Van Halen's first #1 hit was "Jump," an unusual song for the band because the lead instrument was synthesizer, not guitar.
"Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve samples an obscure orchestral arrangement of the 1965 Rolling Stones song "The Last Time." The Verve had to sign away most of the royalties before they could release the song.
Colbie Caillat sang "Bubbly" when she auditioned for American Idol in 2004, but was sent packing. Three years later it became a big hit when she released it as her first single - the song spent 19 weeks at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
"Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty is set in Los Angeles, as he mentions Reseda, Mulholland and Ventura Boulevard.
"Sunday Girl" was written by Blondie guitarist Chris Stein to cheer up Debbie Harry after her cat had run away whilst they were away on tour. The gray cat was called Sunday Man.
Kacey Musgraves offered "Follow Your Arrow" to her friend Katy Perry, but Perry thought Musgraves should record the song herself, telling Kacey it seemed "like something that you would totally say."
Just like Darrin was replaced on Bewitched, groups have swapped out original members, hoping we wouldn't notice.
Don breaks down "Hotel California" and other songs he wrote as a member of the Eagles. Now we know where the "warm smell of colitas" came from.
JJ talks about The Stranglers' signature sound - keyboard and bass - which isn't your typical strain of punk rock.
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.
The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.
Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.