James Brown's "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" was the first Hot 100 hit with the word "sex" in the title.
Stephen Tobolowsky, who played Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day, inspired the Talking Heads song "Radio Head." Tobolowsky, who worked on David Byrne's film True Stories, claimed to have telepathic powers.
"Jessie's Girl" tells the true story of a girl Rick Springfield was crushing on, but her boyfriend's name was really Gary and he was more of an acquaintance than a friend.
Hozier's "Take Me to Church" drew inspiration from the atheist writer Christopher Hitchens. He called it "a bit of a losing your religion song."
Vegetarian Fred Schneider of the B-52's got the idea for "Rock Lobster" at an Atlanta disco when a projector displayed images of lobsters on a grill.
The song "Grease," sung by Frankie Valli in the 1978 movie, was written by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees.
Based on criteria like girlfriend tension, stage mishaps and drummer turnover, these are the 10 bands most like Spinal Tap.
The man who created Yacht Rock with "Sailing" wrote one of his biggest hits while on acid.
Before he was the champ, Ali released an album called I Am The Greatest!, but his musical influence is best heard in the songs he inspired.
He wrote "She Blinded Me With Science" so he could direct a video about a home for deranged scientists.
Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."
Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.