Pete Townshend wrote The Who's "Pinball Wizard" to coax a good review for the Tommy album out of a rock critic who loved pinball. It worked.
"Livin' La Vida Loca" is a Latin pop landmark, but "la vida loca" are the only Spanish words in the lyric - "mocha" is English.
"Mr. Tambourine Man" is the only song Bob Dylan wrote that became a #1 hit on the Hot 100. The Byrds' cover topped the chart in 1965.
The original "Enter Sandman" lyric was about crib death, with the "sandman" killing a baby.
Jethro Tull lead singer Ian Anderson wrote "Aqualung" after looking at pictures of homeless men that his wife took. She got a co-writing credit on the song.
Puff Daddy didn't get permission to sample the Police song "Every Breath You Take" on his Notorious B.I.G. tribute "I'll Be Missing You," but he later reached an agreement and even performed the song with Sting.
A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."
"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.
These overtly religious songs crossed over to the pop charts, despite resistance from fans, and in many cases, churches.
Was a Beatles song a TV theme? And who came up with those Fresh Prince and Sopranos songs?
Our chat with Barney Hoskyns, who covers the wild years of Woodstock - the town, not the festival - in his book Small Town Talk.
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.