"Just Be Good To Me" by The S.O.S. Band was the first hit written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who worked on Janet Jackson's Control album a few years later. They were members of The Time, a group created by Prince.
Bono came up with the idea of focusing on a soldier's last thoughts as he dies from his wounds in the U2 song "White As Snow" after reading William Golding's 1956 novel Pincher Martin.
The first #1 hit with a rap was "Rapture" by Blondie in 1980. Debbie Harry's rhymes left lots of room for improvement.
The fadeout on Drake's "Hotline Bling" lasts 55 seconds - one of the longest outros of any hip-hop hit.
"Today" by Smashing Pumpkins is sarcastic in the line "today is the greatest day." Lead singer Billy Corgan wrote it about the crippling depression he was battling following the band's first big tour.
Gary Lewis and the Playboys had seven Top 10 hits despite competition from The Beatles. Gary talks about the hits, his famous father, and getting drafted.
"How much does it cost? I'll buy it?" Another songwriter told Jonathan to change these lyrics. Good thing he ignored this advice.
The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.
Roger tells the stories behind some of his biggest hits, including "Give a Little Bit," "Take the Long Way Home" and "The Logical Song."
How a country weeper and a blues number made "rolling stone" the most popular phrase in rock.
Christopher Cross with Deep Purple? Kenny Loggins in Caddyshack? A Fact or Fiction all about yacht rock and those who made it.
