AXS TV’s popular music countdown series, “The Top Ten Revealed,” returns for an amazing 12-episode third season, which premieres on Sunday, April 19 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.

The new season, executive produced and hosted by Katie Daryl, begins with the best “Rockin’ ROCK Songs” and is highlighted by tracks from Def Leppard, Scorpions, Twisted Sister and more. Returning musical experts for season three include Sebastian Bach, Lita Ford, Dee Snider and Kevin Cronin, as well as newcomers Mark McGrath, Carnie Wilson and Puddle of Mudd frontman, Wes Scantlin.

Even better is that The Top Ten Revealed is expanding its musical pallete with a treasure trove of goodness filled with new genres along with more honest opinion, fun facts and behind the scenes stories that have made the series a fan favorite.

The Top Ten Revealed Season 3 Schedule:

April 19: Rockin’ ROCK Titles April 26: Epic Songs of ‘74 May 3: Rockin’ Siblings May 10: 80s Break Up Songs May 17: Epic Songs of ‘69 May 31: Songs Stuck at

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June 7: Soul Songs of the 60s June 14: Yacht Rock June 21: MORE Hits That Were Covers June 28: 70s Folk Songs July 12: Epic Songs of ‘84 July 19: Going Crazy Songs

I recently spoke with Katie Daryl about the new season of “The Top Ten Revealed” and more in this exclusive new interview.

What can fans expect from the new season of “The Top Ten Revealed?”

Katie Daryl: This season is great because we’re introducing new experts like Mark McGrath, Carnie Wilson and Wes Scantlin from Puddle of Mudd and mixing them in with our classic rock favorites — Dee Snider, Sebastian Bach, Lita Ford and Kevin Cronin from REO Speedwagon. The new topics are also neat. We still have our traditional 70’s and classic rock, but we’re also dabbling into new topics that are genre specific. We’ve even got a Yacht Rock list. It’s very exciting.

What categorizes a song as “Yacht Rock?”

KD: It’s funny because a lot of our experts came into the room asking that same question. One of them said it best. It’s a bouncy song that feels like the rhythm of the ocean. Also, if the song is literally talking about sailing and yachts (ala Christopher Cross’ “Sailing”) then it probably made the cut.

Read the rest of my

Interview with Katie Daryl by Clicking Here.

Photo: Stewart-Volland AXS TV

AXS TV’s popular music countdown series, The Top Ten Revealed, returns for a second season with its premiere on Sunday, January 13 at 8:30pE/5:30pP with “Top Ten Roller Rink Tunes.” Hosted and executive produced by Katie Daryl, the eleven-episode winter season promises more laughs, surprises, and insightful anecdotes from a plethora of musical heavyweights.

Other episodes this season include a salute to some of music’s finest showmen in “Top Ten Crooners”; Double Studio albums and Drug Songs countdowns, as well as a tribute to the final year of the 1970s with “Epic Songs of 1979”.

Returning to join Daryl and lend their voice and rock expertise are icons Lita Ford, Dee Snider, Eddie Money and Steven Adler as well as legends like Mickey Thomas (Starship) Sebastian Bach, Steve Porcaro (Toto) and Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon).

In addition to the new season, Daryl is also hosting a FREE Reunion Party for The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands at the legendary Whisky A Go Go on Sunday, January 6th! Although this is not a televised event the evening promises to be a fun celebration of Daryl’s acclaimed show that aired for eight seasons on AXS TV.

I recently spoke with Katie Daryl about the new season of Top Ten Revealed and more in this exclusive new interview.

What can fans expect from the new season of “The Top Ten Revealed” in January?

I think fans are going to be pleasantly surprised at all of the new faces they’re going to see. Not only do we have returning favorites like Lita Ford, Dee Snider, Eddie Money, Steven Adler and Rikki Rockett, but we also have a lot of new faces as well, including artists like Sebastian Bach, Leif Garrett, John Five from Rob Zombie, Mickey Thomas from Starship and Steve Porcaro from Toto. It’s exciting to have this new insight and keep everyone interested not only in what the topic is about, but also in who’s going to talk about it.

Let’s discuss a few of the topics that will be covered this season. Where did the idea to compile a list of the Top Ten Crooners come from?

This is definitely one of my favorite episodes of the new season. I had overheard someone talking about Tom Jones at the office and I was like, “Tom Jones? Wait a minute. How fun would it be to do something that involves Tom Jones?” Then we started going down the list of crooners—Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Frankie Sinatra. I knew right away it was going to be fun, so we put the question out on social media. The funny thing is, as much as people love Frank Sinatra, he isn’t always someone’s go to favorite. There are a lot of lesser known, obscure, or one-step away from the Rat Pack guys as well. We focused on having a lot of singers talk about this episode because a lot of these guys have admitted to being influenced by these crooners. They have great stories about why they love them and how they influenced their careers.

Another interesting topic of conversation has to be Double Studio Albums.

That one became another big office debate. Originally, it going to be all double albums, but then someone mentioned Frampton Comes Alive and other live albums and it became too hard to narrow them all down. So, we decided to do studio double albums this time and maybe in an upcoming season we’ll do the live double albums.

What was the criteria for choosing a list of Top Ten Drug Songs?

We wanted to be very respectful of our viewers and make sure people didn’t think we were making an episode that celebrated drugs. It’s interesting conversation, not a celebration. The criteria was that the song had to either be about drugs and drug use, or interpreted by others as being a drug song. For instance, “Mr. Brownstone” is clearly a drug song, and we even have Steven Adler talking about how it was written and how terrible heroin was. But then there are other songs that are more debatable, like “Purple Haze.” Even though Jimi Hendrix himself had said it’s not about drugs but about a dream he had a lot of people still interpret it as Hendrix having the dream after being on drugs. It was looser criteria than some of the other lists, but it made sense in the long run.

What’s your favorite part of the process of creating an episode?

My favorite part is booking the guests because at the end of the day I’m a rock star fan. When these people walk in the room, they’re musicians who’ve played on some of the best songs ever written and toured with some of my favorite bands. They always have interesting backstories and amazing personalities. I will say that my least favorite part is tallying the ranking. Because sometimes you just sit there and scratch your head and go “How is this possible? How is this

1?” [Laughs].

What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned about the musical tastes of AXS-TV viewers from doing these shows?

Our salt and pepper demographic really loves classic rock, but what’s also surprising is that they also tend to lean toward metal. The same person who says they love The Who and Rolling Stones is also voicing their opinion on a Megadeth song. It just goes to show that just because you like classic rock it doesn’t mean you’re old or not progressive with your musical tastes. It just means you have a core that you love but can still learn to appreciate other music as well.

Click here to watch the trailer for the new season of The Top Ten Revealed.

Although it won’t be televised you’re also having a reunion party for The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands at The Whisky a Go Go in January. What can you tell me about it?

This is going to be fun. The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands had eight fantastic seasons with so many bands to pay tribute to. In talking with the fans of the show I realized how much fun we had getting together every week at The Whiskey and doing the show. It was a fun, bonding experience and we missed each other. So, we decided to get the band back together and have a party. We’ll start by having an alumni/crew private VIP and then open the doors to the public. We’ve invited all past ticket holders to get a free ticket and we have K-Tel performing as our “house band.” They play a lot of the best and one-hit wonder songs of the 70s, so it will be easy to bring tribute guest stars like our Elton John and our Stevie Nicks up on stage with them. It’s a natural fit to have this backing band performing with some of the frontmen we’ve loved over the years with The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands.

The allure of tribute bands has never been stronger. To what do you credit to their success?

When I first started doing research for The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands I spoke to a very influential booking agent. He pointed out that the interest in booking these types of bands started shortly after the financial markets crashed in 2008. A lot of it was due in part to venues like casinos and the 2-3,000 seat venues who could no longer afford the expensive “real talent”. People just weren’t spending their disposable income on a ticket. So, they turned to tribute bands to fill the void. It allowed people to not only save money but also see a high-quality performance. Of course, “The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands” and AXS TV helped knock it out of the park just as they were gaining their footing. It gave them a national platform to perform on.

Are there any other projects you’re currently working on?

We’ll actually be doing nineteen episode, split-season of The Top Ten Revealed in 2019. We have eleven episodes in January and then another batch of eight in the summer. The show has been so successful that Mark Cuban has specifically requested a spin off. Right now, I’m in the middle of pre-production on a new show launching in the spring that will complement this show very nicely on the network. If you like Top Ten Revealed you’re going to love this.

The new season of The Top Ten Revealed premieres Sunday, January 13 at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT on AXS TV.

Photo: James Michael Photography / AXS TV

The Summer of 2018 just got a whole lot hotter. That’s because AXS-TV’s popular music countdown series, “The Top Ten Revealed” is returning this July and kicks things off by featuring “Songs About Sex” on Sunday, July 1st at 9 p.m. ET. It will be followed by “Epic Songs Of `73” on Sunday, July 8th at 9 p.m. ET.

Executive producer and host Katie Daryl returns for the new season and is joined by a panel of musical icons and industry experts counting down some of music’s greatest songs as decided by viewers.

In the premiere episode, “Songs About Sex,” artists like Dee Snider, Lita Ford and Steven Adler join award-winning songwriter Allee Willis and KROQ DJ Nicole Alvarez to discuss hits from chart-toppers such as Def Leppard, Donna Summer, Madonna and Meat Loaf, among many others.

The following week, the show takes an in-depth look at “Epic Songs Of ’73” and is loaded with standout Southern, psychedelic and shock rock from the likes of Alice Cooper, The Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Notable guests on this episode include Eddie Money, Jack Russell (Jack Russell’s Great White), Clem Burke (Blondie) and renowned music expert, Matt Pinfield.

Upcoming summer episodes feature themes that include “One Hit Wonders,” “Sports Jams,” “Songs About Drinking,” “Rock Star Collaborations,” “Epic Songs of ‘78” and “High Note Hitters”.

‘The Top Ten Revealed” is a program that’s sure to fuel intense debate among music aficionados, but it’s also one that will bring back good memories and keep your toes tapping long after the music fades.

I recently spoke with Katie Daryl about the new summer episodes of “The Top Ten Revealed” and more in this exclusive new interview.

How has reaction been to “The Top Ten Revealed” since its inception?

Katie Daryl: The response has been fantastic. Sometimes when you do a list you have to worry that people will think you got it wrong, but that isn’t the case here. Everyone has been very supportive. And even if they didn’t agree with the list they couldn’t be angry because at the end of the day, they’re ten songs that are pretty rad to listen to.

What do you think makes the show so special?

KD: What I find epic is that we’re hitting on topics that take people down memory lane. Not only are we celebrating classic rock music, the genre and the bands, but we’re also taking people on a musical journey that brings them back to a place that instills emotion that a lot of us don’t have on a day to day basis.

Click here for a preview of the new season of “The Top Ten Revealed”.

What can fans expect from the new summer episodes of “The Top Ten Revealed”?

KD: All of the new episodes really speak to classic rock fans. Trust me, if you like rock and roll and classic rock, or if you’ve ever enjoyed a single song from AC/DC, you’re going to love every single one of these lists.

What’s the criteria for determining which themes are involved and which songs make the list?

KD: First and foremost, it starts with Mark Cuban at AXS-TV. He’ll ask me about the lists and the questions we plan to ask for each new round. I’ll put those in from of him and he’ll sign on or offer suggestions. Once we get the generalized list, I’ll go out and do research and come up with a top fifteen or twenty. It’s like cramming for a final in college. It’s not only reading articles, lists, comments and fan responses, but it’s also watching videos and footage that speak to these topics. Once that’s complete, we’ll put the questions out on social media. It then goes through old-fashioned tallying to see which songs rank and everything falls into place from there.

Do the guest artists and industry experts have any idea of the song rankings beforehand?

KD: They know some of the songs from the list but not necessarily all ten or their ranking. I’ll usually give them a few of the songs ahead of time so they’ll be prepared for what we’re going to talk about. I love to include artists like Lita Ford to provide color commentary and Matt Pinfield, who’s an encyclopedia of music.

Was there something you learned during filming about the songs or artists?

KD: Learning is actually one of my favorite things about the show. We incorporate not just reaction and comments, but we also like to make sure we take you back to that old school, water cooler conversation about rock and roll. Through the process, I’ve learned so much. One of my favorite facts came from the song “How Long” by the band, Ace. Everyone thinks it’s a cheating song and that some guy’s heart has been broken. It has, but not by a woman. It’s actually about a cheating band member! One of the guys in the band was moonlighting on the side with another band and everyone found out about it. They were all like, “How long, dude? How long?” [laughs].

Photo: Stewart Volland / AXS TV

What can you tell me about your background in entertainment?

KD: I’ve always loved music and started out as a radio DJ. I then did a year at MTV before going back to radio in Dallas. That’s where I stumbled upon the world of Mark Cuban, who was launching a new TV network, HD Net, and another local show. I tried out to be his co-host and was hired to host a basketball show with him. In talking on set, Mark was telling me about this new music network he had coming out and asked me if I had any ideas. It was a dream come true. So, I spent the first six years of my career interviewing rock stars like Ted Nugent, Tommy Lee and Maroon 5. I eventually transitioned within the network and Mark Cuban’s companies.

What excites you the most about the new season of “The Top Ten Revealed”?

KD: I love all of the new guests we have. The first round had some fantastic names, and we still have Steven Adler, Lita Ford and Matt Pinfield. But our cast has now doubled in size and includes even more artists that have a great insight into these songs: Dee Snider, Jeff Pilson (Foreigner), Clem Burke (Blondie), Rikki Rockett (Poison) and Eddie Money. In fact, one of Eddie’s songs actually made our list of hits from 1978. To have Eddie Money talking about Eddie Money? I just geek out on that sort of thing! [laughs].

The new season of “The Top Ten Revealed” premieres Sunday, July 1 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 PT on AXS-TV.

It’s a program that’s sure to fuel intense debate among music aficionados. AXS TV’s all-new original series, “The Top Ten Revealed” [which premiers on Sunday, Feb 11] is a countdown show unlike any other. One where fans choose the best of the best.

In each episode, host and executive producer Katie Daryl (“The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands”) counts down a list of genre-defining songs and orchestrates discussion with a rotating panel of icons and music industry experts. Each of them examining the musicians and music that have left indelible marks on the rock n’ roll scene.

Episode one opens by counting down the top ten “Guitar Rock Intros” and includes discussion by special guests like Guns N’ Roses legend, Steven Adler, former Pantera percussionist, Vinnie Paul, and the Queen of Metal herself, Lita Ford. Future episodes in the new series include the top “Songs Named After Women”, “80s Rock Ballads”, “Vietnam Era Rock”, “‘70s Hard Rock Hits” and “Hits That Were Covers”.

In the end, “The Top Ten Revealed” is an infectious series where the world was invited to vote and viewers may have to agree to disagree. But if you’re patient and understanding you’ll find that these lists are only a whole lot of fun, but ones that will keep your toes tapping long after the show is over.

I recently spoke with Katie Daryl about “The Top Ten Revealed” and more in this exclusive new interview.

How did the idea for “The Top Ten Revealed” originate?

I’ve worked for Mark Cuban’s TV network since it was created, and being a music-driven network, we’re always picking our brains about what our viewers might like to see. We frequently have water cooler chats about our favorite artists and what everyone is listening to, and a lot of these conversations end up in debate. So, we might be talking about AC/DC vs Led Zeppelin and who does better at X,Y and Z. That’s when we realized that we didn’t have any shows on the network that allowed people to rank and argue classic rock. The idea was spawned. We knew that if our viewers liked to argue and debate music as much as our editors and writers did, then this was going to be a hit.

Katie Daryl – Photo by Stewart Volland

How much research was done in compiling the list of Guitar Rock Intros for Episode One?

Doing the initial ranking was a long process. Before we even began, we made sure that we set some parameters. In this case, it was guitar intros from bands that originated in the 60’s, 70’s and 80s. That’s why songs like “Johnny B. Goode” wouldn’t make the list, because that song initiated in the 50’s. The first thing to do was to create a list of about twenty-five intros that you can think of off the top of your head. Next, we did research to see what other people were talking about. Finally, we put the question out to social media, and people started responding. Just from us asking the question, it fueled debate, which helped us formulate a final list of ten.

What criteria was used in ranking the final ten intros?

The final listing was shaped by social media and from logging on to AXS-TV. It was fun to open it up, cast a wide net and get other people’s opinions.

Were the artists invited to participate in the show aware of the final rankings?

Everyone knew going in what the topic was about, but we didn’t tell any of them how the intros were ranked. Some of the artists were only given a few songs to talk about, and it was fun to see if their reactions coincided with how our social media vote came in.

What else can you tell me about this season of “The Top Ten Revealed”?

There are six episodes this season with topics ranging from “Guitar Rock Intros” and “Songs Named After Women” to “80’s Rock Ballads” and “Vietnam Era Songs”. What’s great about this show is that these songs are going to get stuck in your head. They’re all songs we love and that’s what makes them so classic.

Were there any guitar intros that didn’t make the list that you thought should have been included?

There’s a few Nirvana intros I would have put on the list, but those didn’t make it because of the parameters we set. We also had another parameter where each band could only be included on the list once. Thank goodness, because we could easily have had an all AC/DC list [laughs]. They’re a guitar intro machine!

Did you always know that you wanted to have a career in entertainment?

I did, although I have to admit I thought I’d always stay in radio. I was lucky enough to have a few early opportunities to be on television and make a career out of it. Presenting information in an entertaining or news format has always been something that gets me excited.

What excites you the most about this season of “The Top Ten Revealed”?

I cannot wait to see the social media reaction and the agreeing and disagreeing that will come out of these episodes. People are passionate about their opinions, and especially when they can hide behind the Internet [laughs]. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out and to see if everyone can play nice in the sand box.

“The Top Ten Revealed” hosted by Katie Daryl debuts Sunday, Feb. 11th at 9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT on AXS-TV.