Steely Dan's engineer, Roger Nichols, built one of the first drum machines, which they used on "Hey Nineteen."
The first popular song to use the phrase "Heavy Metal" was "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, which was featured in the movie Easy Rider.
The Hollies' 1967 hit "Carrie Anne" is about the British singer-actress Marianne Faithfull, but with "Marianne" changed to "Carrie-Anne" to disguise it. Faithfull dated Allan Clarke of The Hollies.
Paul McCartney wrote "Hey Jude" to comfort John Lennon's 5-year-old son Julian, whose parents were getting a divorce.
"Margaritaville" is a state of mind, but it's most associated with Key West, Florida, where Jimmy Buffett moved when he was 24.
Radiohead's "Paraonid Android" was written after a confrontation in a Los Angeles bar with an irate woman.
Martyn talks about producing Tina Turner, some Heaven 17 hits, and his work with the British Electric Foundation.
His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."
In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.
"Missing You" was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion triggered by a phone call. John tells that story and explains what MTV meant to his career.
Jon Fratelli talks about the band's third album, and the five-year break leading up to it.
Chad tells tales from his time as drummer for Nirvana, and talks about his group Before Cars.