The first release of "The Sound Of Silence" was acoustic, and went nowhere. It became Simon & Garfunkel's first hit when a producer at their label overdubbed it with electric instruments.
War got the idea for "Why Can't We Be Friends?" when they were traveling in Japan and found they had a kinship with the citizens even though they didn't speak the same language.
The first version of The Beatles' "Helter Skelter" was a 27-minute jam, so you can imagine what Ringo was going through pounding away on drums. To convince the guys he needed a break, he screamed, "I've got blisters on my fingers!" This was included on the fadeout.
One of the most enduring songs from the '90s is "Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls, which got huge on social media and streaming in the 2020s. The song was written for a movie called City Of Angels, about an angel (Nicolas Cage) who falls in love with a human (Meg Ryan).
"Jump Around" by House Of Pain turns into a diss track at the end when they dedicate it to Joe "The Biter" Nicolo, whom they claim stole the concept and used it on the Kris Kross song "Jump."
When "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" climbed to #1 on the Hot 100, Katy Perry became the first woman to send five songs from one album to the top of the charts. The four previous chart-toppers from her Teenage Dream set were "California Gurls," "Teenage Dream," "Firework" and "E.T."
A talented lyricist, Philip helped revive Neil Sedaka's career with the words to "Laughter In The Rain" and "Bad Blood."
The longtime Eagle talks about soaring back to his solo career, and what he learned about songwriting in the group.
Andrew Farriss on writing with Michael Hutchence, the stories behind "Mystify" and other INXS hits, and his country-flavored debut solo album.
The guy who brought us "Stacy's Mom" also wrote the Jane Lynch Emmy song and Stephen Colbert's Christmas songs.
Our chat with Barney Hoskyns, who covers the wild years of Woodstock - the town, not the festival - in his book Small Town Talk.
Untangling the events that led to the "Stairway To Heaven" lawsuit.