Elton John's "Rocket Man" is based on a Ray Bradbury story called The Rocket Man published in 1951.
"Nuclear Device (The Wizard of Aus)" was written about the then Premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen. His political shenanigans were observed by the band during their first tour of Australia.
"Soul Man" was a new term when the song was written in 1967. As defined by Sam & Dave, the "soul man" was a farmer "comin' to ya on a dusty road."
The movie The Breakfast Club opens with a passage from David Bowie's "Changes" ("And these children that you spit on...")
"Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia was first recorded by the group Ednaswap in 1993. It was written by Ednaswap's Anne Previn and Scott Cutler, who went on to write some hits for Miley Cyrus.
The B-52's picked chose the location of their song "Private Idaho" because the state had a reputation for being wacky and mysterious. The title was a play on the phrase "Private Eye."
Ozzy, Guns N' Roses, Judas Priest and even Michael Bolton show up in this Classic Metal quiz.
Chris Stein of Blondie shares photos and stories from his book about the New York City punk scene.
Dave reveals the inspiration for "Feelin' Alright" and explains how the first song he ever wrote became the biggest hit for his band Traffic.
The former Metallica bassist talks about his first time writing a song with James Hetfield, and how a hand-me-down iPad has changed his songwriting.
The guy who brought us "Stacy's Mom" also wrote the Jane Lynch Emmy song and Stephen Colbert's Christmas songs.
Wilder's hit "Break My Stride" had an unlikely inspiration: a famous record mogul who rejected it.
