Kung Fu was big in 1974, with movies by Bruce Lee and a TV series called Kung Fu. Carl Douglas brought it to the dance floor that year with "Kung Fu Fighting," a #1 hit.
Lady Gaga is a big fan of horror movies; listen for the names of these three Alfred Hitchcock films in the lyrics to "Bad Romance": Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window.
"Sloop John B" is a traditional West Indian folk song, and it was a huge hit for The Beach Boys in 1966. They tweaked the lyric, "This is the worst trip since I've been born" to "...I've ever been on" as a wink to acid culture.
David Bowie's "Station to Station" is over 10 minutes long. Bowie was doing a lot of drugs at the time and later said, "I have only flashes of making it."
When Petula Clark reached #1 in the US with "Downtown" in 1965, she became the first female singer from England to hit #1 in the US during the Rock Era (after 1955).
Kelly Rowland was the first Destiny's Child member to have a hit away from the group: her Nelly duet "Dilemma."
When he was asked to write a song for the Singles soundtrack, Mark thought the Seattle grunge scene was already overblown, so that's what he wrote about.
For songwriters, Johnny represents the American man. He has been angry, cool, magic, a rebel and, of course, marching home.
The "A Thousand Miles" singer on what she thinks of her song being used in White Chicks and how she captured a song from a dream.
Test your metal - Priest, Maiden, and Beavis and Butt-head show up in this one.
Prince is shrouded in mystery, making him an excellent candidate for Fact or Fiction. Is he really a Scientologist? Does he own an exotic animal?
Brenda talks about the inspiration that drove her to write hit songs like "Get Here" and "Piano in the Dark," and why a lack of formal music training can be a songwriter's best asset.