Al Green's "Take Me to the River" describes a baptism. Two years later, he became a reverend.
The TV show Cheers was nearly canceled after its first season, but the theme song, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name," was very popular. To satisfy viewer demand, the theme was made into a full song and released as a single.
Elvis Costello says "Everyday I Write The Book" is a knockoff of Nick Lowe's "When I Write the Book."
When the Velvet Underground song "Heroin" got screechy, Maureen Tucker stopped drumming, figuring it would bust the take, but her bandmates kept going. You can hear it at the 5:20 mark.
When "Believe" hit #1 in America, it made Cher, age 52, the oldest woman ever to top the chart.
It wasn't her biggest hit as a songwriter (that would be "Bette Davis Eyes"), but "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" had a family connection for Jackie.
A big list of musical marriages and family relations ranging from the simple to the truly dysfunctional.
The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.
The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.
The guy who brought us "Stacy's Mom" also wrote the Jane Lynch Emmy song and Stephen Colbert's Christmas songs.
Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).
