"Veronica" was inspired by Elvis Costello's grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease.
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.
"Pretty In Pink" by Psychedelic Furs was released in 1981. Five years later, it inspired a movie of the same name starring Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy and Jon Cryer. The song was remixed for the re-release to have more pop appeal.
Kesha (known at the time as Ke$ha) was still pretty wild when she released her song "Crazy Kids" in 2012. It's about one of her birthday parties that got a little out of hand.
A 1989 track by Kenny G, "Going Home," is the unofficial national closing song in China. The tune is played at the end of train rides, the end of school days, and when malls are about to close.
"I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)" by Jay-Z borrows four bars from Notorious B.I.G's "The World Is Filled." Jay-Z and Biggie Smalls attended Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School in Brooklyn, New York, at the same time.
Is Owl City on a quest for another hit like "Fireflies?" Adam answers that question and explains the influences behind many others.
Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.
P.F. was a teenager writing hits and playing on tracks for Jan & Dean when he wrote a #1 hit that got him blackballed.
Newman makes it look easy these days, but in this 1974 interview, he reveals the paranoia and pressures that made him yearn for his old 9-5 job.
A band so baffling, even their names were contrived. Check your score in the Ramones version of Fact or Fiction.
