The Genesis song "Invisible Touch" was inspired by the Prince-written Sheila E. track "The Glamorous Life."
"Talk To Ya Later" proved the power of MTV when sales of Tubes albums picked up in markets like Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the network was available.
The songs on Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster album represent a "fear" of some "monster." "Alejandro" is her "fear of sex" monster.
"Hips Don't Lie" is Shakira's in-studio mantra for her crew: If her hips are moving, the song is working. If not, best to try something else.
Hoyt Axton wrote the Three Dog Night hit "Joy To The World." He said the "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" line just came into his head after having a drink of wine.
"Yellow" by Coldplay is a deep, meaningful song, but the title has a rather prosaic origin: it came from the phone directory, known as "the yellow pages."
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.
Was Janet secretly married at 18? Did she gain 60 pounds for a movie role that went to Mariah Carey? See what you know about Ms. Jackson.
For songwriters, Johnny represents the American man. He has been angry, cool, magic, a rebel and, of course, marching home.
Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.
How well do you know your protest songs (including the one that went to #1)?
Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.