George Michael was 17 and on a bus to his job at the cinema when he came up with the idea for "Careless Whisper" and the lyrics, "Something in your eyes calls to mind a silver screen."
ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson conceived "Dancing Queen" as a dance song with the working title "Boogaloo," drawing inspiration from the 1974 George McCrae disco hit "Rock Your Baby." Their manager Stig Anderson came up with the title "Dancing Queen."
"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" is about a guy Jim Croce met in the National Guard, which Jim joined to keep him out of Vietnam. Leroy went AWOL, but got caught when he tried to pick up his paycheck.
"Teardrop" by Massive Attack has vocals by Elizabeth Fraser of The Cocteau Twins, who wrote the lyric after learning that Jeff Buckley had died.
Elton John didn't win a Grammy until 1986, when he got one for singing on "That's What Friends Are For."
Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.
The lead singer and pianist for Procol Harum, Gary talks about finding the musical ideas to match the words.
Wilder's hit "Break My Stride" had an unlikely inspiration: a famous record mogul who rejected it.
David Gray explains the significance of the word "Babylon," and talks about how songs are a form of active imagination, with lyrics that reveal what's inside us.
Test your metal - Priest, Maiden, and Beavis and Butt-head show up in this one.
