Billy Joel's song "Allentown" was written as "Levittown," which is the town in Long Island where he grew up. He got the idea to change it after taking a trip to Pennsylvania.
"Stay" by Shakespears Sister is based on a 1953 B-movie called Cat-Women Of The Moon.
Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side" tells the story of real people who were part of Andy Warhol's "factory," including Holly Woodlawn and Candy Darling.
The Naughty by Nature hit "O.P.P." doesn't have any curse words, but many oversensitive radio stations played a "clean" version with the word "kitten" edited out, surely the first time that word was censured.
Ed Sheeran thought he wrote the x track "Photograph" on 6th Street in Denver, so he got a tattoo saying 6 ST. But when he returned it turned out the street was actually 6th Avenue.
The philosophical Kansas song "Dust In The Wind" is inspired by a line of Native American poetry: "For all we are is dust in the wind."
Bowie's "activist" days of 1964 led to Ziggy Stardust.
Joe talks about the challenges of of making a Duke Ellington tribute album, and tells the stories behind some of his hits.
Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.
Jon Anderson breaks down the Yes classic "Seen All Good People" and talks about his 1000 Hands album, which features Chick Corea, Rick Derringer, Ian Anderson, and many other luminaries.
In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.
Tom talks about the evolution of Cinderella's songs through their first three albums, and how he writes as a solo artist.