Barry Sonnenfeld, who would later direct the movies Get Shorty and Men in Black, was the director of photography on the "Rock the Casbah" video for The Clash.
Eddie Van Halen played the guitar solo on "Beat It" as a favor to Quincy Jones, who produced the album.
Puff Daddy didn't get permission to sample the Police song "Every Breath You Take" on his Notorious B.I.G. tribute "I'll Be Missing You," but he later reached an agreement and even performed the song with Sting.
Don McLean's "American Pie" starts in mono and gradually goes to stereo. It isn't full stereo until the end of the song, which is over 8 minutes long.
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.
Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A." was inspired by the book (later a movie) Born On The Fourth Of July by Ron Kovic, a Vietnam veteran who protested the war when he returned home.
Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.
A drummer for one of the most successful metal bands of the last decade, Chris talks about what it's like writing and performing with Slipknot. Metal-neck is a factor.
Bowie's "activist" days of 1964 led to Ziggy Stardust.
Wolfgang Van Halen breaks down the songs on his debut album, Mammoth WVH, and names the definitive Van Halen songs from the Sammy and Dave eras.
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.
The drummer for Anthrax is also a key songwriter. He explains how the group puts their songs together and tells the stories behind some of their classics.