Bryan Admas - Summer Of '69

From Adams' fourth studio album, Reckless, this is one of his most recognizable and popular songs.

In a 2008 interview with thecelebritycafe.com, Adams said: "I think 'Summer of '69' — I think it's timeless because it's about making love in the summertime. There is a slight misconception it's about a year, but it's not. '69' has nothing to do about a year, it has to do with a sexual position... At the end of the song the lyric says that it's me and my baby in a 69. You'd have to be pretty thick in the ears if you couldn't get that lyric".

Meat Loaf - For Crying Out Loud

The final track from the Bat Out Of Hell album.

Carl Douglas - Kung Fu Fighting

Yet another one hit wonder, from 1974. Asian producer Biddu asked Douglas to record a song he wrote with Larry Weiss called "I Want To Give You My Everything," and Douglas convinced him to use "Kung Fu Fighting" as the B-side. They recorded "Kung Fu" in 10 minutes, figuring it was just a B-side, but the record label loved it and made it the A-side. After a slow start, it began selling and Biddu became the first Asian to produce a UK #1 hit. It went on to sell 10 million copies worldwide.

Kung Fu movies were very popular at the time, and this capitalized on the craze. Bruce Lee was a big star.

Douglas is from Jamaica. He was the first Jamaican-born singer to have a #1 hit in the US.

Wes - Alane

"Alane" is a 1997 song recorded by Wes. It was his debut single from his album Welenga, and was released in 1997 in Francophone countries and in 1998 in other European countries. It became a smash hit, topping the charts in France, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands.

Wikipedia has an interesting page about Wes' music.

Pink Floyd - Hey you

A classic from the 1979 "The Wall" album. Like the other songs on the album, "Hey You" is told from the point of view of the protagonist, Pink. Pink realises the mistake he made completely shunning society, and attempts to regain contact with the outside world. However, he cannot see or hear beyond the wall. Pink's call becomes more and more desperate as he begins to realise there is no escape.

R.E.M. - Drive

This was released two months before the U.S. national election between Bush and Bill Clinton. Clinton won that one, but 8 years later Bush's son became president. When the younger Bush ran for re-election in 2004, R.E.M. performed concerts to benefit his opponent, John Kerry.

This song has no chorus. That doesn't happen very often in hit songs.

Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire

"We Didn't Start the Fire" is a song by Billy Joel that makes reference to a catalogue of headline events during his lifetime, from March 1949 (Joel was born on May 9 of that year) to 1989, when the song was released on his album Storm Front. The events are mixed with a refrain asserting "we didn't start the fire".

Wikipedia has a very nice explanation of the historical items referred in the song.