with Josh Adam Meyers

1,246 Listeners

The Confused Breakfast by Cloud10

The Confused Breakfast

1,152 Listeners

Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade by Audacy

Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade

12,874 Listeners

Joy, a Podcast. Hosted by Craig Ferguson by Craig Ferguson

Joy, a Podcast. Hosted by Craig Ferguson

866 Listeners

Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry by Curiouscast

Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry

97 Listeners

The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan by Billy Corgan

The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan

604 Listeners