Phil Oakey recorded his vocals for "Don't You Want Me" in the studio bathroom. The recording was disrupted by guitarist Jo Callis reaching through an open window from outside to repeatedly flush one of the toilets.
MC Skat Kat was created for the remix of "Opposites Attract," which was released as the last single from her Forever Your Girl album. The team that created the Kat also did a-ha's "Take On Me" video.
Billy Ocean's "Caribbean Queen" was also recorded as "European Queen" and "African Queen" for release on those continents.
Beyonce Knowles and Michelle Williams wrote "Girl" for Kelly Rowland as an encouragement for her to end her relationship with a verbally and physically abusive boyfriend.
Mary J. Blige introduced three new words with her hit "Family Affair": hateration, holleration and dancerie.
"All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow started with the first line from an obscure poem called "Fun" that read, "All I wanna do is have some fun."
She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.
Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.
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?
The author of Help! 100 Songwriting, Recording And Career Tips Used By The Beatles, explains how the group crafted their choruses so effectively.
What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?
He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."
