Jack & Diane started off as an interracial couple; Mellencamp took race references out of the song at the request of his record company.
The line "satellite of love" in the Def Leppard song "Rocket" came from the title of a 1972 Lou Reed song.
One of the first teenage stars of the Rock Era was Lesley Gore, who was just 16 when she recorded "It's My Party," a huge hit in 1963. It gave us the iconic phrase, "It's my party, I'll cry if I want to."
Jay-Z was going to ask Mary J. Blige to duet on "Empire State of Mind," but he decided on Alicia Keys when he heard the piano stabs on the track.
The motto for Boys Town, which was a Nebraska home for troubled youth, inspired the song "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" by The Hollies.
Billy Ocean's "Caribbean Queen" was originally released as "European Queen," and it underperformed. When it was issued in America as "Caribbean Queen" it went to #1 and revived his career.
David Gray explains the significance of the word "Babylon," and talks about how songs are a form of active imagination, with lyrics that reveal what's inside us.
On "Life Is A Highway," his burgeoning solo career, and the Rascal Flatts song he most connects with.
The trail runs from flying saucer songs in the '50s, through Bowie, blink-182 and Katy Perry.
Fagen talks about how the Steely Dan songwriting strategy has changed over the years, and explains why you don't hear many covers of their songs.
"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.
