Sweet's hit "Ballroom Blitz" was inspired by an incident in 1973 when the band were performing in Scotland and driven offstage by a barrage of bottles.
"Personal Jesus," a song about "being a Jesus for somebody else," was inspired by Elvis and Priscilla Presley.
"No Scrubs" introduced the term "scrub" to the popular lexicon, and defined it in the opening lines ("a scrub is a guy that think he's fine...").
Prince released "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" on his own label to prove he could generate a hit song whenever he wanted. He made his point: It was a big hit around the world.
Avril Lavigne's 2011 song "Darlin" was written much earlier; she says it's the second song she ever wrote, composed when she was an unsigned 15-year-old living in Napanee, Ontario. The song reflects those years when she was "trying to figure it all out."
The dirty version of Cee-Lo Green's "Forget You" contains 16 F-bombs. He recorded a clean version as an afterthought, "just in case."
The former Dead Kennedys frontman on the past, present and future of the band, what music makes us "pliant and stupid," and what he learned from Alice Cooper.
The good doctor shares some candid insights on recording with Phil Spector and The Black Keys.
Martyn talks about producing Tina Turner, some Heaven 17 hits, and his work with the British Electric Foundation.
The 5-octave voice of the classical rock band Renaissance, Annie is big on creative expression. In this talk, she covers Roy Wood, the history of the band, and where all the money went in the '70s.
The lead singer of Everclear, Art is also their primary songwriter.
The writer of "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Polk Salad Annie" explains how he cooks up his Louisiana swamp rock.