Ronnie Van Zant wrote the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic "Gimme Three Steps" after making the mistake of dancing with a girl whose boyfriend was in the bar and probably had a gun. He asked for a 3-step head start.
"I Just Called To Say I Love You" is Stevie Wonder's best-selling single worldwide. It topped the Hot 100, AC, R&B and UK charts all in the same week.
Dr. Luke and Max Martin originally wrote Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" with Pink in mind but she turned it down.
The phrase "Mamma Mia" was big in 1976. It was the name of a popular Abba song, and also showed up in the lyrics to "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen.
"Tenderness" by General Public was partly inspired by the outbreak of AIDS, which at the time was thought to be contagious.
The Men Without Hats lead singer wrote "The Safety Dance" after getting kicked out of a bar for dancing too aggressively. The song is literally about being safe to dance if you want to.
Michael tells the story of "Send Me On My Way," and explains why some of the words in the song don't have a literal meaning.
The lead singer and pianist for Procol Harum, Gary talks about finding the musical ideas to match the words.
"Mr. Jones" took on new meaning when the song about a misguided view of fame made Adam famous.
Some album art was at least "inspired" by others. A look at some very similar covers.
The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.
Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.