The Whitney Houston hit "I Have Nothing" was inspired by Elvis Presley, who dated the song's lyricist, Linda Thompson.
References to David Bowie, Tom Waits and Allan Ginsburg are peppered into the Bush song "Everything Zen."
A key line in "Africa" is "I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become," which is about drifting away from what you really want in life. Toto keyboard player David Paich, who wrote the song, felt his work was consuming him.
The line "satellite of love" in the Def Leppard song "Rocket" came from the title of a 1972 Lou Reed song.
"I Won't Back Down" is a very personal song for Tom Petty. "I thought it wasn't that good because it was so naked," he said.
"Oh Well," from their 1960s Peter Green era, is the only Fleetwood Mac song played in concert in every decade they've been extant.
Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.
When she released her first album in 1988, Tanita became a UK singing sensation at age 19. She talks about her darkly sensual voice and quirky songwriting style.
One of Canada's most popular and eclectic performers, Hawksley tells stories about his oldest songs, his plentiful side projects, and the ways that he keeps his songwriting fresh.
The "Lowdown" and "Lido Shuffle" singer makes a habit of playing with the best in the business.
Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.
Known in America for the hit "If You Leave," OMD is a huge influence on modern electronic music.