The Boyz II Men hit "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" is an a capella cover of a song from 1975 by G.C. Cameron that was used in the movie Cooley High to express the feeling of parting ways with high school friends.
One of the most successful cover songs is Fugees' "Killing Me Softly," a 1996 reworking of Roberta Flack's 1973 hit. Originally, Fugees wanted to change the title to "Killing Him Softly" and make it about the dangers of drug abuse.
"Don't Dream It's Over" is the biggest hit for Crowded House, whose lead singer, Neil Finn, sang it on tour when he joined Fleetwood Mac. He wrote the song when he was feeling a bit lost as a way of urging himself on.
The original "Enter Sandman" lyric was about crib death, with the "sandman" killing a baby. That storyline was too bleak even for Metallica, so they changed it.
Until December 5, 1998, a song had to be issued as a single to make the Hot 100. Aaliyah's "Try Again" was the first tune to top the chart based on airplay alone, without any sales figures being included.
The Ozzy Osbourne song "Mr. Crowley" is about Aleister Crowley, a British practitioner of dark magic in the early 1900s.
10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces
The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.
Dean wrote the screenplay and lyrics to all the songs in Footloose. His other hits include "Fame" and "All The Man That I Need."
You may not recognize his name, but you will certainly recognize Peter Lord's songs. He wrote the bevy of hits from Paula Abdul's second album, Spellbound.
The hitmaking songwriter/producer Sam Hollander with stories about songs for Weezer, Panic! At The Disco, Train, Pentatonix, and Fitz And The Tantrums.
Rosanne talks about the journey that inspired her songs on her album The River & the Thread, including a stop at the Tallahatchie Bridge.