"Today" by Smashing Pumpkins is sarcastic in the line "today is the greatest day." Lead singer Billy Corgan wrote it about the crippling depression he was battling following the band's first big tour.
"Surf City" was recorded by Jan & Dean, but written by Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. It was the first #1 hit Wilson wrote.
The "Mum-mum-mum-ma" hook on lady Gaga's "Poker Face" was sampled from Boney M's 1977 hit "Ma Baker."
"Tammy" by Debbie Reynolds was the only US #1 single by a female act between July 1956 and February 1958.
"All Around The World" by Lisa Stansfield has a sultry spoken intro inspired by Barry White. He was honored by the homage, and in 1992 joined Stansfield to record a duet version of the song.
When "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" climbed to #1 on the Hot 100, Katy Perry became the first woman to send five songs from one album to the top of the charts. The four previous chart-toppers from her Teenage Dream set were "California Gurls," "Teenage Dream," "Firework" and "E.T."
Our chat with Barney Hoskyns, who covers the wild years of Woodstock - the town, not the festival - in his book Small Town Talk.
The hitmaking songwriter/producer Sam Hollander with stories about songs for Weezer, Panic! At The Disco, Train, Pentatonix, and Fitz And The Tantrums.
A founding member of the band War, Harold gives a first-person account of one of the most important periods in music history.
The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.
When he joined Guns N' Roses in 1990, Matt helped them craft an orchestral sound; his mezzo fortes and pianissimos are all over "November Rain."
When he was playing Ozzfest with Black Label Society, a kid told Zakk he was the best Ozzy guitarist - Zakk had to correct him.