John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath got its title from a line in "The Battle Hymn of the Republic": "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored."
When Rihanna's "Umbrella" was a hit in the summer of 2007, it rained constantly in London, prompting their newspaper The Sun to suggest a "Rihanna Curse."
The first rap song to make the Hot 100 was "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang in 1979. At the time, many considered rap a fad that would soon pass.
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.
The phrase "Hasta la vista, baby" was popularized in the 1987 Jody Watley song "Looking For A New Love," 4 years before Arnold Schwarzenegger said it in the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
The Naughty by Nature hit "O.P.P." doesn't have any curse words, but many oversensitive radio stations played a "clean" version with the word "kitten" edited out, surely the first time that word was censured.
Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.
Ron Nevison explains in very clear terms the Quadrophenia concept and how Heart staged their resurgence after being dropped by their record company.
Have you got the smarts to know which of these graduation song stories are real?
If counterpoint and polyrhythms are your thing, you might love these guys. Even by Progressive Rock standards, they were one of the most intricate bands of the '70s. Then their lead singer gave us Bon Jovi.
Christopher Cross with Deep Purple? Kenny Loggins in Caddyshack? A Fact or Fiction all about yacht rock and those who made it.
Just how much did these monsters of rock dabble in the occult?
