The first US Top 10 hit with the word "hell" in the title was "Gives You Hell" by The All-American Rejects in 2008.
There really is a China Grove (in Texas), but Tom Johnston didn't know about it when he wrote the Doobie Brothers song.
Teen Spirit was a kind of deodorant marketed to young girls. That's where Kurt Cobain got the title "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
"Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us," the title song to the movie Breakin', was a hit and helped breakdancing go mainstream when it was released in 1984. The song has scratches and other hip-hop flourishes, but no rapping, which would have kept it off many playlists.
John Mellencamp considers "Pink Houses" an "anti-American song," laying bare the struggles of the poor and working class.
Ed Sheeran's first single was "The A Team," a song about a homeless drug-addict who turns to prostitution. He wrote it based on a woman he met while volunteering at a shelter; Ed was shocked when it became a hit and launched his career.
The story of the legendary lupine DJ through the songs he inspired.
The longtime BS&T frontman tells the "Spinning Wheel" story, including the line he got from Joni Mitchell.
dUg dIgs into his King's X metal classics and his many side projects, including the one with Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam.
"Mony Mony," "Crimson and Clover," "Draggin' The Line"... the hits kept coming for Tommy James, and in a plot line fit for a movie, his record company was controlled by the mafia.
When he was asked to write a song for the Singles soundtrack, Mark thought the Seattle grunge scene was already overblown, so that's what he wrote about.
Cain talks about the divine inspirations for "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Faithfully."