The Ben Folds Five song "Brick" is about a difficult time when Folds' girlfriend got an abortion.
Katy Perry's song "E.T." came from a beat originally intended for the rap group Three Six Mafia. When her producer accidentally pulled up the beat, Perry asked to use it.
"Jump Around" by House Of Pain turns into a diss track at the end when they dedicate it to Joe "The Biter" Nicolo, whom they claim stole the concept and used it on the Kris Kross song "Jump."
"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."
Don Johnson, who starred as Sonny Crockett in Miami Vice, was also a singer. He had a #5 hit in 1986 with "Heartbeat."
"Closing Time" by Semisonic was written by the lead singer when his wife was pregnant. Some of the lyrics are about being born.
The stories behind "Whole Of The Moon" and "Red Army Blues," and why rock music has "outlived its era of innovation."
Michelob commercials generated hits for Eric Clapton, Genesis and Steve Winwood in the '80s, even as some of these rockers were fighting alcoholism.
Dean wrote the screenplay and lyrics to all the songs in Footloose. His other hits include "Fame" and "All The Man That I Need."
Dan cracked the Top 40 with "Ritual," then went to India and spent 2 hours with the Dalai Lama.
Did Marvin try out with the Detroit Lions? Did he fake crazy to get out of military service? And what about the cross-dressing?
The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.