Author name: Michael Baginski

Everyone knows the U2 classic “One,” so if you’re going to cover it, it better be good.
And this one certainly is, with Florida cover kings Boyce Avenue teaming up with the revelatory Jennel Garcia.

‘The Wall’ was arguably Pink Floyd’s best album, and ‘Mother’ arguably it’s best song (though we’ll accept votes for ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ and ‘Comfortably Numb’ respectively). There is, however, no argument that the classic Roger Waters’ tune, as rendered here by Sinead O’Connor, isn’t equally as compelling.

A new poll has named “On the Road Again” and Willie Nelson as the top travel song and musical artist for the fourth consecutive year. Following “On the Road Again”, as the favourite travelling song, was “Africa” by Toto, “Leaving on a Jet Plane” by John Denver and, making the list for the first time, “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers.

On Wednesday (Jan. 8), Elvis would have turned 90 years old, prompting a week-long memorial celebration of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll at Graceland that included the opening of a new year-long exhibit featuring 90 curated artifacts designed to give unique insight into key moments in both Presley’s professional and personal lives.

Probably the most common question I’m asked is, “How do you pick your music videos?” That no one seems to ask why a travel trade publication publishes a music column at all just shows how established and – dare I say – beloved our “Listening In” feature is every Friday. Before I go on, today’s video is the great British ska-pop band Bad Manners.

In this special Christmas Eve edition of ‘Listening In’ I will offer that without a doubt my favourite Christmas song is “Christmas in Killarney,” a song written in 1950 and performed by many artists over the years, though the best IMO is unquestionably The Irish Rovers version, recorded in 2002 (a video we posted a couple of years ago).

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra has become as much a part of Christmas as Frosty or The Grinch, ever since its landmark album “Christmas Eve and Other Stories” album debuted over 25 years ago. The collection of Christmas-themed “rock operas” included this week’s offering, the epic instrumental “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo,” which cleverly incorporates echoes of a familiar Christmas tune.

Boston’s “More than a Feeling” was about how music can take you back to people or places from the past, so it’s not surprising that hearing the song today does just that for me – back to 1976 when the band exploded into public consciousness with a self-titled album that became the fastest- and best-selling debut LP in US history.

What could be better than banging a gong and getting it on with Marc Bolan than also doing it with Elton John, who was a surprise guest with T-Rex in this performance of their 1971 classic on Britain’s Top of the Pops?

Andrew John Hozier-Byrne (aka Hozier), the thoughtful Irish singer-songwriter, sure gets his money’s worth out of his music – not syrupy ballads or inane love songs for him. His breakthrough smash “Take Me to Church” in 2013 was an audacious indictment of the Catholic church’s homophobic doctrine; and the song we covered previously, “Nina Cries Power,” was an homage to the legacy of protest songs and singers who were there at the beginning of the movement.

Dennis DeYoung called it the Styx song that the record company “missed.” The Chicago band’s ultimate masterpiece, “Suite Madame Blue,” anchored the 1975 album Equinox, challenging and encouraging a “changed” America to “lift up your heart and make a new start” to be a mature and worthy world leader once again.