"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" was Michael Jaskson's attack on the tabloid press: "They eat off of you, you're a vegetable."
Elton John's classic "Levon" runs 5:22, and Elton wouldn't let his record company edit it down for the single. His next single was "Tiny Dancer," which is even longer, running 6:12.
The first single from the Thriller album was "The Girl Is Mine," chosen over "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" because it was a duet with Paul McCartney and thus guaranteed airplay.
The Goo Goo Dolls got the title for their song "Iris" from a country singer named Iris DeMent. The word doesn't show up in the lyric; lead singer Johnny Rzeznik said he was "trying to be pretentious and arty by calling it that."
Members of the San Francisco 49ers, including Dwight Clark, Joe Montana and Ronnie Lott, sang backup on "Hip to Be Square" by Huey Lewis and the News.
When "When I Think of You" hit #1, Janet and Michael Jackson became the first siblings with chart topping solo hits in the United States.
Lots of life lessons in these Eagles lyrics - can you match them to the correct song?
Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.
He wrote "She Blinded Me With Science" so he could direct a video about a home for deranged scientists.
It wasn't her biggest hit as a songwriter (that would be "Bette Davis Eyes"), but "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" had a family connection for Jackie.
"Mony Mony," "Crimson and Clover," "Draggin' The Line"... the hits kept coming for Tommy James, and in a plot line fit for a movie, his record company was controlled by the mafia.
Laura Nyro talks about her complex, emotionally rich songwriting and how she supports women's culture through her art.