The Rick James song "Cold Blooded" is about Linda Blair from The Exorcist, his girlfriend at the time. In James' lingo, "cold blooded" means sexy, not cruel.
The names Louise, Jack, Marie and Milo all show up in the song "Footloose." Marie was the mother of Dean Pitchford, who co-wrote it.
The Isley Brothers' "That Lady" was sampled by Kendrick Lamar for his 2014 single "I." Lamar turned up at Ronald Isley's house to personally ask permission to borrow from the song.
"She Loves You" by The Beatles was the song that convinced Ozzy Osbourne to make music his life. The Beatles were a big influence on him because they were also poor kids from a small town in England.
Pete Townshend wrote the lyrics for "My Generation" by The Who during a train ride from London to Southampton on his 20th birthday when he was thinking about "trying to find a place in society."
Prince Markie Dee of The Fat Boys co-wrote the Mary J. Blige hit "Real Love."
Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris and Lyle Lovett are just a few of the artists who have looked to Clark for insightful, intelligent songs.
"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.
The drummer for Anthrax is also a key songwriter. He explains how the group puts their songs together and tells the stories behind some of their classics.
The Brazilian rocker sees pictures in his riffs. When he came up with one of his gnarliest songs, there was a riot going on.
Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.
Was "Pearl" Eddie Vedder's grandmother, and did she really make a hallucinogenic jam? Did Journey have a contest to name the group? And what does KISS stand for anyway?