"Tainted Love" started as a 1964 soul song by Gloria Jones, became a huge hit when Soft Cell covered it in 1981, and was the basis for Rihanna's 2006 #1 "S.O.S. (Rescue Me)."
The lyric to "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips was inspired by Chynna Phillips' struggles with addiction. "Hold on for one more day" is something she heard in AA meetings.
The idea for "The Man Comes Around" came to Johnny Cash from a dream he had where he was in Buckingham Palace and the Queen said to him, "Johnny Cash, you're just like a thorn tree in a whirlwind."
"Big Love" is a showcase song for Lindsey Buckingham and the first single from Fleetwood Mac's 1987 album Tango In The Night, but he left the group soon after the album was released and the band didn't perform it live until he returned 10 years later.
The first single from the Thriller album was "The Girl Is Mine," chosen over "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" because it was a duet with Paul McCartney and thus guaranteed airplay.
AC/DC's 1990 song "Mistress For Christmas" is about Donald Trump, who was in the news because of his affair with the model Marla Maples.
It started with a bouncy MTV classic. Nirvana and MCR made them scary, then Gwen, Avril and Madonna put on the pom poms.
Switchfoot's frontman and main songwriter on what inspires the songs and how he got the freedom to say exactly what he means.
What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?
The guy who brought us "Stacy's Mom" also wrote the Jane Lynch Emmy song and Stephen Colbert's Christmas songs.
The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.
The Jayhawks' song "Big Star" has special meaning to Gary, who explains how longevity and inspiration have trumped adulation.