
Sweet's hit "Ballroom Blitz" was inspired by an incident in 1973 when the band were performing in Scotland and driven offstage by a barrage of bottles.

"Tenderness" by General Public was partly inspired by the outbreak of AIDS, which at the time was thought to be contagious.

"Midnight Train To Georgia" was originally "Midnight Plane To Houston," but was changed to sound more R&B.

KT Tunstall's "Suddenly I See" was inspired by Robert Mapplethorpe's photograph of Patti Smith on the cover of her album Horses.

Rod Stewart wrote "Maggie May" about the woman who deflowered him when he was 16.
Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).
She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.
The stories behind "Shine," "December," "The World I Know" and other Collective Soul hits.
The "A Thousand Miles" singer on what she thinks of her song being used in White Chicks and how she captured a song from a dream.
Elvis, Little Richard and Cheryl Cole have all sung about Teddy Bears, but there is also a terrifying Teddy song from 1932 and a touching trucker Teddy tune from 1976.
Howard explains his positive songwriting method and how uplifting songs can carry a deeper message.