Harry Phillips (1911-76), a tutor at Leeds College of Art and friend of Mark Knopfler, inspired the Dire Straits song "In The Gallery."
Paul McCartney based the "Eleanor Rigby" story on old ladies he met at his housing estate. He saw how sometimes when they died, nobody really noticed.
"Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve samples an obscure orchestral arrangement of the 1965 Rolling Stones song "The Last Time." The Verve had to sign away most of the royalties before they could release the song.
"I Want It That Way" is the most popular Backstreet Boys song, but the lyric doesn't make much sense. That's because it was written by the hitmaking swedish producers Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson, who were more worried about how it sings than what it means.
Freddie Mercury considered "We Are The Champions" his version of "My Way." "We have made it, and it certainly wasn't easy," he said.
The opening line in "How Soon Is Now?" by The Smiths is "I am the son and the heir," not "I am the sun and the air."
The song used in introductions by the Chicago Bulls and many other sports teams is "Sirius" by The Alan Parsons project, the opening track on the Eye In The Sky album.
P.F. was a teenager writing hits and playing on tracks for Jan & Dean when he wrote a #1 hit that got him blackballed.
U2, Carly Simon, Joanna Newsom, Brian Wilson and Fiona Apple have all gone to Van Dyke Parks to make their songs exceptional.
Nirvana, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen are among those who wrote songs with cities that show up in this quiz.
Donny Osmond talks about his biggest hits, his Vegas show, and the fan who taught him to take "Puppy Love" seriously.
Dave explains how the video appropriated the meaning of "Runaway Train," and what he thought of getting parodied by Weird Al.
What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?