Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" spent 24 weeks on top of the country chart- the most ever until Sam Hunt's "Body Like a Back Road" was #1 for 34 weeks. The record was previously held by Eddy Arnold's "I'll Hold You in My Heart (1947-48), Hank Snow's "I'm Moving On" (1950-51) and Webb Pierce's "In the Jailhouse Now" (1955), which each led for 21 weeks.
Michael Jackson's "Liberian Girl" opens with the South African female singer Letta Mbulu saying the Swahili phrase "Naku penda piya-naku taka piya-mpenziwe." There was some geographic liberty here, as Swahili is not spoken in the West African nation of Liberia.
The first single to simultaneously top the UK and US charts was The Everly Brothers' "Cathy's Clown" in May 1960.
Paul McCartney based the "Eleanor Rigby" story on old ladies he met at his housing estate. He saw how sometimes when they died, nobody really noticed.
Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits wrote "Private Dancer," which went to Tina Turner when he realized it wasn't a song for a man to sing.
"The House Of The Rising Sun" is a traditional folk song, either about a brothel or a prison.
The first of Billy's five #1 hits was the song that propelled Madonna to stardom. You'd think that would get you a backstage pass, wouldn't you?
For songwriters, Johnny represents the American man. He has been angry, cool, magic, a rebel and, of course, marching home.
The trail runs from flying saucer songs in the '50s, through Bowie, blink-182 and Katy Perry.
Inspired by his dear friend, "Seasons in the Sun" paid for Terry's boat, which led him away from music and into a battle with Canadian paper mills.
David Gray explains the significance of the word "Babylon," and talks about how songs are a form of active imagination, with lyrics that reveal what's inside us.
Tim and his brother Richard are the Furs' foundation; Tim explains how they write and tells the story of "Pretty In Pink."
