Sweet's hit "Ballroom Blitz" was inspired by an incident in 1973 when the band were performing in Scotland and driven offstage by a barrage of bottles.
"Burning Down The House" by Talking Heads was inspired by chant band members heard at a P-Funk show where the crowd yelled, "burn down the house... burn down the house."
Grazing In The Grass by The Friends Of Distinction was the first big hit to use the phrase "dig it" in the lyric.
"Crank That (Soulja Boy)" was the most successful digital track of 2007 in the US with 2,909,000 downloads. On January 6, 2008 it became the first song ever to sell 3 million digital copies in the States.
Prince kept doves at his Paisley Park mansion. And yes, sometimes they did cry.
Quincy Jones wanted to change the title of "Billie Jean" to "Not My Lover" so it wouldn't be confused with the tennis star Billie Jean King. Michael Jackson refused.
The Garbage drummer/songwriter produced the Nirvana album Nevermind, and Smashing Pumpkins' Gish and Siamese Dream.
Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.
Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai were two of Graham's co-writers for some '80s rock classics.
Since emerging from MySpace with her hit "Bubbly," Colbie has become a top songwriter, even crafting a hit with Taylor Swift.
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.
Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.
