Sly & the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" was a huge hit in 1970 and found new life when Janet Jackson sampled the bass riff on her 1989 hit "Rhythm Nation."
A roadie for the Allman Brothers came up with the line "The road goes on forever" for "Midnight Rider," and got a songwriting credit for his contribution.
The title of the Metallica song "Ride The Lightning" came from a line in the Stephen King book The Stand where a guy is about to be executed.
"One Way Or Another" is based on a stalker who creeped out Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry.
ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson conceived "Dancing Queen" as a dance song with the working title "Boogaloo," drawing inspiration from the 1974 George McCrae disco hit "Rock Your Baby." Their manager Stig Anderson came up with the title "Dancing Queen."
The Annie Lennox hit "No More I Love You's" is a cover, originally sung by a man.
Franti tells the story behind his hit "Say Hey (I Love You)" and explains why yoga is an integral part of his lifestyle and his Soulshine tour.
One of the most successful songwriters in the business, Desmond co-wrote "Livin' La Vida Loca," "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)" and "Livin' On A Prayer."
Evelyn McDonnell, editor of the book Women Who Rock, on why the Supremes are just as important as Bob Dylan.
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.
Stone Temple Pilots bass player Robert DeLeo names the songs that have most connected with fans and tells the stories behind tracks from their Tiny Music album.
Rockers, rappers and pop stars have been known to quote the Bible in their songs. See if you match the artist to the biblical lyric.
