Pete Townshend wrote The Who's "Pinball Wizard" to coax a good review for the Tommy album out of a rock critic who loved pinball. It worked.
"Nuclear Device (The Wizard of Aus)" by The Stranglers was written about the then Premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen. His political shenanigans were observed by the band during their first tour of Australia.
The Ricky Martin song "She Bangs" found new life when William Hung performed it so horribly on a 2004 episode of American Idol that it went viral.
The title "25 Or 6 To 4" by Chicago refers to the time it was written: either 25 minutes to 4 (3:35) or 26 (3:34).
"Cum On Feel The Noise" was originally recorded by the British glam band Slade in 1973. Quiet Riot had their first hit with the song when they recorded it in 1983.
"Me And Bobby McGee" was written by Kris Kristofferson and first recorded by Roger Miller. Janis Joplin's famous version turned Bobby into a boy.
You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?
The drummer for Anthrax is also a key songwriter. He explains how the group puts their songs together and tells the stories behind some of their classics.
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.
Taylor talks about "The Machine" - the hits, the videos and Clive Davis.
An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.
She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.