A Tribe Called Quest sampled the mellow groove of Lou Reed's 1972 classic "Walk On The Wild Side" on "Can I Kick It?" It fit their vibe, with Q-Tip and Phife Dawg trading lines about hanging out and having fun, the definition of "kickin' it."
Michael Jackson wrote the Diana Ross hit "Muscles," which he named after his pet boa constrictor.
"Soul Man" was a new term when the song was written in 1967. As defined by the song's co-writer, David Porter, the Soul Man doesn't have a fancy big-city slant, but has "the emotional thing happening inside of him that made people really love him."
Ozzy Osbourne's "Shot In The Dark" is titled after a Pink Panther movie.
"Walking In Memphis" isn't so much about Memphis as it is The Hollywood Cafe in Mississippi, where Marc Cohn encountered an older woman named Murial playing piano.
Elton John had a huge hit duetting with Kiki Dee on "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," but he's also performed it with RuPaul and Miss Piggy.
An original member of Depeche Mode, Vince went on to form Erasure and Yaz.
Dave explains how the video appropriated the meaning of "Runaway Train," and what he thought of getting parodied by Weird Al.
Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.
Dean's saga began with "Ariel," a song about falling in love with a Jewish girl from New Jersey.
Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.
The longtime bassist of Earth, Wind & Fire discusses how his band came to do a holiday album, and offers insight into some of the greatest dance/soul tunes of all-time.