Elton John's classic "Levon" runs 5:22, and Elton wouldn't let his record company edit it down for the single. His next single was "Tiny Dancer," which is even longer, running 6:12.
"Mr. Roboto" by Styx was written by their keyboard player, Dennis DeYoung, who used Japanese words and imagery to create an allegory about censorship.
Irving Berlin wrote "How Dry I Am" in anticipation of Prohibition, envisioning a bleak future without alcohol.
"Walking on a Thin Line" by Huey Lewis and the News is about an American soldier who is trained as a sniper in the Vietnam War. It was written for a documentary on the war.
Willa Ford came up with her hit "I Wanna Be Bad" when her record company told her to tone down her music in a effort to differentiate her from Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, who were in their "bad girl" eras.
One of the first teenage stars of the Rock Era was Lesley Gore, who was just 16 when she recorded "It's My Party," a huge hit in 1963. It gave us the iconic phrase, "It's my party, I'll cry if I want to."
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.
One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.
Dave reveals the inspiration for "Feelin' Alright" and explains how the first song he ever wrote became the biggest hit for his band Traffic.
On the "schizoid element" of his lyrics, and a famous line from "Everything Zen."
Pete produced Dwight Yoakam, Michelle Shocked, Meat Puppets, and a very memorable track for Roy Orbison.
