Behind The Song Podcast: Classic Rock Tunes For All-Time

A podcast about music is a natural extension of an audio journey through a song, album or playlist. Although music videos are popular, music is still primarily a sonic experience. Therefore, there exists music podcasts for even the most arcane music genres -- Christian heavy metal, paranormal C&W, steampunk synth pop.

Fortunately, the Behind The Song podcast swims in safer sonic waters -- focusing on classic rock songs. The podcast is produced by a Chicago-based classic rock station, WDRV97.1 FM, "The Drive."

Since I'm not from Chicago, I checked out WDRV. It is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois. The station is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting and airs a classic rock format. The station's predecessor, NIB, was founded and built by Bill Florian. The call letters stood for Northern Illinois Broadcasting. The station began broadcasting in 1955, and had the slogan "Chicago's FM Voice of Variety." It primarily broadcast jazz, show tunes, and easy listening music.  In 2001, the station's call sign was changed to WDRV, and the station adopted a classic hits format as "The Drive." The station was sold, along with 16 other stations, to Hubbard Broadcasting in 2011.

Over the years, The Drive's format evolved into a broad-based classic rock format

Hubbard Broadcasting started Behind The Song in September 2018 with its first episode focusing on David Bowie's hit song, Heroes, which would be recognizable to many as the song at the end of the 2000 Keanu Reeves - Gene Hackman football movie, The Replacements. 

Here's the podcast marketing pitch: "Dig deep into the lyrics of classic rock songs and the storytellers that created them in Behind The Song, a podcast 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.

 WDRV's afternoon DJ, Janda Lane, is the host of Behind The Song. Janda Lane’s journey to becoming the afternoon co-host at the Drive (WDRV-Chicago) has taken her from North Carolina (her home state) to Charleston, South Carolina, to Seattle, and through Los Angeles since the radio bug bit her in high school.

And Lane polished her rock and roll credentials along the way.

"The podcast infrastructure at Hubbard is great, so that was there already," Lane says. "I wanted to do a podcast, and I had this thought of doing something with music. But it’s difficult to do a music podcast because you can’t use the music without getting the rights."

Lane then reveals her secret weapon -- her husband, Christian. 

"He’s a musical genius and can reproduce any song he hears. It’s not 100% like the song, but it has the right sound or feel. As for the subject of the podcast, every song tells a story—especially through its lyrics. So, that’s the basis of this podcast. Telling the stories of timeless and impactful classic rock songs. My goal is to entertain for ten or fifteen minutes, but also to do service to the song and the songwriter because I’m truly a fan, and I’m in awe of every single song I tackle."

With Lane's background, knowledge, and track record, it’s little wonder that Behind the Song has proven to be a popular podcast destination.

Here's the format and structure of the show. First, the episodes are blissfully short and yet content-rich at about 15 minutes. Second, Lane is an exceptional narrator infusing drama, pathos, and a respect for the creative process in her tale.

Second, Lane knows how to tell a story. For example, for an episode about Mr. Blue Sky by ELO, Lane starts by setting the scene. Band leader, Jeff Lynne, is in Switzerland in 1977 to write songs for the group's upcoming album, Out Of The Blue.

Lynne arrived to a two-week period of constant rain and miserable weather, which clogs his creative muse. Then one day, the sun suddenly comes out and Lynne finds the path to write the lyrics and music to Mr. Blue Sky. Lane leaves an Easter egg for us, just as Lynne did for vinyl listeners at the end of the song, where most listeners think they hear, "Mr. Blue Sky" repeated. In reality, Lynne says, "Turn the record over" since the song ends side three of the double album.

In the July 20, 2022, episode about Down Under by Men At Work, Lane goes beyond the uniqueness and quirkiness of the lyrics to reveal the true intention of bandleader Colin Hay, who said, "The chorus is really about the selling of Australia in many ways, the overdevelopment of the country. It was a song about the loss of spirit in my country. It's really about the plundering of the country by greedy people."

Lane narrates the development of the song with her usual engrossing chronicling, includes the lawsuit years later.

As a podcast host, Lane excels here. You would think that radio DJs would naturally excel as podcast hosts with their broadcast experience, but that's not always been the case. Lane, however, has perfect pitch for the podcast. It's clear that the show is not a job but also a passion, and that intensity flows into her narration.

Episodes are released every two weeks. So far, some of my favorite shows have been:  

Drive by The Cars was their biggest hit, with a video that sparked a long marriage for Ric Ocasek and supermodel Paulina Porizkova, but the song touches on unusual questions.

Africa by Toto, which the group didn't even want on the album they were making. 

 Do It Again by Steely Dan, their debut single, is multi-layered in meaning, ranging from addiction, violence, and rash decisions.

Check out Behind The Song. If you're a classic rock fan, this podcast is for you. Or if you enjoy the story behind the song, then this podcast delivers.