By the time Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers set out to record their third album, Damn The Torpedoes, they were in a legal mess with MCA Records over a contract sale which resulted in Petty losing all of his publishing rights, among other issues. In a drastic strategy to get the label off his back, he filed for bankruptcy and hid the master tapes of the material he, the band, and co-producer Jimmy Iovine were working on every day. That strategy worked, which resulted in a rare triumph for artists in the music business. When Damn The Torpedoes was released, it became their breakthrough, led by “Refugee,” a song Petty crafted the lyrics for in about 10 minutes. Dig in to the incredible story in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Without the music, the 1983 cult classic film Eddie & The Cruisers just wouldn’t be the same. And without the film, the real-life bar band band who wrote many of the songs for its multi-platinum soundtrack wouldn’t have recorded the Top Ten single from it, “On The Dark Side.” Get into the story of how John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown band got the gig of a lifetime in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time David Bowie wrote the songs for his Aladdin Sane album, which was released in April of 1973, it was his first time writing as an actual rock star. Inspired by the people and places he saw in America while touring as his Ziggy Stardust concept, he called Aladdin Sane his “Ziggy Goes To America” album. Two people in particular that he met in New York City became the muse for its first single, the glam rock bop “The Jean Genie.” Get into the story in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By the time U2 recorded their seventh album, 1991’s Achtung Baby, they were exhausted from nonstop touring, going through personal struggles at home in Ireland, and were at odds with each other about which direction to take musically. So, they headed to Berlin for a fresh start, landing on the day of the German Unification after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was there that they wrote the song that put them all on the same page as a band again, the timeless “One,” a song about division that actually helped the band transition into a new decade. Get into the whole story in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The late Peter Green was one of the early guitar heroes in England, alongside names like Eric Clapton. He formed Fleetwood Mac in 1967, and their early records during his time leading the band yielded songs that were transcendent, psychedelic, and rooted in the blues music that he loved. Before quitting the band and spending many years afterward battling schizophrenia, he wrote “Black Magic Woman,” a song popularized by Santana when he covered it for his Abraxas album. Get into the whole incredible story in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices