Before launching his career as a singer, Bruno Mars was a writer/producer. He and his co-writers pitched "Just The Way You Are" to Cee-Lo Green; when he turned it down, Bruno recorded it himself and released it in 2010 as his first single as a lead artist.
MTV reversed the word "joint" in Tom Petty's "You Don't Known How It Feels" so it was unintelligible, but gave the video a VMA anyway.
Dolly Parton is just fine with Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You." Said Parton: "She can have the credit. I just want my cash."
"Video Killed The Radio Star" by Buggles was the first video to air on MTV when the network started broadcasting on August 1, 1981.
The Hollies' 1967 hit "Carrie Anne" is about the British singer-actress Marianne Faithfull, but with "Marianne" changed to "Carrie-Anne" to disguise it. Faithfull dated Allan Clarke of The Hollies.
On Missy Elliott's "Work It," the backward vocal is the previous line, "Put my thing down, flip it, and reverse it," in reverse. She stumbled on it when the engineer played it backward by mistake.
From the lake in "Roundabout" to Sister Bluebird in "Starship Trooper," Jon Anderson talks about how nature and spirituality play into his lyrics for Yes.
A top country songwriter, Barry talks about writing hits for Little Big Town, Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean.
Is Owl City on a quest for another hit like "Fireflies?" Adam answers that question and explains the influences behind many others.
Was a Beatles song a TV theme? And who came up with those Fresh Prince and Sopranos songs?
Joe talks about the challenges of of making a Duke Ellington tribute album, and tells the stories behind some of his hits.
One of the most popular classical vocalists in the land is lining up a trip to space, which is the inspiration for many of her songs.