The Hollies' 1967 hit "Carrie Anne" is about the British singer-actress Marianne Faithfull, but with "Marianne" changed to "Carrie-Anne" to disguise it. Faithfull dated Allan Clarke of The Hollies.
"Diamonds From Sierra Leone" by Kanye West is about the "blood diamonds" mined using child labor in Africa. It also serves as a shout-out to Roc-A-Fella records, known for a diamond-shaped hand signal.
Pete Townshend wrote The Who's "Pinball Wizard" to coax a good review for the Tommy album out of a rock critic who loved pinball. It worked.
The Ozzy Osbourne song "Mr. Crowley" is about Aleister Crowley, a British practitioner of dark magic in the early 1900s.
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.
"Centerfield" was the first song enshrined in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
Rickie Lee Jones on songwriting, social media, and how she's handling Trump.
"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."
Lori's songs have been recorded by Faith Hill and Sara Evans. She's performed on the CMAs and on Oprah. She also has five kids.
The Jayhawks' song "Big Star" has special meaning to Gary, who explains how longevity and inspiration have trumped adulation.
If you can recall the days when MTV played videos, you know that there are lots of stories to tell. See if you can spot the real ones.
Christopher Cross with Deep Purple? Kenny Loggins in Caddyshack? A Fact or Fiction all about yacht rock and those who made it.