"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.
Props to Aretha Franklin: her song "Respect" introduced the term "propers" as a sign of proper respect.
The first popular song to use the phrase "Heavy Metal" was "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, which was featured in the movie Easy Rider.
Before she was famous, Lady Gaga was a staff songwriter, and wrote the song "Quicksand," which Britney Spears recorded in 2008.
"Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO was only the second #1 hit on the Hot 100 with "Party" in the title. The first was Lesley Gore's "It's My Party."
Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" started life in a writing session between Dr. Luke and Sacha Skarbek intended for Beyonce. However, as the song progressed, they realized that it wouldn't work for her.
Don breaks down "Hotel California" and other songs he wrote as a member of the Eagles. Now we know where the "warm smell of colitas" came from.
Mike is lead guitarist with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and co-writer of classic songs like "Boys Of Summer," "Refugee" and "The Heart Of The Matter."
He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."
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.
Dave reveals the inspiration for "Feelin' Alright" and explains how the first song he ever wrote became the biggest hit for his band Traffic.
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.
