The first release of "The Sound Of Silence" was acoustic, and went nowhere. It became Simon & Garfunkel's first hit when a producer at their label overdubbed it with electric instruments.
"I Fought The Law" was a hit for The Bobby Fuller Four in 1965. The Clash released their version in 1979, changing the lyrics "I left my baby" to "I killed my baby."
On Metallica's "The Unforgiven," James Hetfield modeled his vocals on Chris Isaak.
"How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You" by Marvin Gaye was inspired by Jackie Gleason's saying, "How Sweet It Is!"
"One Way Or Another" is based on a stalker who creeped out Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry.
"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" is about a guy Jim Croce met in the National Guard, which Jim joined to keep him out of Vietnam. Leroy went AWOL, but got caught when he tried to pick up his paycheck.
The original voice of Snap! this story is filled with angry drag queens, video impersonators and Chaka Khan.
Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.
Shears does very little promotion, which has kept him secluded from the spotlight. What changed when Cyndi Lauper had a hit with his song? Not much, really.
In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.
How well do you know this shock-rock harbinger who's been publicly executed hundreds of times?
