The fairground at the Spanish City in Whitley Bay, which Mark Knopfler visited as a young man, helped inspire "Tunnel Of Love."
Boston leader Tom Scholz went back to his job at Polaroid after releasing the group's debut album. When his co-workers kept coming by to tell him "More Than A Feeling" was playing on the radio, he knew it was time to quit his day job.
"Return To Innocence" by Enigma is based on a Taiwanese chant by a husband and wife. The couple won a lawsuit granting them royalties from the song.
When "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" climbed to #1 on the Hot 100, Katy Perry became the first woman to send five songs from one album to the top of the charts. The four previous chart-toppers from her Teenage Dream set were "California Gurls," "Teenage Dream," "Firework" and "E.T."
Diane Warren originally wrote Aerosmith's hit tune "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" for Celine Dion.
All The Young Dudes "carry the news" because it was intended for a David Bowie concept album where Ziggy Stardust spreads the news in a world with electricity.
Madonna didn't write "Papa Don't Preach," which deals with abortion. What drew her to the song was the singer standing up to male authority.
Since his debut single "I'm On Fire" in 1975, Dwight has been providing Spinal-Tap moments and misadventure.
Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.
Queen, Phish and The Stones are among our picks for the best band logos. Here are their histories and a design analysis from an expert.
The powerhouse producer behind Janet Jackson's hits talks about his Boyz II Men ballads and regrouping The Time.
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.
Is Owl City on a quest for another hit like "Fireflies?" Adam answers that question and explains the influences behind many others.