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Professor of Rock

Professor of Rock

Greatest #3 Hits of the 1970s: Bill Withers, Fleetwood Mac, Foreigner & More

Professor of Rock · Jul 25, 2026 · 37:56

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Today we’ve got 10 tracks that were going for the gold but came up just short… bringing home the bronze instead. That’s right, it’s another edition of our #3 Hits Countdown, but this time we are counting down the greatest #3s of the 1970s songs that peaked at just two spots from the top on the Hot 100. On this episode you’ll hear the story of Navy veteran Bill Withers, who spent years installing toilet facilities inside commercial airplanes for $3.50 an hour. And when he scored a record deal he refused to quit his day job. It wasn’t until his debut single Ain't No Sunshine sold a million copies, and his label gave him a gold-plated toilet seat, that he changed his mind. Then there’s Fleetwood Mac's John McVie, who spent nearly 4 decades performing the song Don't Stop live — night after night — without ever realizing his ex-wife had written it about their divorce. And finally… The tale of a hotshot rookie band Foreigner who got a slot at a highly coveted rock festival, but they ran out of songs. 50K fans were screaming for an encore, so they took a brand new idea they’d been tinkering with that was totally unfinished…They weren’t even sure it was a song yet, but they ad-libbed it, and the crowd went insane, so they knew what their next single was gonna be… Let’s do it.


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Episodes: Professor of Rock

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