In the late '70s, John Lennon slowed his roll, becoming a househusband who baked bread and took care of his young son Sean. This inspired his song "Watching The Wheels," where he discovers the benefits of taking it easy.
Stephen Tobolowsky, who played Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day, inspired the Talking Heads song "Radio Head." Tobolowsky, who worked on David Byrne's film True Stories, claimed to have telepathic powers.
Pete Townshend wrote The Who's "Pinball Wizard" to coax a good review for the Tommy album out of a rock critic who loved pinball. It worked.
Robert Smith doesn't license Cure songs for commercials, but he made an exception in 2004 when he let Hewlett-Packard use "Pictures Of You." He needed the money to buy the group's back catalogue.
The riff for The Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant" was pinched from a very unpunk song, the ABBA ballad "S.O.S."
Cher had a habit of calling people "babe," which her husband, Sonny Bono, picked up. That's how "babe" landed in the 1965 Sonny & Cher megahit "I Got You Babe."
A top country songwriter, Barry talks about writing hits for Little Big Town, Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean.
Sheryl Crow's longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Jeff Trott reveals the stories behind many of the singer's hits, and what its like to be a producer for Leighton Meester and Max Gomez.
Fagen talks about how the Steely Dan songwriting strategy has changed over the years, and explains why you don't hear many covers of their songs.
The longtime bassist of Earth, Wind & Fire discusses how his band came to do a holiday album, and offers insight into some of the greatest dance/soul tunes of all-time.
The Third Day frontman talks about some of the classic songs he wrote with the band, and what changed for his solo country album.
