
Judas Priest's "Evening Star" is a Christmas carol that describes the journey of the Magi from a first person perspective.

"Never Tear Us Apart" was a live favorite for INXS, who would often extend the second pause for a while as the crowd went crazy.

Ariana Grande's hit "Problem" started off as a track written by One Direction songwriter Savan Kotecha. He gave it the working title of "The Whisper Song," after a 2005 Ying Yang Twins hit.

Before it was part of a Pink Floyd album title, James Taylor put the line "still I'm on the dark side of the moon" in his 1968 song "Carolina In My Mind." He was living in London and missing his home in North Carolina.

Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" was written by a guy named Eddie after going through a weird therapy session where he punched pillows to get out his aggressions.

Buck Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult wrote "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" after he was diagnosed with a heart condition and started thinking about his own mortality.
Dean's saga began with "Ariel," a song about falling in love with a Jewish girl from New Jersey.
The trail runs from flying saucer songs in the '50s, through Bowie, blink-182 and Katy Perry.
Paul Stanley on his soul music project, the Kiss songs with the biggest soul influence, and the non-make-up era of the band.
Evelyn McDonnell, editor of the book Women Who Rock, on why the Supremes are just as important as Bob Dylan.
Tom talks about the evolution of Cinderella's songs through their first three albums, and how he writes as a solo artist.
A talk with Martin Popoff about his latest book on Rush and how he assessed the thousands of albums he reviewed.