The Texas songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker wrote "Mr. Bojangles" after a weekend in jail where a fellow inmate told him his life story.
Lyrically, Elvis Costello's "Watching The Detectives" was inspired by American detective shows; musically, it was inspired by The Clash.
Steely Dan's engineer, Roger Nichols, built one of the first drum machines, which they used on "Hey Nineteen."
Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" is about the commercialization of Hawaii. On her first trip to the islands, she looked out of her hotel window and saw a parking lot as far as the eye could see.
"Womanizer" was Britney Spears' comeback song, going to #1 about 10 months after she was institutionalized to get treatment for addictions and mental health issues.
Cheap Trick hated the ballad "The Flame" but recorded it because they needed a hit, and the song delivered, going to #1.
Justin wrote the classic "Nights In White Satin," but his fondest musical memories are from a different decade.
JJ talks about The Stranglers' signature sound - keyboard and bass - which isn't your typical strain of punk rock.
Country songs with titles so bizarre they can't possibly be real... or can they?
The renown rock singer talks about "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."
Christopher Cross with Deep Purple? Kenny Loggins in Caddyshack? A Fact or Fiction all about yacht rock and those who made it.
Bowie's "activist" days of 1964 led to Ziggy Stardust.