"I Wish" by Skee-Lo was the first hit song to use the word "baller" in the chorus ("I wish I was a baller..."). That term pervaded pop music over the next several year.
The Bangles song "Eternal Flame" was inspired by a display at Graceland that honored Elvis Presley.
Radiohead's "Paraonid Android" was written after a confrontation in a Los Angeles bar with an irate woman.
The 1984 Anthrax song "Metal Thrashing Mad" popularized the phrase "thrash metal," a faster version of heavy metal. "Thrash" dates back to 1982 though, when Metallica put the lyric "thrashing all around" in their song "Whiplash."
"It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy was based on an Eddie Murphy comedy bit where he would deny everything no matter how badly he was caught.
Producer Bob Ezrin convinced Pink Floyd to put a disco beat and children's chorus on "Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)," which started out as a short interstitial for their album The Wall.
Charlotte was established in the LA punk scene when a freaky girl named Belinda approached her wearing a garbage bag.
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.
It wasn't her biggest hit as a songwriter (that would be "Bette Davis Eyes"), but "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" had a family connection for Jackie.
Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.
The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.
Mike Rutherford talks about the "Silent Running" storyline and "Land Of Confusion" in the age of Trump.