The horn flourish at the beginning of "Jump Around" comes from Bob and Earl's "Harlem Shuffle"; the squeal throughout the song might be a Prince sample.
The Oasis song "Live Forever" was written in response to "I Hate Myself And I Want To Die" by Nirvana. "Kids don't need to hear that nonsense," said Noel Gallagher.
Weezer's "Undone - The Sweater Song" was written as a sad song about depression, but listeners heard it as a funny, ironic song.
Glenn Frey of the Eagles played a bad guy in a 1985 episode of Miami Vice based on his song "Smuggler's Blues."
Stevie Wonder was 12 years old when he released his first #1 hit, "Fingertips (Part 2)." He had to wait 22 years for his next one: "Part Time Lover."
"Tainted Love" started as a 1964 soul song by Gloria Jones, became a huge hit when Soft Cell covered it in 1981, and was the basis for Rihanna's 2006 #1 "S.O.S. (Rescue Me)."
Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.
"London Bridge," "Ring Around the Rosie" and "It's Raining, It's Pouring" are just a few examples of shockingly morbid children's songs.
The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.
Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.
JJ talks about The Stranglers' signature sound - keyboard and bass - which isn't your typical strain of punk rock.
The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.