The Ozzy Osbourne song "Mr. Crowley" is about Aleister Crowley, a British practitioner of dark magic in the early 1900s.
After Cher revived "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)" in 1990, Salt-N-Pepa released "Shoop" and Whitney Houston had a #1 hit with "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)."
The song "Sadeness" by Enigma (the one with the chanting monks), got its name from the French novelist Marquis de Sade, who believed sex had to be painful in order to be pleasurable - thus the word "sadism."
U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" from Batman Forever was nominated for both a Golden Globe for Best Original Song and a Razzie for Worst Original Song.
"Renegade" by Styx wasn't a big hit when it was released in 1978, but it became one of their most popular songs thanks in part to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who started playing it at home games in 2001 to fire up the team and fans.
It really was so easy for Linda Ronstadt to score a hit with her Buddy Holly cover of "It's So Easy." She would sometimes change the lyric to: "It's so easy to have a hit, all you have to do is recycle it."
The trail runs from flying saucer songs in the '50s, through Bowie, blink-182 and Katy Perry.
Jon Fratelli talks about the band's third album, and the five-year break leading up to it.
As Procol Harum's lyricist, Keith wrote the words to "A Whiter Shade Of Pale." We delve into that song and find out how you can form a band when you don't sing or play an instrument.
For songwriters, Johnny represents the American man. He has been angry, cool, magic, a rebel and, of course, marching home.
Chris Stein of Blondie shares photos and stories from his book about the New York City punk scene.
An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.