When The Kinks released "Lola," most people didn't realize Lola was a man. "I was dancing with this beautiful blonde, then we went out into the daylight and I saw her stubble," Ray Davies said of the inspiration.
Eric Clapton wrote "Wonderful Tonight" while waiting for his girlfriend, Pattie Boyd, to get ready for a night out. By the time she was ready, he had written the song.
The setting for the Queensrÿche song "Jet City Woman" is Seattle, the "jet city."
"No Scrubs" introduced the term "scrub" to the popular lexicon, and defined it in the opening lines ("a scrub is a guy that think he's fine...").
The eerie percussion and guitar for Portsihead's "Sour Times" was sampled from Lalo Schifrin's "Danube Incident," music composed by the Argentine composer for an episode of Mission Impossible.
Americans know the song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers thanks to the 1993 Johnny Depp movie Benny & Joon, where it plays in the opening scene. The song was first released in 1988 but got little attention in the US until it showed up in the film.
Justin wrote the classic "Nights In White Satin," but his fondest musical memories are from a different decade.
Wilder's hit "Break My Stride" had an unlikely inspiration: a famous record mogul who rejected it.
Writing with Phil Lynott, Scott saw their ill-fated frontman move to a darker place in his life and lyrics.
"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.
JJ talks about The Stranglers' signature sound - keyboard and bass - which isn't your typical strain of punk rock.
The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.