The Texas songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker wrote "Mr. Bojangles" after a weekend in jail where a fellow inmate told him his life story.
There was a rumor in the Soviet Union that The Beatles had secretly visited the U.S.S.R. and given a private concert for the children of top Communist party members. They believed the song "Back In The U.S.S.R." was written because of the concert. Actually, some fans still believe so.
The hit duet "Somewhere Out There" was written for an animated film about a family of immigrant mice who lose one of their young.
Movie director Michel Gondry played live drums on the Late Registration track, "Diamonds From Sierra Leone." The Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind filmmaker happened to be in the studio on a day when producer Jon Brion was setting up a drum kit
"Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" was written for Doris Day to sing in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Man Who Knew Too Much.
"Closing Time" by Semisonic was written by the lead singer when his wife was pregnant. Some of the lyrics are about being born.
Faith No More's bassist, Billy Gould, chats to us about his two new experimental projects, The Talking Book and House of Hayduk, and also shares some stories from the FNM days.
Fishbone has always enjoyed much more acclaim than popularity - Angelo might know why.
'80s music ambassadors Wang Chung pick their top tracks of the decade, explaining what makes each one so special.
Deep Purple's guitarist since 1994, Steve talks about writing songs with the band and how he puts his own spin on "Smoke On The Water."
Hitmaker Carl Sturken on writing and producing for Rihanna, 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Donny Osmond, Shakira and Karyn White.
The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.