Ronnie Van Zant wrote the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic "Gimme Three Steps" after making the mistake of dancing with a girl whose boyfriend was in the bar and probably had a gun. He asked for a 3-step head start.
The lyrics for Lesley Gore's "It's My Party" were based on actual events relating to his daughter Judy's sweet 16 party. The teenager threw a tantrum and burst into tears when her mum and dad insisted that her grandparents had to be invited.
Props to Aretha Franklin: her song "Respect" introduced the term "propers" as a sign of proper respect.
"Stay" by Lisa Loeb was the first #1 hit by an unsigned artist. Ethan Hawke got it in the movie Reality Bites.
Sia planned to quit her solo career after her 2014 album 1000 Forms of Fear, but the "Chandelier" video proved so popular it drew her back in.
The Black Eyed Peas shot the video for "Just Can't Get Enough" just a week before the 2011 earthquake in Japan.
Untangling the events that led to the "Stairway To Heaven" lawsuit.
One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.
Brian has unearthed outtakes by Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello and hundreds of other artists for reissues. Here's how he does it.
Dave explains how the video appropriated the meaning of "Runaway Train," and what he thought of getting parodied by Weird Al.
Cain talks about the divine inspirations for "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Faithfully."
How did The Edge get his name? Did they name a song after a Tolkien book? And who is "Angel of Harlem" about?
