As of this writing, the iTunes Music Store has recordings of “City of New Orleans” by fifteen different singers. There’s Steve Goodman, who wrote the thing; Arlo Guthrie, who first made it a hit; other popular artists like Willie Nelson, Judy Collins and John Denver. Last week, though, the Music Store added a version of the song by a name I was not expecting: David Hasselhoff.
Apparently he’s quite the music star in Europe. He was Germany’s best selling artist of 1989, and this album (which yes, I bought) is apparently doing quite well also; it debuted at #11 on the Austrian charts. Huh.