"I Got You Babe" made Sonny Bono the only person to perform on a #1 hit and also get elected to congress.
Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo wrote "Beverly Hills" after seeing a photo of the group Wilson Phillips and imagining what it would be like to marry someone famous.
Mike Nesmith wrote Linda Ronstadt's first hit, "Different Drum," before he joined The Monkees. He played an intentionally bad version of it on the show.
"Killing An Arab" by The Cure was inspired by Albert Camus' book The Stranger.
"Step On," the most famous song by the Happy Mondays ("You're twistin' my melon man!") is a thoroughly revamped cover of a song from 1971 about the plight of indigenous peoples called "He's Gonna Step On You Again" by John Kongos.
The Eagles' first single, "Take It Easy," was written by Jackson Browne, who was living in the apartment below Glenn Frey when he wrote it.
Lots of life lessons in these Eagles lyrics - can you match them to the correct song?
Some album art was at least "inspired" by others. A look at some very similar covers.
Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.
The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.
Chris tells the story of "Wicked Game," talks milkshakes and moonpies at Sun Records, and explains why women always get their way.
Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."