The White Stripes song "We're Going To Be Friends" is very innocent, but Jack White feared it would be interpreted cynically. It wasn't, and was even adapted into a children's book.
"Stay" by Shakespears Sister is based on a 1953 B-movie called Cat-Women Of The Moon.
The "pompatus of love" from the Steve Miller song "The Joker" comes from a line in a '50s doo-wop song Miller misheard: "puppetutes of love."
The actress Michelle Pfeiffer gets namechecked in the 2014 megahit "Uptown Funk" ("Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold"). When it was released, "Riptide" by Vance Joy was on the charts; that song also mentions her ("Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you've ever seen").
Roger Daltrey stutters the vocal on "My Generation" by The Who. The idea was to sound like a British kid on speed.
Sheriff had been disbanded for years when "When I'm With You" hit #1 in America thanks to rediscovery by radio stations. The group never re-formed and never made a video for the song.
Mike Rutherford talks about the "Silent Running" storyline and "Land Of Confusion" in the age of Trump.
"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.
Since emerging from MySpace with her hit "Bubbly," Colbie has become a top songwriter, even crafting a hit with Taylor Swift.
A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.
A founding member of the band War, Harold gives a first-person account of one of the most important periods in music history.
Fishbone has always enjoyed much more acclaim than popularity - Angelo might know why.