"Never Tear Us Apart" was a live favorite for INXS, who would often extend the second pause for a while as the crowd went crazy.
"I Wish" by Skee-Lo was the first hit song to use the word "baller" in the chorus ("I wish I was a baller..."). That term pervaded pop music over the next several year.
"Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers was inspired by the Jack Lemmon movie Days of Wine and Roses.
Blur's "There Are Too Many of Us" was inspired in part by a siege in an Australian chocolate café that Damon Albarn witnessed, which resulted in the death of the gunman and two hostages.
"Sloop John B" is a traditional West Indian folk song, and it was a huge hit for The Beach Boys in 1966. They tweaked the lyric, "This is the worst trip since I've been born" to "...I've ever been on" as a wink to acid culture.
Meghan Trainor and her producer Kevin Kadish originally wrote "All About That Bass" for another artist to record. However, after Epic Records boss LA Reid heard Meghan play a demo of the song on a ukulele, he signed the young songwriter to his label and told her she should sing it.
Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.
Iron Maiden, Adele, Toto, Eminem and Earth, Wind & Fire are just some of the artists with songs directly inspired by movies - and not always good ones.
Did Al play on a Beach Boys record? Did he have beef with George Lucas and Coolio? See if you can spot weird but true stories.
Is Owl City on a quest for another hit like "Fireflies?" Adam answers that question and explains the influences behind many others.
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."
Meshell Ndegeocello talks about recording "Wild Night" with John Mellencamp, and explains why she shied away from the spotlight.