Neil Young's song "Old Man" was inspired by the caretaker of the ranch he bought in 1970. Neil was the young man at the time, just 25.
"Kashmir" is the only Led Zeppelin song to use outside musicians, as it needed strings and horns.
A key line in "Africa" is "I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become," which is about drifting away from what you really want in life. Toto keyboard player David Paich, who wrote the song, felt his work was consuming him.
David Bowie was in a mystical state when he wrote "The Man Who Sold The World," which he said happened during his "15 minutes of Buddhism."
Country star Slim Whitman's version of the 1920s song "Rose Marie" spent 11 consecutive weeks at #1 in the UK in 1955, a record until 1991 when Bryan Adams’ "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" spent 16 weeks at the top.
Steely Dan's engineer, Roger Nichols, built one of the first drum machines, which they used on "Hey Nineteen."
A selection of songs made to be terrible - some clearly achieved that goal.
The lead singer of Everclear, Art is also their primary songwriter.
"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.
One of Canada's most popular and eclectic performers, Hawksley tells stories about his oldest songs, his plentiful side projects, and the ways that he keeps his songwriting fresh.
Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!
