Steely Dan's engineer, Roger Nichols, built one of the first drum machines, which they used on "Hey Nineteen."
Puff Daddy didn't get permission to sample the Police song "Every Breath You Take" on his Notorious B.I.G. tribute "I'll Be Missing You," but he later reached an agreement and even performed the song with Sting.
Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" is a joyful-sounding song with lyrics that are surprisingly somber: "when the night falls, loneliness calls." It's co-writer explained: "Many of our friends were in this boat - 5 o'clock comes around, they start getting restless."
Neil Diamond wrote "I'm A Believer" early in his career. It was a hit for The Monkees and revived by Smash Mouth in 2001 for the movie Shrek, helping make Diamond cool again.
There really is a Girl From Ipanema. Her name is Helo Pinheiro, and she would walk "Like a samba" past the bar the songwriters frequented, providing the inspiration.
The Devo song "Freedom Of Choice" is about mindless consumerism - how people like to make frivolous choices, but otherwise want to be told what to do.
Richie talks about the impact of "Amazed," and how his 4-year-old son inspired another Lonestar hit.
Rockers, rappers and pop stars have been known to quote the Bible in their songs. See if you match the artist to the biblical lyric.
They sang about pink torpedoes and rocking you tonight tonight, but some real lyrics are just as ridiculous. See if you can tell which lyrics are real and which are Spinal Tap in this lyrics quiz.
The Winger frontman reveals the Led Zeppelin song he cribbed for "Seventeen," and explains how his passion for orchestra music informs his songwriting.
His song "Into The Night" is one of the most-played of all time. For Benny, it took him to hell and back.
