Zach Hanson was just 11 years and 7 months old when "MMMbop" topped the Hot 100, making him the youngest group member to co-write and perform a US #1 single.
"Sloop John B" is a traditional West Indian folk song, and it was a huge hit for The Beach Boys in 1966. They tweaked the lyric, "This is the worst trip since I've been born" to "...I've ever been on" as a wink to acid culture.
"Yellow" by Coldplay is a deep, meaningful song, but the title has a rather prosaic origin: it came from the phone directory, known as "the yellow pages."
Miguel wrote "Adorn" about his girlfriend, model and artist Nazanin Mandi when he was returning home from a long trip and was anxious to see her.
"Heart of Glass" was Blondie's first foray into disco, which turned off some fans. Debbie Harry said they did it because they "wanted to be uncool."
A selection of songs made to be terrible - some clearly achieved that goal.
Howard explains his positive songwriting method and how uplifting songs can carry a deeper message.
Country songs with titles so bizarre they can't possibly be real... or can they?
He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."
Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.
The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.
