LISTENING IN

A collection of Paul McCartney instruments, outfits, handwritten lyrics, unseen photos and tour memorabilia will be part of an exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this summer, billed as the first major museum show to feature McCartney and Wings.

By Michael Baginski/ I’ve certainly never forgotten David Wilcox, but it took a Petro-Canada commercial during the Winter Olympics backed by “Do the Bearcat” to nudge the Canadian treasure back into my current consciousness.

By Michael Baginski/ In case you missed it, I regret to inform that 50 years have transpired since 1976 – a fact I myself realized when I read that it’s been half a century since Boston’s classic debut record, but also a year that featured dozens of bands and songs that still resonate today (read on!)

Chuck Negron, the singer who belted out the immortal line, “Jeremiah was a bullfrog!” in the charting topping 1971 hit “Joy to the World,” died this week at the age of 83 due to heart failure. A founding member of ‘70s soul-rock sensations Three Dog Night, Negron also sang lead on such hits as “One” and “Just an Old Fashioned Love Song.”

By Michael Baginski/ The Eagles have landed… the best-selling album in the history of the United States. Always mooted as one of the top-selling albums of all time, The Eagles’ “Their Greatest Hits (1971-75)” was officially certified by the Recording Industry Association of America this week for having sold 40 million copies – quadruple diamond – the first record to have done so.

By Michael Baginski/ Rob Hirst, the drummer for Midnight Oil, died this week at age 70, but the great Aussie band had already been in the back of my mind for awhile now. In these crazy days of Trump, wars, kidnappings, wild weather and “cats and dogs living together” (as Bill Murray said in “Ghostbusters”), it really does seem like our “beds are burning.”

By Michael Baginski/ It doesn’t seem right that it was only as recently 2022 that the great Carly Simon was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. After all, the New York (City)-born singer had 13 top 40 hits in the 1970s and ‘80s, notably including the theme song for the James Bond film “Nobody Does It Better” – song that summed up her career

By Michael Baginski/ “Hallelujah,” the ubiquitous Leonard Cohen classic, has been covered countless times (ok, there’s been over 300 versions identified), with the likes of Jeff Buckley, k.d. lang, Yolanda Adams, Jennifer Hudson and Willie Nelson being considered among the best.

By Michael Baginski/ Robert Earl Keen may not be as famous as his old college roommate Lyle Lovett, but he’s no less accomplished. A consummate storyteller, the Texas troubadour suitably has a keen sense of humour, as evidenced by his holiday classic, “Merry Christmas from the Family.”

Gone too soon, and we’ll certainly miss Raul Malo, the soulful tenor and frontman of the lively genre-defying, Grammy-winning band The Mavericks who died early this week after battling cancer. He was 60. “He was called to do another gig – this time in the sky – and he’s flying high like an eagle,” his wife Betty Malo wrote on Facebook.

By Michael Baginski/ Earlier this year we were missing Triumph (as one does) and dusted off a video of Rik Emmett performing an acoustic version of the band’s signature song, “Magic Power.” Maybe the universe heard, since the Canadian power rock trio has just announced they’re reuniting for the first time in 30 years and embarking on a tour to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

By Michael Baginski/ Big surprise and what took so long? New Orleans has been designated a ‘creative city’ for music by UNESCO, joining a distinguished list of 75 other global places, and second in the U.S. (after Kansas City).

Jimmy Cliff, the charismatic reggae pioneer and actor who preached joy, defiance and resilience in such classics as “Many Rivers to Cross,” “You Can Get it If You Really Want” and “Vietnam” and starred in the landmark movie “The Harder They Come,” has died at 81.

Fans of the Buddy Holly crosswalk in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas, with a painted depiction of the rock and roll legend’s iconic glasses, will soon have to say goodbye to it thanks to a directive from the Trump administration. That’ll be a day that may make them cry.

By Michael Baginski/ Melissa Etheridge’s stunning ballad “You Can Sleep While I Drive” has been a favourite for fans since it appeared on her second album in 1989, “Brave and Crazy” – a disc that reached No 5 in Canada. The song got a further boost in ’95 when it was covered by Trisha Yearwood, but it’s a tune that has always innately belonged to the introspective Kansas singer-songwriter.

By Michael Baginski/ Hawaii is many wonderful things: long sand beaches (both white and black), blue water, white caps and surfing, impossibly dramatic coastlines and fragrant valleys, Polynesian beauties (both female and male), and of course, Israel Kamakawiwoʻole.

By Michael Baginski/ The Rocky Horror Picture Show first screened on Aug. 14, 1975, bringing a film version of the London West End theatrical production to a global mainstream audience that proved to be anything but mainstream.

By Michael Baginski/ It’s hard to appreciate now just how subversive – or at least cool – KISS was when they came on the scene in the ’70s. Just like trying to explain to the younger generation how groundbreaking Sgt. Pepper was when everything that followed ultimately rendered it mainstream.

By Michael Baginski/When Rockin’1000 says it’s the Biggest Rock Band on Earth, it ain’t kidding – it’s a group comprised of 1,000 members – singers, drummers, and guitarists – that astonishingly come together in unison to play rock anthems at mega stadium concerts around the world.