"Jessie's Girl" tells the true story of a girl Rick Springfield was crushing on, but her boyfriend's name was really Gary and he was more of an acquaintance than a friend.
The actress Michelle Pfeiffer gets namechecked in the 2014 megahit "Uptown Funk" ("Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold"). When it was released, "Riptide" by Vance Joy was on the charts; that song also mentions her ("Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you've ever seen").
There really is a China Grove (in Texas), but Tom Johnston didn't know about it when he wrote the Doobie Brothers song.
"It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy was based on an Eddie Murphy comedy bit where he would deny everything no matter how badly he was caught.
Eric Clapton wrote "Layla" about his love for Pattie Harrison, who was married to George Harrison at the time. He eventually married Pattie, and managed to stay friends with George.
ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man" was the first video that was a sequel. It picked up the storyline of their "Gimme All Your Lovin'" video about a guy who encounters three beautiful women.
Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.
An interview with Frankie Valli, who talks about why his songs - both solo and with The Four Seasons - have endured, and reflects on his time as Rusty Millio on The Sopranos.
Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."
Tom stopped performing Thompson Twins songs in 1987, in part because of their personal nature: "Hold Me Now" came after an argument with his bandmate/girlfriend Alannah Currie.
Jon Anderson breaks down the Yes classic "Seen All Good People" and talks about his 1000 Hands album, which features Chick Corea, Rick Derringer, Ian Anderson, and many other luminaries.
