Pink Floyd's "Talkin' Hawkin'" uses a sample of Stephen Hawking's synthesized voice taken from a speech he made for a 1994 British Telecom commercial.
Prince released "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" on his own label to prove he could generate a hit song whenever he wanted. He made his point: It was a big hit around the world.
There was only one Grammy ever given for Best Disco Recording. It went to "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor.
The Goo Goo Dolls got the title for their song "Iris" from a country singer named Iris DeMent. The word doesn't show up in the lyric; lead singer Johnny Rzeznik said he was "trying to be pretentious and arty by calling it that."
"Ain't Nobody" by Rufus & Chaka Khan was one of the first big hits to use a sequencer, which is how that distinctive keyboard loop was created. The song almost landed on Michael Jackson's Thriller album, but the group decided to keep it.
The Scooby Snacks in the Fun Lovin' Criminals song aren't dog treats, they're Valium pills.
Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.
Lyrics don't always follow the rules of grammar. Can you spot the ones that don't?
Just like Darrin was replaced on Bewitched, groups have swapped out original members, hoping we wouldn't notice.
The writer of "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Polk Salad Annie" explains how he cooks up his Louisiana swamp rock.
Our chat with Barney Hoskyns, who covers the wild years of Woodstock - the town, not the festival - in his book Small Town Talk.
Genesis' key-man re-examines his solo career and the early days of music video.