
The Sam & Dave classic "Soul Man" was re-recorded by Sam Moore and Lou Reed for the 1986 movie Soul Man, about a white guy who pretends to be black so he can get a scholarship to Harvard.
Jean-Claude Van Damme was an extra in the video for Ollie & Jerry's "Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us." He can be seen at point dancing in the background.

The Ricky Martin song "She Bangs" found new life when William Hung performed it so horribly on a 2004 episode of American Idol that it went viral.

Billy Joel's "My Life" was used as the theme song to the 1980 TV show Bosom Buddies, which starred a young Tom Hanks as a guy who lives in a hotel for women by dressing up as a girl.

"If It Makes You Happy" by Sheryl Crow is about the sour grapes some of her collaborators from her first album expressed to the media when they felt slighted.
Holly Knight talks about some of the hit songs she wrote, including "The Warrior," "Never" and "The Best," and explains some songwriting philosophy, including how to think of a bridge.
Some album art was at least "inspired" by others. A look at some very similar covers.
The evolution of the symbol that was Prince's name from 1993-2000.
Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz on where the term "new wave" originated, the story of "Naive Melody," and why they never recorded another cover song after "Take Me To The River."
Bowie's "activist" days of 1964 led to Ziggy Stardust.
How a goofy detective movie, a disenchanted director and an unlikely songwriter led to one of the biggest hits in pop history.