Madonna's hit "Like A Prayer" debuted in a Pepsi commercial, but Pepsi pulled the ad the next day when the controversial video appeared. Madonna got to keep her $5 million endorsement money.
"In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins was revived when it was used in the first episode of Miami Vice, three years after it was released.
George Harrison's 1971 song "Bangla Desh" was the first major charity single. It was part of a concert held to bring relief to the people of Bangladesh, who were fighting for independence and suffering from a famine.
The original, 1930s version of "Puttin' On the Ritz" has lyrics about Lenox Avenue in Harlem, not Park Avenue.
"How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You" by Marvin Gaye was inspired by Jackie Gleason's saying, "How Sweet It Is!"
An Allen Ginsberg line from his poem Howl inspired "Machinehead" by Bush: "Machine says I saw the best minds of my generation."
Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.
A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.
The lead singer of Everclear, Art is also their primary songwriter.
Doors expert Jim Cherry, author of The Doors Examined, talks about some of their defining songs and exposes some Jim Morrison myths.
How Bing Crosby, Les Paul, a US Army Signal Corps Officer, and the Nazis helped shape rock and Roll.
The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.