Dr. Luke and Max Martin originally wrote Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" with Pink in mind but she turned it down.
Adele's "Someone Like You" is the first song with just piano and voice to hit #1 in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, which started in 1958.
"Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne is about the Cold War concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (M.A.D.) should any nuclear missile be fired.
Before recording "Boom Clap" herself, Charli XCX offered the song to Hilary Duff, but her people turned down the tune because it "wasn't cool enough for Hilary."
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 title of the Metallica song "Ride The Lightning" came from a line in the Stephen King book The Stand where a guy is about to be executed.
Joe talks about the challenges of of making a Duke Ellington tribute album, and tells the stories behind some of his hits.
The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.
When a song describes a wedding, it's rarely something to celebrate - with one big exception.
How well do you know this shock-rock harbinger who's been publicly executed hundreds of times?
He wrote "She Blinded Me With Science" so he could direct a video about a home for deranged scientists.
A scholarly analysis of yacht rock favorites ("Steal Away," "Baker Street"...) with a member of the leading YR cover band.