"Tenderness" by General Public was partly inspired by the outbreak of AIDS, which at the time was thought to be contagious.
"Aberdeen" by Cage The Elephant is named after the birthplace of Kurt Cobain. It's in Grays Harbor County, Washington.
Cyndi Lauper came up with the title "Time After Time" when she saw it in TV Guide magazine. It's the name of a 1979 movie about a man who invents a time machine.
The disco song "Good Tmes" by Chic was a huge influence on early rap, providing the bassline for "Rapper's Delight."
Australian singer-songwriter Sia Furler wrote "Diamonds" for Rihanna in just 14 minutes.
The riff for The Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant" was pinched from a very unpunk song, the ABBA ballad "S.O.S."
The 5-octave voice of the classical rock band Renaissance, Annie is big on creative expression. In this talk, she covers Roy Wood, the history of the band, and where all the money went in the '70s.
They sang about pink torpedoes and rocking you tonight tonight, but some real lyrics are just as ridiculous. See if you can tell which lyrics are real and which are Spinal Tap in this lyrics quiz.
Michelob commercials generated hits for Eric Clapton, Genesis and Steve Winwood in the '80s, even as some of these rockers were fighting alcoholism.
The singer-songwriter Melanie talks about her spiritual awakening at Woodstock, "Brand New Key," and why songwriting is an art, not a craft.
Justin wrote the classic "Nights In White Satin," but his fondest musical memories are from a different decade.
Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.