The TV show One Tree Hill got it's name from a song of the same name on U2's Joshua Tree album.
"Sloop John B" is a traditional West Indian folk song, and it was a huge hit for The Beach Boys in 1966. They tweaked the lyric, "This is the worst trip since I've been born" to "...I've ever been on" as a wink to acid culture.
Fall Out Boy's "The Phoenix" samples the classical work "Allegro Non Troppo," which was composed by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1941. Vocalist Patrick Stump was inspired by "the creepiness" of the strings.
Mariah Carey and P. Diddy show up in the Mary J. Blige "No More Drama" video, since they were going through Shakespeare-level drama.
Otis Redding often ad-libbed vocals at the end of songs, but for "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" he just whistled instead - it became the most famous whistling in song history.
Pete Townshend wrote the lyrics for "My Generation" during a train ride from London to Southampton on his 20th birthday.
The longtime BS&T frontman tells the "Spinning Wheel" story, including the line he got from Joni Mitchell.
The guitarist/songwriter explains how he came up with his signature sound, and deconstructs some classic Fear Factory songs.
Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."
In the summer of 1990, you could get arrested for selling a 2 Live Crew album or performing their songs in Southern Florida. And that's exactly what happened.
Brenda talks about the inspiration that drove her to write hit songs like "Get Here" and "Piano in the Dark," and why a lack of formal music training can be a songwriter's best asset.
What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?
