Stevie Wonder wrote his own version of "Happy Birthday" in an attempt to get Martin Luther King's birthday declared a national holiday.
"Sunday Girl" was written by Blondie guitarist Chris Stein to cheer up Debbie Harry after her cat had run away whilst they were away on tour. The gray cat was called Sunday Man.
"Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve samples an obscure orchestral arrangement of the 1965 Rolling Stones song "The Last Time." The Verve had to sign away most of the royalties before they could release the song.
"The Way We Were" was the first of five #1 singles by Barbra Streisand. She is the only artist ever to receive an Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy, and also record a #1 single and album.
Thanks to the line "shake it like a Polaroid picture," Outkast's "Hey Ya!" made Polaroid cameras cool again. Many other artists have since mentioned Polaroid in their lyrics, including Eminem, Imagine Dragons, Keith Urban, Gorillaz and Tim McGraw.
"Stand By Me" hit #4 in the US when it was released in 1961, then went to #9 in 1986 when it was used in the movie of the same name.
Charlotte was established in the LA punk scene when a freaky girl named Belinda approached her wearing a garbage bag.
Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.
A top New York studio musician, Ralph played guitar on many '60s hits, including "Lightnin' Strikes," "A Lover's Concerto" and "I Am A Rock."
On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.
Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.
