Obscure Singles Heard at CVS

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

"Riders on the Storm"--I basically never hear that anymore while out in the world.

not obscure and i probably only THINK that walgreens has this on a loop but the only time i ever hear this is in a store. never seen the video until now! one of those songs that people would know and never ever know who sang it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUg5aEy-8CQ

also who knew how cool the amherst records youtube channel was!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videos

Glenn Medeiros is a school principal in Hawaii now iirc

no offense to glenn, but that song would have been a hit with anyone singing it. johnny mathis, james ingram, just about anyone really. jack wagner. rex smith.

Stray Cats: "Runaway Boys" & The Who: "Is It In My Head? at Tacos A Go Go

...and Kacey Musgraves: "Lonely Weekend"

"The Rain, the Park & Other Things" in Giant Tiger, and of course felt happy to be alive.

With a group of family in a restaurant, ppl were taking bets on which decade the song playing was from (“the ‘70s…”), I used Shazam, it was taking a long time, I thought it wouldn’t work, then it revealed… Ariel Pink :/

Roxy Music "Dance Away" at Walgreens

"19th Nervous Breakdown" at Fred Meyer. Not exactly obscure but I can't remember the last time I ever heard it.

"Hungry Like the Wolf," at my coffee shop, right now.

(I'm just live-blogging because the thread is up top. I have no use for "Hungry Like the Wolf" whatsoever.)

is "Hungry Like the Wolf" obscure in your neck of the woods, clem? Here it's the J'ran J'ran tune I'm most likely hear in the wild.

I even hear Ordinary World and Come Undone a lot

"Rio" too.

yeah "Ordinary World" is probably second.

this algorithm need SERIOUS adj. some posters don’t kno what obscure is. some posters don’t kno what a “single” was. some posters don’t know what a CVS is, or what a cvs-like venue is. frankly, i’m faced with a remove-bookmark situation and it fills me with woe. the rest of me is allegedly filled w lager but i deny

It’s basically now used for discussing music heard in public (for better or worse)

That's how I've been using it--that's something I always take notice of. I thought I clearly framed the Duran Duran post as a joke. I don't really think they're obscure.

to be clear— i use it wrong all the time! but i got that removal feel ha

I heard Mozart's trap song at Fuddruckers

(xpost) "Post Removal Machine"

There's a lot to unpack here, but at the very least using the term 'Single' as a qualifier doesn't quite apply to the way I've experienced music in retail environments. Growing up I first heard so many of what I later would discover were less-exposed album cuts from artists like Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, and even the Beatles in fast food places after school or out with my mom and/or grandma at the grocery store. To leave stuff like that out is missing a major part of the experience.

For me, it's the qualifier of obscure that comes up short. My deepest connections with music in public settings are almost always with songs that are anything but obscure: "Every Picture Tells a Story" above, "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" in a record store a few weeks ago, mid-'60s Dylan anywhere, etc.

honestly feel like no one but c. grisso/mccain should post in this thread

unless someone actually hears benny mardones in the wild in the 2020s

From now every entry from me gets an oshcvs factor score which is—

Obscurity: 1-10 (did it chart? when? In adverts? When? Sdtrk? 10 is most obscure. Whatevs that means TO ME ,the poster.)

x (lol “times”)

Single: 1-3 (3 = an actual single, 2 = um, a b-side, 1= possibly fm radio album fodder)

x

CVS: (10= an actual cvs, 9=a pharmacy, .1 to .5= um any public place that is actually cool.)