The EMF song "Unbelievable" samples the raunchy comic Andrew Dice Clay saying, "What the f--k was that!"
Taio Cruz throws his hands up "sometimes" in "Dynamite" because the song was originally written about surrender.
The first rap song to make the Hot 100 was "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang in 1979. At the time, many considered rap a fad that would soon pass.
Featured in the 1978 musical Evita, "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" became the biggest selling UK hit by a female vocalist (Julie Covington).
One of the first hit songs used in a major marketing campaign was "Start Me Up" by The Rolling Stones. Microsoft paid $3 million to use it in commercials for Windows '95.
John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath got its title from a line in "The Battle Hymn of the Republic": "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored."
Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.
Despite appearances on Carson, Leno and a Pennebaker film, Williams remains a hidden treasure.
We ring the Hell's Bells to see what songs and rockers are sincere in their Satanism, and how much of it is an act.
10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces
Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.
With $50 and a glue stick, Bruce Pavitt created Sub Pop, a fanzine-turned-label that gave the world Nirvana and grunge. He explains how motivated individuals can shift culture.
