"(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" was written by Nick Lowe in 1974. The original version with his group Brinsley Schwarz was kind of somber, but Elvis Costello made it a classic with his 1978 uptempo take.
Keith Richards did some studio alchemy on "Street Fighting Man," which is all acoustic except the bass.
The Steve Miller song "Abracadabra" was inspired by Diana Ross and The Supremes. Miller first met the girl group when they performed together on NBC's Hullabaloo in 1966, and he wrote the lyrics after spotting Diana Ross skiing years later.
Bing Crosby debuted the song "White Christmas" in the 1942 movie Holiday Inn, where he plays a New Yorker stuck in Southern California for Christmas and missing the snow. The song became a Christmas classic and the basis for the 1954 movie White Christmas, also starring Crosby.
The first Good Charlotte hit, "Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous," is a send-up of celebrity culture, but the group's leaders, Joel and Benji Madden, both married celebrities: Nicole Richie and Cameron Diaz, respectively.
Adam Levine of Maroon 5 made it obvious who their song "This Love" was about when he named the album "Songs About Jane."
"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."
Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.
An Electronic music pioneer with Asperger's Syndrome. This could be interesting.
Brian has unearthed outtakes by Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello and hundreds of other artists for reissues. Here's how he does it.
Bob was the bass player and lyricist for the first two Ozzy Osbourne albums. Here's how he wrote songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" with Ozzy and Randy Rhoads.
Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.