The Isley Brothers' "That Lady" was sampled by Kendrick Lamar for his 2014 single "I." Lamar turned up at Ronald Isley's house to personally ask permission to borrow from the song.
Michael Stipe hadn't finished the lyrics when R.E.M. recorded "Radio Free Europe." He calls the vocal "complete babbling."
The Sam & Dave classic "Soul Man" was re-recorded by Sam Moore and Lou Reed for the 1986 movie Soul Man, about a white guy who pretends to be black so he can get a scholarship to Harvard.
Before recording "Boom Clap" herself, Charli XCX offered the song to Hilary Duff, but her people turned down the tune because it "wasn't cool enough for Hilary."
The "pompatus of love" from the Steve Miller song "The Joker" comes from a line in a '50s doo-wop song Miller misheard: "puppetutes of love."
Billy Joel wrote "We Didn't Start The Fire" after a 21-year-old told him, "everyone knows that nothing happened in the '50s."
The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.
What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?
Chris and his wife Tina were the rhythm section for Talking Heads when they formed The Tom Tom Club. "Genius of Love" was their blockbuster, but David Byrne only mentioned it once.
Devo founders Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale take us into their world of subversive performance art. They may be right about the De-Evoloution thing.
The Nails lead singer Marc Campbell talks about those 44 women he sings about over a stock Casio keyboard track. He's married to one of them now - you might be surprised which.
Keyboard great David Sancious talks about his work with Sting, Seal, Springsteen, Clapton and Aretha, and explains what quantum physics has to do with making music.