Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" was the first US chart-topper to include the word "funk" in the title.
The UK band The Lightning Seeds of "Pure" fame got their name from a misheard line in Prince's "Raspberry Beret," mistaking "thunder drowns out what the lightning sees" for "thunder drowns out the lightning seeds."
Bono came up with the idea of focusing on a soldier's last thoughts as he dies from his wounds in the U2 song "White As Snow" after reading William Golding's 1956 novel Pincher Martin.
Katherine Heigl played Josh Kelley's love interest in the video for his 2005 song "Only You." They met on the shoot, became a real-life couple, and got married two years later. That's good casting!
"Hangin' Tough" came at the peak of New Kids on the Block mania. Their writer/producer Maurice Starr wrote it about the struggles the band faced early on. It was #1 in England and America.
The 311 song "Amber" is likely about Nicole Scherzinger, who was dating the band's lead singer Nick Hexum.
The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.
Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."
The singer-songwriter Melanie talks about her spiritual awakening at Woodstock, "Brand New Key," and why songwriting is an art, not a craft.
When she released her first album in 1988, Tanita became a UK singing sensation at age 19. She talks about her darkly sensual voice and quirky songwriting style.
Chris Stein of Blondie shares photos and stories from his book about the New York City punk scene.
The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.
