Avril Lavigne's 2011 song "Darlin" was written much earlier; she says it's the second song she ever wrote, composed when she was an unsigned 15-year-old living in Napanee, Ontario. The song reflects those years when she was "trying to figure it all out."
Aimee Mann's "Save Me" was inspired by her relationship with the actor Dave Foley, who had gone through a divorce and was an emotional train wreck.
You wouldn't know it from the upbeat melody, but "Walkin' On The Sun" by Smash Mouth is about the 1992 Los Angeles Riots.
The first #1 hit with the word "disco" in the title wasn't a disco song. It was an R&B song called "Disco Lady" by Johnnie Taylor in 1976. The lady he's singing about is disco, but the song isn't.
Adele isn't a ghost when she sings, "Hello from the other side" - it means the "other side of becoming an adult."
Roger Daltrey stutters the vocal on "My Generation" by The Who. The idea was to sound like a British kid on speed.
Producer Rupert Hine talks about crafting hits for Tina Turner, Howard Jones and The Fixx.
From the cowbell on "Mississippi Queen" to recording with The Who when they got the wrong Felix, stories from one of rock's master craftsmen.
The renown Texas songwriter has been at it for 40 years, with tales to tell about The Flatlanders and The Clash - that's Joe's Tex-Mex on "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"
Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.
Joe talks about the challenges of of making a Duke Ellington tribute album, and tells the stories behind some of his hits.
