Stories behind 80s and 90s hits: 15 facts your DJ might tell you

Many of the biggest hits of the 80s and 90s have stories you would never guess from the radio: Billie Jean was mixed 91 times before they went back to mix two, and It Must Have Been Love started life as a German Christmas single. Here are 15 of those stories, the kind of thing a good DJ tells you in the few seconds before the song starts, with sources and with the disputed parts marked as disputed.

1. Take On Me (a-ha): drawn by hand, but how many drawings?

The first British release of Take On Me in 1984 peaked at number 137. It took the hand drawn video to change that, and it debuted on a local Boston channel before MTV picked it up (source). How many drawings it took is disputed. The BBC reported about three thousand over sixteen weeks, while animator Michael Patterson told The Guardian he and Candace Reckinger made around two thousand (The Guardian). In 2024 it became the first 1980s video to pass two billion YouTube views. More on a-ha.

2. Billie Jean (Michael Jackson): 91 mixes

Engineer Bruce Swedien normally mixed a song once. On Billie Jean he mixed it 91 times, and Quincy Jones told him to go back to the second mix, which is the one you know. Jones also wanted to rename it Not My Lover, worried people would think of Billie Jean King (source). Who played the famous synth chords is disputed: one session player says Michael Jackson did it himself in one take, while Bill Wolfer says he played them on a Yamaha CS80.

3. Every Breath You Take (The Police): written at James Bond's desk

Sting wrote it at Ian Fleming's own desk at the Goldeneye estate in Jamaica, while escaping his collapsing marriage. In the hot Montserrat dining room where Stewart Copeland recorded the drums, his sticks had to be taped to his hands (source). Andy Summers has said the song was going in the bin until his guitar part made it The Police. Sting remains the sole credited writer.

4. Livin' on a Prayer (Bon Jovi): who were Tommy and Gina?

Jon Bon Jovi did not like the song at first and nearly left it off the album. He has said Tommy and Gina stand for real people he knew who married young. Another account ties Gina to co-writer Desmond Child's girlfriend, a singer who worked as a diner waitress and was nicknamed Gina (source). More on Bon Jovi.

5. Money for Nothing (Dire Straits): three people invented one intro

Mark Knopfler said he saw the Police chanting I want my MTV in an advert. Keyboard player Alan Clark claimed the intro was his idea, and co-producer Neil Dorfsman said Guy Fletcher came up with it. All three stories agree that Sting sang it. Why Sting got a writing credit is disputed too: Knopfler said it was for borrowing the melody of Don't Stand So Close to Me, while Sting said his publishers claimed the share, much to his embarrassment (source). More on Dire Straits.

6. Walk Like an Egyptian (The Bangles): whose whistle?

The demo reached producer David Kahne on a cassette labelled with a different song title. Toni Basil had already turned the song down. The shaker is a papier mache dog's head filled with beans (Sound on Sound). The whistle is a small mystery: many assume a synth, Debbi Peterson mimed it in the video, and Kahne insists it was him. More on The Bangles.

7. Careless Whisper (George Michael): the sax solo trick

The first demo cost twenty pounds, with George singing into a microphone fixed to a broom handle. For the famous sax line, the engineer slowed the tape by a semitone so Steve Gregory could play it with proper fingering (source). How many players George Michael rejected first is disputed: engineer Chris Porter remembers eleven, Gregory remembered being the ninth.

8. It Must Have Been Love (Roxette): a Christmas song first

EMI Germany wanted an intelligent Christmas single, so in 1987 Per Gessle wrote It Must Have Been Love, subtitled Christmas for the Broken Hearted. Germany then declined to release it, three years before Pretty Woman made it a hit (source). Who chose it for the film is disputed: one version has the producers turning it down first, another credits a Disney music executive who fell in love with it. More on Roxette.

9. Creep (Radiohead): about whom?

Jonny Greenwood said it was about a woman Thom Yorke followed for a couple of days, who then turned up at a gig. Journalist John Harris said it was a girl from a smart Oxford street. Thom has only said it came from a strange period at college (source). Radiohead were also the very first musical guests on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, playing Creep in September 1993.

10. Come as You Are (Nirvana): the Killing Joke riff

The riff sounds strikingly like Eighties, a 1984 song by Killing Joke, and Kurt Cobain hesitated over releasing it as a single for that reason. Some reports say Killing Joke never sued; others say a suit was filed and dropped after Kurt's death. Years later Dave Grohl drummed on a Killing Joke album (source). More on Nirvana.

11. Wonderwall (Oasis): three explanations

Noel Gallagher told the NME in 1996 it was written for Meg Mathews. After their divorce he said it was about an imaginary friend who saves you from yourself. Liam thinks it goes back to notes they scribbled on their childhood bedroom wallpaper (source). Noel, not the band's bassist, played bass on it, and in 2020 it became the first 90s song to pass a billion Spotify streams. More on Oasis.

12. Wannabe (Spice Girls): whose laugh?

The Spice Girls wrote it in about half an hour, and the last sound added was Mel B's footsteps running to the microphone (source). Whose laugh opens the song is disputed: Wikipedia's history credits Geri Halliwell, while the BBC credited Mel B (BBC).

13. Killing Me Softly (Fugees): the version you never heard

The songwriters refused to let the Fugees change the words, which is why it is a straight cover. Accounts differ on what the rewrite would have been: an anti drug message, or a reggae version with Bounty Killer about beating a rival sound system (source). It was never sold as a single in America, so it could not enter the Hot 100.

14. Bitter Sweet Symphony (The Verve): how much sample?

In the studio it was called Stones Song. Everyone agrees The Verve licensed a sample of an orchestral version of The Last Time. Its length is disputed, from four to six seconds depending on the source, and guitarist Nick McCabe said the real problem was the vocal melody (source). Richard Ashcroft got his royalties back in 2019 (BBC).

15. I Want It That Way (Backstreet Boys): the lyrics that don't add up

Co-writer Andreas Carlsson has said the lyrics make no real sense. The label had a rewritten chorus recorded; the band disliked it and their version won, though one musician remembers the order differently. The opening guitar was inspired by Metallica's Nothing Else Matters (source). The alternate version finally came out officially in 2025. More on Backstreet Boys.

Hear stories like these before the song plays

That is the idea behind Stationz.fm: a DJ that tells you one short story like these before each song, then lets the music play. Pick one of our ready-made stations, or read more in learning music history while you listen.