"Back In The U.S.S.R." by The Beatles was play on "California Girls" by The Beach Boys, with "Moscow girls" and "Ukraine girls" instead of the all-American girls.
Bono came up with the idea of focusing on a soldier's last thoughts as he dies from his wounds in the U2 song "White As Snow" after reading William Golding's 1956 novel Pincher Martin.
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.
"1979" by Smashing Pumpkins is about Billy Corgan entering adulthood. A more accurate year would be 1983, but 1979 was easier to rhyme.
With his song "The G.O.A.T.," as in Greatest Of All Time, LL Cool J popularized that saying in hip-hop. He credits the boxer Muhammad Ali, who called himself "The Greatest," as inspiration.
Foreigner got the title for "Double Vision" after watching a hockey game where goalie John Davidson got a concussion. It was announced over the PA system that he was suffering from "Double Vision."
What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.
Mike Rutherford talks about the "Silent Running" storyline and "Land Of Confusion" in the age of Trump.
Our chat with Barney Hoskyns, who covers the wild years of Woodstock - the town, not the festival - in his book Small Town Talk.
The longtime bassist of Earth, Wind & Fire discusses how his band came to do a holiday album, and offers insight into some of the greatest dance/soul tunes of all-time.
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.
When Dave recorded the first version of the song with his group the Blasters, producer Nick Lowe gave him some life-changing advice.