Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Alright, it’s been a long while since we covered one of these. Today, we’re coming back to a channel favorite: Female Hidden Gems! For this countdown, we’re highlighting some incredible songs sung by amazing female artists that have just gotten lost in the shuffle, and it’s time to dig ‘em up and add them to our playlists. Coming up, we’ve got the story of the Cowboy Junkies, a band so desperate to record their album in a historic church building that they invented a fake but wholesome band name and lied to church officials to get approval. They had to do a top-secret recording. Find out if it was worth it. Then there’s Brandi Carlile, who was stricken with laryngitis while recording her signature song. As she belted out the track’s climactic finish, her voice cracked under the strain… giving us one of the most “technically wrong but emotionally right” vocals ever. And finally, there’s the artist Anne Preven, who wrote a global chart-topper called Torn, but nobody knows who she is… because when she released her original version of the song, it flopped. But when another singer gave it a pop makeover, it became 1 of the biggest hits of its time, but I’m telling you… Nobody knows this song is a cover. Let’s do it.
SONG 1: youtube.com/watch?v=juJ4LVorChY&list=RDjuJ4LVorChY&start_radio=1
Song 2: youtube.com/watch?v=Fa9nN3G2CSg&list=RDFa9nN3G2CSg&start_radio=1
Song 3: youtube.com/watch?v=o8pQLtHTPaI&list=RDo8pQLtHTPaI&start_radio=1
Song 4 youtube.com/watch?v=QnXjISlKLuE&list=RDQnXjISlKLuE&start_radio=1
Song 5: youtube.com/watch?v=VjEq-r2agqc&list=RDVjEq-r2agqc&start_radio=1
Song 6 youtube.com/watch?v=USlzUOWwKdY&list=RDUSlzUOWwKdY&start_radio=1
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Executive Producer
Brandon Fugal
Honorary Producers
Holly Hammet, Remnarc, Kevin riley, Paul Moore II, CharleyAnne
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to the Professor of Rock Podcast
Apple: apple.co/445fVov
Spotify: spoti.fi/42JpfvU
Amazon: amzn.to/44b5D6m
iHeartRadio: bit.ly/444h8MO
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Patreon: bit.ly/ProfessorofRockVIPFan
Merch Store: professor-of-rock-lsn-shop.fourthwall.com
Instagram: bit.ly/Instagram_Professor_of_Rock
#classicrock #80smusic #vinylstory #carpenters
Hey music junkies, Professor of Rock always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest songs of all time. Make sure to subscribe and Like share, and comment. Let’s get right into our latest edition of Female Hidden Gems: we have some great ones. Coming in at #6, it’s a band most people have probably never heard of, but almost everyone knows their biggest hit song. For this hidden gem, I’m highlighting the band Ednaswap, featuring lead singer Anne Preven. The song? It’s called Torn. And it was made famous when Australian pop singer Natalie Imbruglia covered it in 1997. Torn would become a global smash no question. Only not for Anne Preven and Ednaswap, though I like their version better… This is a story of redemption and stick-to-it-ness.
So Ednaswap, the LA alternative rock band formed in 1993, was anchored by songwriters Anne Preven and Scott Cutler and also included musicians Rusty Anderson and Paul Bushnell. Over Ednaswap's brief five-year existence, the band released three studio albums and one EP. They debuted with their 1995 self-titled LP on East West Records, followed by the jagged 4-track EP Chicken in 1996 via Island Records. They added the visceral, hard-hitting album Wacko Magneto in 1997, and their final studio album, Wonderland Park, that dropped in 1998. However, Ednaswap was virtually invisible on the US charts. Not one of their albums or singles broke into the Billboard 200 or the Hot 100. Torn is their only real claim to fame, but most people have no idea that its their song.
Preven and Cutler co-wrote Torn in 1991 with producer Phil Thornalley. However, since Ednaswap had yet to score a record deal, they put Torn out there for other artists to cover and found a few takers. It was first given to Danish singer Lis Sørensen in 1993, who re-titled it "BRANT" (which Danish for "Burned") with entirely rewritten Danish lyrics. Then, in 1995 Ednaswap recorded it for their first album and released Torn as a single. But with no label support, the song crashed and burned. [In 1996, Norwegian pop singer Trine Rein recorded an English pop version that became a hit in Norway. Next came the version that most people are familiar with, Natalie Imbruglia’s take in 1997.
Alright, it’s been a long while since we covered one of these. Today, we’re coming back to a channel favorite: Female Hidden Gems! For this countdown, we’re highlighting some incredible songs sung by amazing female artists that have just gotten lost in the shuffle, and it’s time to dig ‘em up and add them to our playlists. Coming up, we’ve got the story of the Cowboy Junkies, a band so desperate to record their album in a historic church building that they invented a fake but wholesome band name and lied to church officials to get approval. They had to do a top-secret recording. Find out if it was worth it. Then there’s Brandi Carlile, who was stricken with laryngitis while recording her signature song. As she belted out the track’s climactic finish, her voice cracked under the strain… giving us one of the most “technically wrong but emotionally right” vocals ever. And finally, there’s the artist Anne Preven, who wrote a global chart-topper called Torn, but nobody knows who she is… because when she released her original version of the song, it flopped. But when another singer gave it a pop makeover, it became 1 of the biggest hits of its time, but I’m telling you… Nobody knows this song is a cover. Let’s do it.
SONG 1: youtube.com/watch?v=juJ4LVorChY&list=RDjuJ4LVorChY&start_radio=1
Song 2: youtube.com/watch?v=Fa9nN3G2CSg&list=RDFa9nN3G2CSg&start_radio=1
Song 3: youtube.com/watch?v=o8pQLtHTPaI&list=RDo8pQLtHTPaI&start_radio=1
Song 4 youtube.com/watch?v=QnXjISlKLuE&list=RDQnXjISlKLuE&start_radio=1
Song 5: youtube.com/watch?v=VjEq-r2agqc&list=RDVjEq-r2agqc&start_radio=1
Song 6 youtube.com/watch?v=USlzUOWwKdY&list=RDUSlzUOWwKdY&start_radio=1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Executive Producer
Brandon Fugal
Honorary Producers
Holly Hammet, Remnarc, Kevin riley, Paul Moore II, CharleyAnne
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to the Professor of Rock Podcast
Apple: apple.co/445fVov
Spotify: spoti.fi/42JpfvU
Amazon: amzn.to/44b5D6m
iHeartRadio: bit.ly/444h8MO
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patreon: bit.ly/ProfessorofRockVIPFan
Merch Store: professor-of-rock-lsn-shop.fourthwall.com
Instagram: bit.ly/Instagram_Professor_of_Rock
#classicrock #80smusic #vinylstory #carpenters
Hey music junkies, Professor of Rock always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest songs of all time. Make sure to subscribe and Like share, and comment. Let’s get right into our latest edition of Female Hidden Gems: we have some great ones. Coming in at #6, it’s a band most people have probably never heard of, but almost everyone knows their biggest hit song. For this hidden gem, I’m highlighting the band Ednaswap, featuring lead singer Anne Preven. The song? It’s called Torn. And it was made famous when Australian pop singer Natalie Imbruglia covered it in 1997. Torn would become a global smash no question. Only not for Anne Preven and Ednaswap, though I like their version better… This is a story of redemption and stick-to-it-ness.
So Ednaswap, the LA alternative rock band formed in 1993, was anchored by songwriters Anne Preven and Scott Cutler and also included musicians Rusty Anderson and Paul Bushnell. Over Ednaswap's brief five-year existence, the band released three studio albums and one EP. They debuted with their 1995 self-titled LP on East West Records, followed by the jagged 4-track EP Chicken in 1996 via Island Records. They added the visceral, hard-hitting album Wacko Magneto in 1997, and their final studio album, Wonderland Park, that dropped in 1998. However, Ednaswap was virtually invisible on the US charts. Not one of their albums or singles broke into the Billboard 200 or the Hot 100. Torn is their only real claim to fame, but most people have no idea that its their song.
Preven and Cutler co-wrote Torn in 1991 with producer Phil Thornalley. However, since Ednaswap had yet to score a record deal, they put Torn out there for other artists to cover and found a few takers. It was first given to Danish singer Lis Sørensen in 1993, who re-titled it "BRANT" (which Danish for "Burned") with entirely rewritten Danish lyrics. Then, in 1995 Ednaswap recorded it for their first album and released Torn as a single. But with no label support, the song crashed and burned. [In 1996, Norwegian pop singer Trine Rein recorded an English pop version that became a hit in Norway. Next came the version that most people are familiar with, Natalie Imbruglia’s take in 1997.
