David Bowie was in a mystical state when he wrote "The Man Who Sold The World," which he said happened during his "15 minutes of Buddhism."
Willa Ford came up with her hit "I Wanna Be Bad" when her record company told her to tone down her music in a effort to differentiate her from Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, who were in their "bad girl" eras.
Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side" tells the story of real people who were part of Andy Warhol's "factory," including Holly Woodlawn and Candy Darling.
The voice of Waldo in Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" video was the late Phil Hartman of Saturday Night Live Fame.
Elvis Costello says "Everyday I Write The Book" is a knockoff of Nick Lowe's "When I Write the Book."
"Unchained Melody" first appeared in a 1955 movie called Unchained. The Righteous Brothers recorded it in 1965, and their version was resurrected in the 1990 movie Ghost.
Daniel Lanois on his album Heavy Sun, and the inside stories of songs he produced for U2, Peter Gabriel, and Bob Dylan.
Oliver Leiber talks about writing and producing hits for Paula Abdul, and explains his complicated relationship with his father, the songwriter Jerry Leiber.
The singer-songwriter Melanie talks about her spiritual awakening at Woodstock, "Brand New Key," and why songwriting is an art, not a craft.
"25 or 6 to 4" to "Semi-Charmed Life" - see if you can spot the songs that are really about drugs.
The good doctor shares some candid insights on recording with Phil Spector and The Black Keys.
Do you know who wrote Patti Smith's biggest hit? How about the Grease theme song? See if you can match the song to the writer.