"99 Luftballons" by Nena is about a Cold War scare when balloons showed up on radar and were mistaken as a nuclear threat.
The EMF song "Unbelievable" samples the raunchy comic Andrew Dice Clay saying, "What the f--k was that!"
The first Huey Lewis & the News hit, "Do You Believe In Love?," is a cover of a song Mutt Lange wrote three years earlier called "We Both Believe In Love."
Before it was part of a Pink Floyd album title, James Taylor put the line "still I'm on the dark side of the moon" in his 1968 song "Carolina In My Mind." He was living in London and missing his home in North Carolina.
John Mellencamp considers "Pink Houses" an "anti-American song," laying bare the struggles of the poor and working class.
"Dirty Water" became a Boston sports anthem in the '00s, but it was written by a guy from California after almost getting mugged on a visit to the city.
The author of Help! 100 Songwriting, Recording And Career Tips Used By The Beatles, explains how the group crafted their choruses so effectively.
Kiss is the subject of many outlandish rumors - some of which happen to be true. See if you can spot the fakes.
Danny played guitar on Sweet Baby James, Tapestry, and Running On Empty. He also co-wrote many hit songs, including "Dirty Laundry," "Sunset Grill" and "Tender Is The Night."
Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.
The guy who brought us "Stacy's Mom" also wrote the Jane Lynch Emmy song and Stephen Colbert's Christmas songs.
In her days with The Runaways, Joan Jett saw The Arrows perform "I Love Rock And Roll," which Alan Merrill co-wrote - that story and much more from this glam rock pioneer.