Obscure Singles Heard at CVS

Tupac giving it new legs helped

"In a Big Country" at Trader Joe's, is that an obscure song in the US?

Not really, tho I guess I haven’t heard it in a while…

"Honey" by Robyn at Target

“Big country” is absolutely obscure in the US

Really?

It hit No. 3 on the Top Rock Tracks chart and No. 17 on the Hot 100… I definitely knew it as a kid, at the time.

(I think the video also got a lot of play, but we didn’t have MTV yet)

Loads of MTV play, plus they performed it live on SNL. It wouldn’t surprise me to hear it now, though it hasn’t had quite the traction of a “Don’t You Want Me” or something of that ilk.

It’s not obscure in the US

not obscure but never played on current 80s radio, in my experience. feel like there has been a great culling of the canon. i don't remember 80s radio of even ten years ago being as limited as it is now.

like, i don't expect to hear shock the monkey or switching to glide but they don't play any duran duran other than hungry like the wolf or rio or any culture club other than karma chameleon or any inxs other than need you tonight. under these conditions everything she wants would be considered obscure because i've never heard my local 80s radio station play it so i assume it's dropped out of what anyone under 45 or so would be familiar with.

I hear "In a Big Country" fairly often in the wild. ymmv

And I hear "Everything She Wants" on A/C radio, not "eighties radio" fwiw

oh yeah, i heard glenn frey's true love (obscure and forgotten imo) out and about at a speedway gas station not too long ago, and they played everything she wants during a previous visit. that's why i invoked that particular song: it occurred to me i hadn't heard it on the one media outlet that specifically should be playing that sort of thing on the regular. when your gas station's music playlist is better curated than the radio format that has that thing in its name then what kind of world are we living in.

now see "True Love" is obscure -- and dreadful

"In a Big Country" at Trader Joe's, is that an obscure song in the US?

I'll say this: It's the only song by Big Country that isn't obscure in the U.S.

I faintly recall a follow-up, but I can't remember what it was called without googling.

x-post lol, exactly

I can imagine a dumb late in the show SNL sketch about "The Very Best of Big Country": "In A Big Country", "In A Small Country", "The Commonwealth I Am In" etc.

Spice Girls: "Spice Up Your Life" & Lakeside: "Fantastic Voyage" at Torchy's Tacos

vc corporate era torchys here has just fucked their playlist to shit here. nuthin gold can stay

That's what happened with Freebirds, which is now all uptempo Top 40 through the ages and/or contemporary EDM.

The only time I’ve heard “big country” since the 80s in the US in the wild was when a bartender from the UK put in on during his shift

"More More More" by Andrea True Connection in an Anthropologie.

Took me forever to figure out that "More More More" is the loop behind "Steal My Sunshine"

Talking Heads “Wild Wild Life” while grocery shopping late night at Ralphs in Pasadena.

I love Wild Wild Life.

The only time I’ve heard “big country” since the 80s in the US in the wild was when a bartender from the UK put in on during his shift

― calstars, Saturday, November 25, 2023 11:28 AM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

That is very weird! I do not think that's most people's experience. It was a mainstay on the radio station I listened to growing up well through the 90s.

"Wild Wild Life" and "And She Was" are easily the two biggest Heads songs I hear most often in the wild.

"(Nothing But) Flowers" too, which is funny to hear whilst out shopping, given what it's about.

i've heard "in a big country" on fairly unadventurous american 80s stations several times. not a playlist staple like an "edge of seventeen" or whatever but it does get played

KLF - "Last Train to Transcentral" at No Frills supermarket in Canada.

"Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade at Fred Meyer. Not obscure in the UK obviously, but it stood out to me as something I never hear over here.

I remember hearing that one in a Chik-Fil-A (ducks) back when I was first getting into Slade in the mid 2000s. Holiday season muzacks really pay off when they reach past the standards, as evidenced by many posts upthread.

Dave Edmunds: "Run Run Rudolph" at Freddy's

Talk Talk - The Music Machine at Prost. The next song was CSN.

Not sure if that's "Talk Talk" by The Music Machine or "The Music Machine" by Talk Talk

The garageynuggetsy one

Why does my gym play country and nineties butt rock when most of my fellow attendees are Black or Latinx? They don't even play Mariah Carey.

Who TF wants to work out to that shit?

How does one get a job canning music, anyway?

Santigold's "Disparate Youth" at CVS.

Five Guys:

Black Crowes: "Struttin' Blues"
Moon Taxi: "One Step Away"
Black Sabbath: "Sweet Leaf" (heard a little kid repeat "I love you" in an Ozzy voice after that part)
Bob Dylan: "Maggie's Farm" (Newport version!)

"Place Your Hands" by Reef heard at Fred Meyer. Maybe not obscure as I just learned it reached number 29 on the Mainstream Rock chart... but I can't say I've ever heard it over here.

OH PLaCE YOUR HANDSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSss
ON MY HOPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

PUT YOUR HANDS ON
PUT YOUR HANDS ONNNNNN

This is just a general thread now for music heard in public settings, right? I've mentioned this local coffee shop before. Lots of great early '70s the past 30 minutes: "Bargain," "Tumbling Dice," "Jump Into the Fire." (Broken up, sadly, by U2.)

And now "Do Ya," although not loud enough to tell if it's the Move or ELO--the latter, probably.

Playing now: "Dead Flowers."

The Urinals song??

Rolling Stones I assume

Yeah...the only one I know.

Ah – well here it is: https://theurinals.bandcamp.com/track/dead-flowers