A key line in "Africa" is "I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become," which is about drifting away from what you really want in life. Toto keyboard player David Paich, who wrote the song, felt his work was consuming him.
"I Just Called To Say I Love You" is Stevie Wonder's best-selling single worldwide. It topped the Hot 100, AC, R&B and UK charts all in the same week.
Jay-Z was going to ask Mary J. Blige to duet on "Empire State of Mind," but he decided on Alicia Keys when he heard the piano stabs on the track.
"Mr. Tambourine Man" is the only song Bob Dylan wrote that became a #1 hit on the Hot 100. The Byrds' cover topped the chart in 1965.
Quincy Jones wanted to change the title of "Billie Jean" to "Not My Lover" so it wouldn't be confused with the tennis star Billie Jean King. Michael Jackson refused.
Phil Oakey of The Human League recorded his vocals for "Don't You Want Me" in the studio bathroom. The recording was disrupted by guitarist Jo Callis reaching through an open window from outside to repeatedly flush one of the toilets.
Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.
Have you got the smarts to know which of these graduation song stories are real?
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.
Stone Temple Pilots bass player Robert DeLeo names the songs that have most connected with fans and tells the stories behind tracks from their Tiny Music album.
Charlotte was established in the LA punk scene when a freaky girl named Belinda approached her wearing a garbage bag.
A scholarly analysis of yacht rock favorites ("Steal Away," "Baker Street"...) with a member of the leading YR cover band.