Hugh Laurie, star of the TV show House, had a minor hit in 2011 with "Police Dog Blues," an old Blues song from 1929.
When Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" climbed to the top of the UK singles chart in its 19th week, the song broke the record for the slowest continual ascent to #1.
"Mr. Roboto" by Styx was written by their keyboard player, Dennis DeYoung, who used Japanese words and imagery to create an allegory about censorship.
"Never Tear Us Apart" was a live favorite for INXS, who would often extend the second pause for a while as the crowd went crazy.
Robert Plant's "Heaven Knows" is a satirical look at the '80s, when style seemed to trump substance.
"99 Luftballons" by Nena is about a Cold War scare when balloons showed up on radar and were mistaken as a nuclear threat.
Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.
Collaborating with T Bone Burnett, Leslie Phillips changed her name and left her Christian label behind - Robert Plant, who recorded one of her songs on Raising Sand, is a fan.
After studying in Paris with a famous composition teacher, Charles became the most successful writer of TV theme songs.
A top New York studio musician, Ralph played guitar on many '60s hits, including "Lightnin' Strikes," "A Lover's Concerto" and "I Am A Rock."
The "All I Want" singer went through a long depression, playing some shows when he didn't want to be alive.
Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.