KT Tunstall's "Suddenly I See" was inspired by Robert Mapplethorpe's photograph of Patti Smith on the cover of her album Horses.
Frank Sinatra was 64 when he had his last hit: "New York, New York." The song pegged him to New York City, leaving Las Vegas to Elvis.
"The Way We Were" was the first of five Hot 100 #1 singles recorded by Barbra Streisand. She is the only artist ever to receive an Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy as well as record a #1 single and album.
"Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty is set in Los Angeles, as he mentions Reseda, Mulholland and Ventura Boulevard.
"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."
The line in John Mellencamp's "Cherry Bomb" that sounds like "that's when a smoke was a smoke" is actually "that's when a sport was a sport," according to the published lyric. In that sense, "sport" is an endearment for someone of good nature.
A look at the good (Diana Ross, Eminem), the bad (Madonna, Bob Dylan) and the peculiar (David Bowie, Michael Jackson) film debuts of superstar singers.
Zac tells the story of Hanson's massive hit "MMMbop," and talks about how brotherly bonds effect their music.
Sheryl Crow's longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Jeff Trott reveals the stories behind many of the singer's hits, and what its like to be a producer for Leighton Meester and Max Gomez.
Oliver Leiber talks about writing and producing hits for Paula Abdul, and explains his complicated relationship with his father, the songwriter Jerry Leiber.
The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.
Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."
