War got the idea for "Why Can't We Be Friends?" when they were traveling in Japan and found they had a kinship with the citizens even though they didn't speak the same language.
John Lennon wrote "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" about Richard Cooke, a hunter he met at the Maharishi's camp in India. Cooke hasn't shot anything since the camp, except with his camera - he became a freelance photographer for National Geographic.
The songs on Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster album represent a "fear" of some "monster." "Alejandro" is her "fear of sex" monster.
Props to Aretha Franklin: her song "Respect" introduced the term "propers" as a sign of proper respect.
The eerie percussion and guitar for Portsihead's "Sour Times was sampled from Lalo Schifrin's "Danube Incident," music composed by the Argentine composer for an episode of Mission Impossible.
"The Best" by Tina Turner was originally recorded by Bonnie Tyler; Turner's hit version added a bridge and a saxophone solo by Edgar Winter.
"Mr. Jones" took on new meaning when the song about a misguided view of fame made Adam famous.
Zac tells the story of Hanson's massive hit "MMMbop," and talks about how brotherly bonds effect their music.
Shears does very little promotion, which has kept him secluded from the spotlight. What changed when Cyndi Lauper had a hit with his song? Not much, really.
Known in America for the hit "If You Leave," OMD is a huge influence on modern electronic music.
The British reggae legend tells the story of his #1 hit "Close To You," talks about his groundbreaking Shabba Ranks collaboration "Housecall," and discusses his latest project with Robin Trower.
Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."
