In 1979, Madonna was a dancer on Patrick Hernandez' tour, where she boogied to his hit "Born To Be Alive."
The Pretenders are named after the 1956 song "The Great Pretender" by The Platters.
"Criminal" is Fiona Apple's only chart hit. Royalties from it allow her to make music on her terms, releasing albums several years apart.
Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" was originally called "Brown Skinned Girl," and was about an interracial relationship.
The line in John Mellencamp's "Cherry Bomb" that sounds like "that's when a smoke was a smoke" is actually "that's when a sport was a sport," according to the published lyric. In that sense, "sport" is an endearment for someone of good nature.
"Feel It Still" by Portugal. The Man deals with lead singer John Gourley becoming a "rebel just for kicks" after having a daughter and settling down. "It's hard to be a punk when you're thinking about your baby daughter at home," he says.
Glen Ballard talks about co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill album, and his work with Dave Matthews, Aerosmith and Annie Lennox.
Roger reveals the songwriting formula Clive Davis told him, and if "Eight Miles High" is really about drugs.
Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.
U2, Carly Simon, Joanna Newsom, Brian Wilson and Fiona Apple have all gone to Van Dyke Parks to make their songs exceptional.
Dan cracked the Top 40 with "Ritual," then went to India and spent 2 hours with the Dalai Lama.
Donny Osmond talks about his biggest hits, his Vegas show, and the fan who taught him to take "Puppy Love" seriously.