The first single to simultaneously top the UK and US charts was The Everly Brothers' "Cathy's Clown" in May 1960.
Bryan Adams' 1987 song "Heat Of The Night" has the distinction of being the first commercially released cassette single in the US.
Blur's "There Are Too Many of Us" was inspired in part by a siege in an Australian chocolate café that Damon Albarn witnessed, which resulted in the death of the gunman and two hostages.
The game Lana Del Rey sings about in "Video Games" is World of Warcraft - her ex used to play it all the time.
"99 Luftballons" by Nena is about a Cold War scare when balloons showed up on radar and were mistaken as a nuclear threat.
"Mother" by Danzig is about censorship, specifically the Parents Music Resource Center, which pushed record labels to put warning stickers on albums with explicit lyrics.
Glen Ballard talks about co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill album, and his work with Dave Matthews, Aerosmith and Annie Lennox.
A Soul Train dancer takes us through a day on the show, and explains what you had to do to get camera time.
One of the most popular classical vocalists in the land is lining up a trip to space, which is the inspiration for many of her songs.
Wilder's hit "Break My Stride" had an unlikely inspiration: a famous record mogul who rejected it.
Laura Nyro talks about her complex, emotionally rich songwriting and how she supports women's culture through her art.
Scaramouch, a hoople and a superhero soundtrack - see if you can spot the real Queen stories.