Don Johnson, who starred as Sonny Crockett in Miami Vice, had a #5 hit in 1986 with "Heartbeat."
The horn flourish at the beginning of "Jump Around" comes from Bob and Earl's "Harlem Shuffle"; the squeal throughout the song might be a Prince sample.
The band Simple Minds took their name from the line "He's so simple minded he can't drive his module" in David Bowie's "The Jean Genie."
Meghan Trainor wrote "Lips Are Movin" in just eight minutes with her writing partner Kevin Kadish.
In 1939, a polka craze swept America thanks to "Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out The Barrel)."
Pete Townshend never had a #1 UK hit with The Who or as a solo artist, but he did produce and play on a song that hit the top spot there: "Something In The Air" by Thunderclap Newman, a group he assembled.
U2, Carly Simon, Joanna Newsom, Brian Wilson and Fiona Apple have all gone to Van Dyke Parks to make their songs exceptional.
Tom stopped performing Thompson Twins songs in 1987, in part because of their personal nature: "Hold Me Now" came after an argument with his bandmate/girlfriend Alannah Currie.
Justin wrote the classic "Nights In White Satin," but his fondest musical memories are from a different decade.
Ozzy, Guns N' Roses, Judas Priest and even Michael Bolton show up in this Classic Metal quiz.
The guitarist/songwriter explains how he came up with his signature sound, and deconstructs some classic Fear Factory songs.
Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.
