"One Week" by Barenaked Ladies was a #1 hit in America - for exactly one week in 1998.
Kung Fu was big in 1974, with movies by Bruce Lee and a TV series called Kung Fu. Carl Douglas brought it to the dance floor that year with "Kung Fu Fighting," a #1 hit.
Avril Lavigne's 2011 song "Darlin" was written much earlier; she says it's the second song she ever wrote, composed when she was an unsigned 15-year-old living in Napanee, Ontario. The song reflects those years when she was "trying to figure it all out."
The title of Ed Sheeran's hit "The A Team" refers to Class A drugs like heroin and cocaine. It's a play on words, as the subject of the song is a drug addict, not a member of an elite group.
In 1979, Madonna was a dancer on Patrick Hernandez' tour, where she boogied to his hit "Born To Be Alive."
The first #1 hit with a rap was "Rapture" by Blondie in 1980. Debbie Harry's rhymes left lots of room for improvement.
The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.
When he was asked to write a song for the Singles soundtrack, Mark thought the Seattle grunge scene was already overblown, so that's what he wrote about.
When he was playing Ozzfest with Black Label Society, a kid told Zakk he was the best Ozzy guitarist - Zakk had to correct him.
The Stax legend on how he cooked up "Green Onions," the first time he and Otis Redding saw hippies, and if he'll ever play a digital organ.
The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.
