New Order got the title for "Blue Monday" from an illustration that read "Goodbye Blue Monday" in the Kurt Vonnegut book Breakfast Of Champions. The image refers to the invention of the washing machine improving housewives' lives.
The inspiration for Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown" came when he was worrying about his girlfriend, who was out at bars all day while he was home writing songs.
Bernie Taupin was 17 when he wrote the lyrics to Elton John's "Your Song." Looking back, he says it's "one of the most naïve and childish lyrics in the entire repertoire of music."
Billy Joel's song "Allentown" was written as "Levittown," which is the town in Long Island where he grew up. He got the idea to change it after taking a trip to Pennsylvania.
After a devastating car accident, the actor Montgomery Clift had to be filmed from "The Right Profile" to look good - that provided the name of The Clash song.
Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of Kiss wrote "Rock And Roll All Nite" as a "rallying cry for all of our fans." In later years, members of Kiss wrote songs separately.
Untangling the events that led to the "Stairway To Heaven" lawsuit.
Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.
Did this Eagle come up with the term "Parrothead"? And what is it like playing "Hotel California" for the gazillionth time?
One of the most successful songwriters in the business, Desmond co-wrote "Livin' La Vida Loca," "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)" and "Livin' On A Prayer."
Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.
"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.