An Allen Ginsberg line from his poem Howl inspired "Machinehead" by Bush: "Machine says I saw the best minds of my generation."
Part of the "Cruel to Be Kind" video was shot during Nick Lowe and Carlene Carter's wedding.
The disco song "Good Tmes" by Chic was a huge influence on early rap, providing the bassline for "Rapper's Delight."
Billy Ocean's "Caribbean Queen" was also recorded as "European Queen" and "African Queen" for release on those continents.
Stephens Stills played timbales on the Bee Gees hit, "You Should Be Dancing." He was in the next door studio laying down a Crosby, Stills and Nash album and could hear Saturday Night Fever being recorded. Stills recognized its potential to be a monster hit and he wanted to contribute.
The original "Enter Sandman" lyric was about crib death, with the "sandman" killing a baby.
Joe talks about the challenges of of making a Duke Ellington tribute album, and tells the stories behind some of his hits.
Toto's keyboard player explains the true meaning of "Africa" and talks about working on the Thriller album.
In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.
Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.
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 man who created Yacht Rock with "Sailing" wrote one of his biggest hits while on acid.
