"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.
"Baby Got Back" isn't just a booty song: it's about "Lack of acceptance by Hollywood of the African-American body."
Stevie Wonder was 12 years old when he released his first #1 hit, "Fingertips (Part 2)." He had to wait 22 years for his next one: "Part Time Lover."
Madonna's hit "Don't Tell Me" was written by her brother-in-law, Joe Henry, who has produced albums by Hugh Laurie and Bonnie Raitt.
"Heart of Glass" was Blondie's first foray into disco, which turned off some fans. Debbie Harry said they did it because they "wanted to be uncool."
Janet Jackson wrote the lyric to "Nasty" in response to random guys calling her "baby."
How a country weeper and a blues number made "rolling stone" the most popular phrase in rock.
Laura Nyro talks about her complex, emotionally rich songwriting and how she supports women's culture through her art.
Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.
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."
The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.
It started with a bouncy MTV classic. Nirvana and MCR made them scary, then Gwen, Avril and Madonna put on the pom poms.
