Pete Townshend wrote The Who's "Pinball Wizard" to coax a good review for the Tommy album out of a rock critic who loved pinball. It worked.
"Paranoid" reflects a feeling Black Sabbath bass player Geezer Butler often felt after using drugs.
The seemingly inoffensive song "Deep In The Heart Of Texas" was banned by the BBC when it was released in 1942. They deemed the song too catchy, with authorities in wartime Britain concerned that factory workers would be distracted if they heard it during a shift.
"All Star" was written as a confidence builder for fans who were bullied for liking Smash Mouth.
Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler got the idea for "Money For Nothing" after overhearing delivery men in a New York department store complain about their jobs while watching MTV.
Every film star mentioned in Madonna's "Vogue" has since died. The last was Lauren Bacall, who passed away in 2014.
The Nails lead singer Marc Campbell talks about those 44 women he sings about over a stock Casio keyboard track. He's married to one of them now - you might be surprised which.
The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.
An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.
He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."
Shaun breaks down the Seether songs, including the one about his brother, the one about Ozzy, and the one that may or may not be about his ex-girlfriend Amy Lee.
A big list of musical marriages and family relations ranging from the simple to the truly dysfunctional.