LISTENING IN

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ Every once in awhile, you hear or come across something that makes you say what the… I mean, wow. This summer’s WTF moment has been the odd Quebecois duo Angine de Poitrine (check them out if you dare!). On the other hand, there’s the Leningrad Cowboys. Not as current mind you, but jaw-droppingly delightful, nonetheless.

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ It seems like it was only a year ago that Ringo had a birthday. Well, he’s at it again, turning 86 on July 7. And is tradition, each year on that day (since 2008), the former Beatle invites people everywhere to pause at 12 noon local time to say, think, or post “Peace and Love” as a collective moment of global unity.

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ With Canada Day at hand, we thought it appropriate to dust off a Can-con classic to suit the occasion. And who better than this country’s favourite snowbird, singing her first big hit, er, “Snowbird” in this special Canada Day edition of Listening In.

David Clayton-Thomas, the lead singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears, whose husky, high-strung tenor on “Spinning Wheel,” “And When I Die” and other hits, helped make the so-called “brass rock” band among the most popular acts of the late 1960s, died “peacefully” Tuesday at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto at age 84.

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ From The Cult last week to Tom Jones this, don’t say we’re not versatile. At any rate, what were you doing on April 21, 1968? I don’t know either (I was alive), but we know that the hunky Welsh crooner was performing on the Ed Sullivan show.

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ Readers (and pretty much anyone who has ever met me) will have heard me reflect on many unique and sometimes unusual two or three degrees of separation from Rush, including most notably having gone to the same high school as Geddy and Alex (though not at the same time). That particularly includes my wife, who has her own connection to a great (sort of) Canadian band – The Cult.

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ A casual conversation at an industry luncheon the other day (long story) revealed that my considerably younger colleagues were oblivious to the existence of Live Aid, the epic, generational concerts in London and Philadelphia in 1985 that were organized to raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief. (Woodstock was vaguely recognized).

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ “Stateboro Blues” is remarkably still as a staple, nearly 100 years after the song was written. Stick with me here: the modern version of the song is most notably a classic Allman Brothers tune, pre-eminently known from the band’s iconic 1971 album “At Filmore East” (considered by some the best southern rock album of all time).

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ The Eagles were blessed with three great singer-songwriters: Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Joe Walsh. And then there as Randy Meisner, who quietly penned, or contributed to some memorable efforts, not least one of the band’s signature hits, “Take It to the Limit.”

By Michael Baginski/ Bruce Springsteen’s “Cadillac Ranch” (1980) wasn’t a radio hit, but the upbeat rocker quickly became a beloved song in the Boss’s repertoire and a concert staple. But who knew it was based on a real place?

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ Some situations just call for Bad Manners. The band, that is. And I think the world could use a little more of the effervescent British “two-tone” outfit led by the irrepressible singer Douglas Trendle (aka Buster Bloodvessel) right about now.

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ The Gunter hotel in San Antonio, Texas, wears its musical heritage on its sleeve. So much so that every room in the 116-year-old property (part of the Marriott portfolio since 2018) is furnished with its own turntable and copy of a record album by Robert Johnson, “King of the Delta Blues.”

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ It’s hard to believe that its been almost 20 years since Robert Plant and Alison Krauss first collaborated on the album “Raising Sand” (2007), uniquely pairing the Led Zeppelin icon with the bluegrass goddess icon (Union Station).

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ Charlie Watts had a life beyond his day job – keeping time for The Rolling Stones. In fact, the late Watts was a dedicated jazz drummer, who led his own band, The Charlie Watts Quintet.

By Michael Baginski/ The song is over a decade old, but there’s something that just seems very current about The Record Company’s “Hard Day Coming Down.”

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ Last summer I shared my discovery of the year (which held for the rest of the calendar) – a “brand new” 30-year-old band from Scotland I had managed to miss before, prompting an enraged Scottish fellow to point at me at a trade show in Mexico of all places and yell – in full, glorious brogue – “How could ya ha’ missed Primal Scream?”

By MICHAEL BAGINSKI/ With St. Patrick’s Day past, and the appreciation of Irish culture having hit its zenith in mid March, it behooves us to remember that the Emerald’s isle’s musical contributions to the world can’t simply be pigeonholed into ethereal folk songs or and lively jigs and reels (“trad” – traditional – music as it is called).

Lost in the fog of war was the loss late last month of Neil Sedaka, the singer-songwriter whose boyish soprano and bright melodies made him a top act in the early years of rock ‘n’ roll and led to a second run of success in the 1970s with hits that included hits like “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” and “Laughter in the Rain.” He was 86.

By Michael Baginski/ If you frequent the Internet, you’ll no doubt have come across the new “if such and such was performed by so and so” trend. Pink Floyd as Dire Straits, Perry Como as Metallica, and so forth. Don’t hate me, but I’ve pulled one of these stylistic AI remakes to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) this year: Fleetwood Mac if it was an Irish folk song.