Cheap Trick hated the ballad "The Flame" but recorded it because they needed a hit, and the song delivered, going to #1.
"Constant Craving" by k.d. lang deals with principles of Buddhism, including the cycles of birth and death.
Billy Joel's song "Allentown" was written as "Levittown," which is the town in Long Island where he grew up. He got the idea to change it after taking a trip to Pennsylvania.
Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" was co-written by Sarah Hudson, who was a member of the pop group Ultraviolet Sound. Though Sarah isn't related to Katy (whose real name is Katy Hudson), she is the first cousin of another famous person with the same name, the actress Kate Hudson.
Smith breaks down some of his worship tracks as well as his mainstream hits, including "I Will Be Here For You" and "A Place In This World."
In her days with The Runaways, Joan Jett saw The Arrows perform "I Love Rock And Roll," which Alan Merrill co-wrote - that story and much more from this glam rock pioneer.
It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.
With Bernie Taupin, Martin co-wrote the #1 hits "We Built This City" and "These Dreams." After writing the Pretty Woman song for Go West, he had his own hit with "In the House of Stone and Light."
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."
10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces
