"Tenderness" by General Public was partly inspired by the outbreak of AIDS, which at the time was thought to be contagious.
Bruce Sprinsteen said "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" was "the best love song I ever wrote."
Alicia Keys, Elton John, Fergie, and Rihanna all sang on "All of the Lights" by Kanye West.
Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" was co-written by Sarah Hudson, who is a singer-songwriter and a member of the Pop group Ultraviolet Sound. Though Sarah isn't related to Katy (whose real name is Katy Hudson), she is the first cousin of another famous person with the same name, the actress Kate Hudson.
Arizona DJ Guy Zapoleon played UB40's "Red Red Wine" four years after it was released as part of a feature on songs that should have been hits. Listeners started requesting the tune and within weeks it was topping the Hot 100.
"Mickey" by Toni Basil was originally a song called "Kitty" by a male group. She picked the new name after Micky Dolenz of The Monkees.
The first of Billy's five #1 hits was the song that propelled Madonna to stardom. You'd think that would get you a backstage pass, wouldn't you?
Fagen talks about how the Steely Dan songwriting strategy has changed over the years, and explains why you don't hear many covers of their songs.
Whether he's splitting ears or burning Nazis, Quentin Tarantino uses memorable music in his films. See if you can match the song to the scene.
Long before Eminem, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj created alternate personas, David Bowie, Bono, Joni Mitchell and even Hank Williams took on characters.
It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.
Charlotte was established in the LA punk scene when a freaky girl named Belinda approached her wearing a garbage bag.
