Americans know the song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers thanks to the 1993 Johnny Depp movie Benny & Joon, where it plays in the opening scene. The song was first released in 1988 but got little attention in the US until it showed up in the film.
"I Want It That Way" is the most popular Backstreet Boys song, but the lyric doesn't make much sense. That's because it was written by the hitmaking swedish producers Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson, who were more worried about how it sings than what it means.
"We're An American Band" by Grand Funk describes real events on their 1972 tour, including an encounter with a legendary groupie called "Sweet Connie."
Rob Reiner named his 1986 movie "Stand By Me" after the song, since he thought The Body, a Stephen King story on which it was based, sounded like a horror movie.
"Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" was first recorded in 1934 by Eddie Cantor, but in 1962 it was one of the first hits for The Four Seasons, who became one of the most popular groups of that decade.
When the Velvet Underground song "Heroin" got screechy, Maureen Tucker stopped drumming, figuring it would bust the take, but her bandmates kept going. You can hear it at the 5:20 mark.
The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.
The revered singer-songwriter talks inspiration and explains why she put a mahout in "Drop the Pilot."
Long before Eminem, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj created alternate personas, David Bowie, Bono, Joni Mitchell and even Hank Williams took on characters.
His song "Into The Night" is one of the most-played of all time. For Benny, it took him to hell and back.
Justin wrote the classic "Nights In White Satin," but his fondest musical memories are from a different decade.
She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.