Band HATED Cheesy INSTRUMENTAL…SHELVED it for 5 Years…Put Lyrics to It…Went to #1!-Professor of Rock

Glam Metal band Europe wrote a keyboard instrumental to be the opening music for their live shows…to play while they were walking out on stage… Then half the band HATED it…and they actually shelved it for 5 years. Then they needed a song for their next album and dusted it off thinking it would be no more than a filler track. It not only became their signature song.. it became a stadium rock anthem that would rule our culture and it’s still killing it. The story of Europe and their hit the Final Countdown that ruled 1986 and 1987. It wasn’t meant to be anything other than the opening music for their concerts, but when opportunity knocked, a hard rock band pulled an old keyboard riff off the shelf to create a stadium rock ANTHEM. Coming up….we carry out the moments that led to “the Final Countdown” NEXT on Professor of Rock.” Thank you to this episode’s sponsor, Zenni GET ZENNI Glasses HERE: https://imp.i279709.net/vn5gLd ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Executive Producer Brandon Fugal Honorary Producers Mark Thompson, Kimberley Rumburg, Charles Dirienzo Jr, Brent Gephart, Glenn Beardmore, Jennifer Selvidge ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out my Hand Picked Selection Below Professor's Store Van Halen OU812 Vinyl Album https://amzn.to/3tLsII2 The 80s Collection https://amzn.to/3mAekOq 100 Best Selling Albums https://amzn.to/3h3qZX9 Ultimate History of 80s Teen Movie https://amzn.to/3ifjdKQ 80s to 90s VHS Video Cover Art https://amzn.to/2QXzmIX Totally Awesome 80s A Lexicon https://amzn.to/3h4ilrk Best In Ear Headphones (I Use These Every Day) https://amzn.to/2ZcTlIl ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check Out The Professor of Rock Merch Store -http://bit.ly/ProfessorMerch ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check Out Patron Benefits http://bit.ly/ProfessorofRockVIPFan Help out the Channel by purchasing your albums through our links! As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you, thank you for your support. Click here for Premium Content: https://bit.ly/SignUpForPremiumContent https://bit.ly/Facebook_Professor_of_... https://bit.ly/Instagram_Professor_of... #classicrock #80smusic #vinylstory #80srock Hey Music Junkies Professor of Rock Always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest songs of all time . if you hesitated to buy an iPod when music turned digital, because you wanted to remain a true audiophile ….you’re gonna love this channel. Make sure to Subscribe below right now to be a part of our music history daily straight from the artists. And make sure to check out our exclusive content on Patreon by clicking on the link in the description and see our new merch at the link below. And our merch is right below this channel.. You know... I’ve had the good fortune of interviewing hundreds of artists, and one of the most interesting 'take-aways' from those conversations is that each artist has their own approach for creating music. There is really no ’sure fire’ formula for writing a hit song, and many times a song becomes a hit by sheer luck, or opportune timing. Some artists need complete freedom, or isolation to do their writing, while others feel they do their best work when they are under a strict deadline- believing that the urgency makes them more focused & driven. Here on Professor of Rock, we’ve presented many features on some of the biggest surprise hits, whose success even shocked the artists that created them. Sometimes, the monster is a song on an album that wasn’t even MEANT to be a single AT ALL…. Take “The Final Countdown” by the band..Europe...for instance. It was a worldwide blockbuster for the Swedish band, but, ironically, the guys had no intention of developing the track into a song that would be a candidate to be a single. The sole purpose behind “The Final Countdown" was to be a music interlude that kicked off their live concerts to “rev up’ the fans. The embryo for “The Final Countdown” was a keyboard riff that lead singer Joey Tempest created off of a Korg Polysix, an instrument he borrowed from his bandmate- keyboardist Mic Micaheli. The idea to create the riff came from his passion for David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” One of the first records Tempest bought as a kid was the 45 of “Space Oddity.” It was the song that forged his path to becoming a music artist. The sound of that magnificent production opened up all the doors for the future of Joey Tempest. For Joey “Space Oddity” still ranks as one of the best compositions ever recorded. He cites the imagination that went into that record as “being above a normal human level.”