Obscure Singles Heard at CVS

I like Afterburner but yeah outside of "why am I hearing Sleeping Bag at CVS?" insanity I don't know why anything from it would make regular rotation on rock radio now

― da croupier, Thursday, October 11, 2012 2:32 PM

I tweeted this a few days ago. Recently:

Duran Duran - Do You Believe in Shame
Michael Penn - This and That

Semisonic: All About Chemistry

Grocery store, not CVS, but "Echo Beach" by Martha and the Muffins.

Not a CVS but I recently heard "I Am The Slime" by Zappa when I was getting my hair cut

once heard the entirety of they might be giants' flood on the walmart radio station.

jesus buddy were you waiting for an oil change or something?

ie it wasn't some worker blasting flood thru the store pa, it was the corporate radio station piped into walmarts coast to coast for some reason doing a 'showcase' on flood.

haha i think (dear god i hope) it started soon after i arrived and i may have indeed lingered to take it in, hear 'twisting' for the first time in however many years, take half an hour to decide whether or not i want poptarts, etc. something very fucked about hearing this blasting at walmart though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zNoxjUUyec

hahaha that's better than what I was guessing, which was "Your Racist Friend"

I heard Cracker's cover of "Shake Some Action" in CVS just two nights ago.

Others:

Boz Scaggs - Miss Sun
a-ha - The Sun Always Shines on TV
Tyler Collins - Girls Night Out
Toni Childs - Don't Walk Away

Huh I heard echo beach at Barnes & noble last week.

weirdest one i remember was "change your mind" by neil young while i was standing in line to get painkillers a few years ago. must've been a radio edit. felt appropriate.

Michael Penn - This and That
also, this song is so classic

Heard "Let's Hang On" which was a minor Top 40 for Barry Manilow at a Rite Aid once.

Sunrise by Duran Duran at Papa Ginos a month or so ago.
Why would THAT happen?

lite rock cover of Catch the Sun by Doves @ my bank

"Heaven's on Fire" by KISS was playing on at least two separate occasions at the CVS by my college

not an obscure single really but jarring in the soft-rock context, heard "More Bounce to the Ounce" at the local grocery store a few months ago

REM - "All The Way To Reno"

ie it wasn't some worker blasting flood thru the store pa, it was the corporate radio station piped into walmarts coast to coast for some reason doing a 'showcase' on flood.

― balls, Thursday, October 11, 2012 5:25 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That is exceptionally weird and now I want to listen to that album which I haven't done in years.

It's not obscure but I was euphoric when I heard Amy Grant's "I Will Remember You" yesterday.

was picking up prescription for antidepressant at walgreens and they were playing "i wanna be sedated." no lie.

heard velvet underground - oh! sweet nuthin' at walgreens last week

Sugar Ray's "Chasin You Around" at Met Foods. The second single off In Pursuit Of Leisure, the album after the last one anyone cared about

not obscure but heard like a 10-minute Tool deep cut in a 24 hour kroger once. it was weird because there was usually just soft rock & r&b playing there

a couple visits to shop rite ago i heard the 12-inch edit of "she's always in my hair"

I'm just gonna use this thread for obscure songs heard in any retail setting:

Roxy Music - 2HB in Noodles and Company yesterday.

The other week in Morrisons they were playing 'If I Could Talk I'd Tell You' by the Lemonheads (a #39 smash in 1996).

Heard the Kinks' "Juke Box Music" in a grocery store a couple of years ago. Barely a hit in the US in 1977, never played on "classic rock" radio.

lol i heard donna lewis's flop second single "without love" in a cvs once

Heard "For What It's Worth" by The Cardigans in the grocery store the other day.

not that obscure really but heard dennis deyoung's "desert moon" followed by madonna's "this used to be my playground" on KRGR kroger radio last night, the algorithm was feeling some super intense nostalgia apparently

Thought this was a revival of this thread: albert hammond, "it never rains in southern california"

Not obscure, but I really enjoyed hearing Scritti Politti at CVS yesterday.

I heard the song 'On the Beach' by Neil Young at the grocery store once.

Heard "Couple Days Off" by Huey Lewis & The News last night at Whataburger.

Heard "Emerge" Fischerspooner at a Florida water-park

https://soundcloud.com/hennessyyoungman/cvsbangers

haha thank you, a classic

Jack In The Box is good for these. Today it was "Wild Wild Life" by Talking Heads, and last time a couple weeks ago I heard "Canary In A Coalmine" by The Police.

It's not obscure but I was euphoric when I heard Amy Grant's "I Will Remember You" yesterday.

alfred i'd start straight up bawling

I heard that really sterile, generic, terrible ballad by "Sergio Mendes" from the 80s...."Never Gonna Let You Go"...in a Zaxby's.

whenever i'm in cvs i hear "shattered dreams"

I heard Jack Wagner's "All I Need" and Richard Marx's "Hazard" once in an Albertsons during a 4 hour shift. I remain convinced that they had not changed their Muzak since my childhood.

and whenever I hit the "from this empty heart" falsetto several mothers in the cold medicine section scowl

hahaha. I can't help not singing along to that tune either. that or "All I Need is a Miracle".

haha otm

Shopping for pencils and invisible tape at CVS this morning I heard "Soul Drifter" by Lindsey Buckingham!

^^^^ I've heard it at CVS too

Manu Dibango - "Soul Makossa," in H.E.B. yesterday (though for some reason, in that store, the only place you can usually hear the music without straining your ears is in the restroom)

trouble - lindsey buckingham

also hear a LOT of Rumours in CVS

i hear a lot of saint etienne in supermarkets and drugstores

My fave supermarket plays nothing but 60's soul.

I think I answered this elsewhere, but our CVS had "The Sign of Fire" by the Fixx...I flipped!! It started this whole Fixx thing with me for a while.

This morning at CVS I heard REM's "At My Most Beautiful."

somehow, even though it tanked, that's the single from up i hear most often by far. only in grocery stores and drugstores obv.

Thin Lizzy - Don't Believe a Word at Walgreens

Followed by this random pop punk/emotronic ish:

http://thepasstheband.bandcamp.com/track/cross-walk-stereo

Which, just like, I mean, I expected anything else as a follow-up.

Sunday afternoon: Ric Ocasek's "Something to Grab For."

Semisonic: All About Chemistry

― 50 Shades of Greil (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, October 11, 2012 1:56 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Just heard this at Taco Bell.

At Publix this a.m:

Jesse Johnson ft. Sly Stone - Crazay

Book of Love - "Modigliani (Lost In Your Eyes)" @ Which Wich

I had my purchases in hand but continued to wander the aisles because Joe Jackson's "Breaking Us In Two" was playing and there was nobody in line ahead of me.

I caught Steppin' Out in CVS last week!

I heard that Joe Jackson song in a CVS too ("Breaking Us In Two"), and wondered if Badfinger ever sued/threatened to sue/got joint writing credit.

I had my purchases in hand but continued to wander the aisles because Joe Jackson's "Breaking Us In Two" was playing and there was nobody in line ahead of me.

― naus,

done on purpose by CVS corporate

All I hear at the drugstore now is the opening riff of ''Down on the Corner,'' played ad infinitum as the theme to the Walgreen's in-house ad.

Sam Phillips- "Baby I Can't Please You" at Wendy's (seems like this song is an evergreen on restaurant/drug store/supermarket muzak)

REM - "All The Way To Reno"

― da croupier, Wednesday, October 17, 2012 10:53 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

And this was played earlier.

i heard the beverley knight version of "keep this fire burning" in a shitty off-brand cafe in heathrow. i mean, okay it hit #16 but that's kind of a deep cut in 2014. when "rock with you" came on afterwards i was like okay cafe, you got me.

Neither one very obscure, but back to back in a rather high-end department store: George Jones' "The Race Is On" and Tiffany's "Only In my Dreams." Probably programmed by hipsters, maybe not all THAT surprising.

done on purpose by CVS corporate

reminds me of the great Not My Fault columns 'what is the minimum number of hanging plants required to give the illusion that we care?'.

Fleetwood Mac: "Think About Me"* @ Whataburger (followed by, uh, "One Week" by BNL)

*Maybe not obscure by ilx standards, but I don't think I've actually heard this on the radio outside of a 'classic disc' airing of Tusk.

Key Food in Brooklyn always has a deep-cut 1960s Top 40 mix going on, and I like the fact that they play even the cornball stuff that you would think would try the patience of many customers - not to mention the young folks who work there.

Thanks to them I got hipped to the 1967 track "A Girl Like You" by the Young Rascals.

Boys Club - I Remember Holding You #8 January 1989

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLA9oIemtG8

I heard this a couple times in late '88: a "Careless Whisper" pastiche recorded by skin trade before New Kids took off.

Hipsway, "Honeythief" at Walgreen. I almost knocked over an display 'cause I started dancing.

"a" display, not "an" display, ugh this phone

was picking up prescription for antidepressant at walgreens and they were playing "i wanna be sedated." no lie.
heard this last week too.

heard a weird muzaky cover of "I'm Looking Through You" by the Beatles the other week when i was buying pills

Jack In The Box: The Go-Gos--"Cool Jerk" from the '90 Greatest Hits.

Cvs yesterday: the bangles "if she knew what she wants"

Not obscure in its day but I'd completely forgotten this track

XTC: "Generals and Majors" at Wendy's

Cvs yesterday: the bangles "if she knew what she wants"

Not obscure in its day but I'd completely forgotten this track

― Gar Tooth (Jon Lewis),

beautiful cover

also at Jack In The Box: The Seeds - Pushin' Too Hard

Dairy Queen: Rodney Crowell - "Lovin' All Night", his last big Country hit from '92. I assume it hasn't got much radio love since.

Marshall Crenshaw: "Someday Someway" actually at CVS (and interrupted at least twice for ads)

i heard "cosmic dancer" by t-rex at walgreen's a while back

Aztec Camera's "Walk Out to Winter" at Ocean State Job Lot

(part of their Christmas programming, presumably)

T Rex's "The Slider" playing in a hardware store in Agawam, MA

heard Building Steam With A Grain of Salt at an airport yesterday, was real confused, looked around realized it was a Chevy commercial on a nearby TV

I caught Steppin' Out in CVS last week!

― how's life, Saturday, May 17, 2014 5:24 AM (5 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've heard this twice in the last couple weeks, first at a restaurant and the second at a grocery store.

Swing Out Sister's "Breakout" playing in a supermarket this evening

that's enough to revive the thread

I too have heard "Someday, Someway" at CVS. Also heard "IGY" by Donald Fagen.

IGY is on a lot of retail playlists in my experience

True. Same goes for "The New Frontier" and the "Ruby Baby" cover.

i would love to read a piece about how these happen.

i mean it's probably just licensing + a mood analysis algorithm or something.

The Police: "Driven To Tears" at Wendy's

I swear, I hear "King for a Day" by XTC at least once a year in pharmacies or grocery stores

And I hear Thompson Twins' "King for a Day" often at CVS!

i heard celine dion's "that's the way it is" while i was at CVS a few days ago and it was quite thrilling

My sister just told me she heard "Three Strange Days" by School of Fish at Walgreen's.

I just heard "She Bangs the Drums" by the Stone Roses in Walgreens. Last week, I heard "Kookie, Kookie, Lend me Your Comb."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiYj9Ods4OQ

^^^ the very utmost.

If 6 was 9 by Hendrix in a Monoprix (sort of like the french CVS)

Blondie: "(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear" at Wendy's

Indio - "Hard Sun" heard at Walgreens tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1tVvQUAcf4

Was this song a hit anywhere? It really should have been.

At Kroger last weekend, I heard a remix of Emma Bunton's "Crickets Sing for Anamaria." Which, for a supermarket in the southern US, was a shock.

I discovered this song in a Chipotle kind of late one worknight:

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

I actually used the shazam/siri thing to ask what it was because I found it oddly compelling

Was this song a hit anywhere? It really should have been.

According to Wikipedia: "Hard Sun" was a top 10 hit in Canada, peaking at #10 in September, 1989

The Cars: "Touch and Go" at Wendy's

Haircut 100 - "Favourite Shirts" (Boy Meets Girl) in a Savers thrift store.

Heard the Kinks' "Juke Box Music" in a grocery store a couple of years ago. Barely a hit in the US in 1977, never played on "classic rock" radio.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, January 15, 2014 12:51 PM (1 year ago)

Heard the Burrito Brothers cover of "Wild Horses" at lunchtime sandwich shop the other day.

This happened to me today and I thought immediately of this, as I'd kind of thought this might not be real.
Then lo and behold, Ivy's 'I've Got A Feeling' makes my CVS trip.

Aretha Franklin: "Day Dreaming" at Wendy's

I heard eno/cale "spinning away" at one of these in 2009 & had to take a moment

Thompson Twins' "Doctor Doctor," which I don't think I've heard since it was new. Really hit the spot. My local Savers thrift store has a great, mostly 80s soundtrack.

C. Grisso what's your Wendy's order

Chicken Nuggets and Raspberry Tea, usually.

The Knack-"Good Girls Don't" at Fuddrucker's

Television - See No Evil, at Walgreens.

^^^ hahaha, what the hell?! Lock thread.

It sounded pretty good. Peppy, kinda "indie." Went well with the hair care products.

INXS & Jimmy Barnes: "Good Times" at Denny's

damn!

what the fuck were you doing in a Denny's

come on who doesn't end up at denny's once in a while

many years back at a Delaware Friendly's I heard a song that took me 8 or more years to identify until I heard it again at Back To The Land, where the store manager helpfully told me it was Jefferson Starship ("With Your Love"). soon after bought the LP it's on: Spitfire.

at Sprouts in San Diego I heard Mercy "Love Can Make You Happy", which I'd heard but not connected with until that one eerie/haunted listening made me track down the 45/7".

Buzzcocks' "What Do I Get" at my local supermarket, at very low volume. I'm sure I'm the only one who noticed.

"Trans Europe Express" at a TGI Fridays was pretty weird.

"Don't Take Away My Heaven" by Aaron Neville at CVS, hadn't heard it in a LONG LONG time and it just hit me like a ton of bricks.

Uptown Top Ranking at Trader Joes - not that out of place I guess?

i was surprised upon hearing "i wanna be adored" in a portland fred meyers.

"Dolly Dagger" at Hobby Lobby in Kansas, many years ago.

Also, I had lunch at Denny's today, didn't notice any music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UJyZE4WDLI

'Happy Warriors' by Jill Cunniff (ex-Luscious Jackson) @ Ocean State Job Lot. it was never even a single, let alone a hit. apparently one of the 20 people who bought her solo album was a Muzak programmer. great song!

The Heights: "How Do You Talk To An Angel?" at Ace Hardware

THE HEIGHTS!!!!!

Presumably heard in the ladder section.

David Bowie: "All The Young Dudes" in the lobby of a Hampton Inn.

The Hives "Hate to Say I Told You So" while waiting for my bacon cheeseburger at Five Guys last night.

"I Wanna Be Sedated" at Kroger.

...followed up by "Bizarre Love Triangle"!

twofer tuesday in the frozen foods aisle, look out

I heard Cosmic Dancer by T Rex at Walgreen's once

I could swear I've posted this before, but "Change Your Mind" by Neil Young - ALL ELEVEN MINUTES OF IT - at Walgreens.

the hell were you doing eleven minutes at Walgreens

Sometimes you have to wait for prescriptions to be filled.

Sometimes you have to wait for -- yeah, what he said.

U2's "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" in a Kmart. Fucking weird.

I doubt I've ever spent less than 11 minutes in Walgreen's

I know I've spent that much in time at a cashier's line once or twice.

More of a Dollar General guy now, especially since my scrips get delivered.

Annie - Heartbeat at Giant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9Wf46tLonM

Was "Oh Darling" by Supertramp a single? Because I wasn't expecting to hear it tonight at Pizza Hut.

no, and wow.

Talking Heads "Heaven" at Kroger.

Hurricane Smith's "Oh Babe, What Would You Say". At Trader Joe's.

As a music lover, I find the soundtrack that these stores provide is highly distracting

I like to assign some significance to music and hearing it while I pick out shaving cream makes that difficult

Swing Out Sister Breakout at CVS while I search in vain for soap

targeted marketing for acne soaps, surely

Really, Breakout is the only acceptable song to be heard in a CVS.

Maybe "Help Me" by Joni Mitchell when you're digging through discounted Easter candy on May 1.

Not Joni, no, anything Joni. Such a waste

Late afternoon, sunbeam coming in through the mechanical doors, not a soul in the place except for the cashier and you, cursing that the only thing left are those marshmallow peeps.

When I bought Court & Spark many years ago, I was surprised to discover I already knew about 1/2-3/4 of the songs from airings on grocery store and casual dining restaurant Muzaks.

yeah, my Publix loves "Free Man in Paris."

Frida - "There's Something Going On"
(amid horrific emo/christian rock type stuff)

They opened a new one near me and my first thought was 'I want to hear obscure singles'.

Styx - "show me the way" at a grocery store

Frida - "There's Something Going On"
(amid horrific emo/christian rock type stuff)

― lute bro (brimstead), Saturday, January 9, 2016 3:16 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I heard this at Safeway once. It was the best.

I may have said it in this thread a few years ago, but I worked at Publix for years and years - all through high school and college. I discovered so much great music just wandering the aisles, pretending to be stocking things. Every once in awhile a song would come on that was so freaking good, I had to go to our backroom/storage room just so I could listen to it without annoying distractions (i.e., customers).

I still remember to this day first hearing Mazzy Star's Fade Into You and John Lennon's Jealous Guy and being freaking floored. These were pre-Shazam/pre-Siri days (1996-2002-ish), so in order to figure out who the artist was, I'd have to write down as many lyrics I could make out (hard over the hustle-and-bustle of a grocery store) and Yahoo that shit when I got home. Worked most of the time.

Shopping is truly a pleasure at Publix.

Best buys muzak really tried to make Jonny Lang a thing again in 04

The Clash: "Lost In The Supermarket" at Walmart Neighborhood Market

trenchant

Lindstrom & Christabelle "Lovesick" at Shophouse (Chipotle spinoff0

The Kinks, "A Rock & Roll Fantasy" in a gas station the other day. Haven't listened to the song in maybe 25 years, and never heard it on the radio before (though it was a hit in the US, so maybe it's not that surprising).

Madonna, "Beautiful Stranger." Probably not that obscure, but I'd actually never heard it before.

!

"!" because I'd never heard it? I've probably missed the last umpteen Madonna singles tbh. I liked it enough to track it down though.

I heard Ray of Light at the supermarket last night and the scream at about 4:30 freaked me the fuck out.

https://youtu.be/x3ov9USxVxY?t=4m25s

Yeah, sorry, I was just startled cause I feel like it's a pretty big hit, but actually I think it wasn't really, and I just saw the video a lot cause I was in an MTV-watching phase of my life. I've always liked it, one of my favorites of her post-80s uptempo singles. Hard to hear it and not think of her and Austin Powers in a car mugging it up aimlessly.

police, 'one world (not three)'

obviously the police aren't obscure, but that's kind of a deep cut

the replacements "i will dare" at a fred meyers in seattle

i'm not a local (or an american) so maybe this is normal? threw me for a loop though

No, that is not normal. At their commercial peak (such as it was), you couldn't even hear the Replacements on the radio (other than on a college station) in the US. That is absolutely bizarre that they'd be on a major chain store's playlist.

I would've been all, Oh Seattle, Don't ever change.

I kinda wonder if something like that happens because Rhino offers up a bundle of tracks to Muzak or whomever as "Classic '80s" and slips them in.

The Kinks, "A Rock & Roll Fantasy" in a gas station the other day. Haven't listened to the song in maybe 25 years, and never heard it on the radio before (though it was a hit in the US, so maybe it's not that surprising).

I've heard it once or twice on classic rock radio in my life and kind of fell in love with it, but, yeah, it's not in heavy rotation afaict.

The funny thing is, apparently it was played on the local "classic rock" station, which is by far the worst such station I've ever heard. Bon Jovi and Poison rule the playlist, and you're lucky if you hear any Hendrix in the course of a week.

(That said, it has a daily "Drive at 5:00" feature that, one day, played the 9-minute Buffalo Springfield "Bluebird.")

So sad when I say that I love the Kinks' "Rock and Roll Fantasy" and people inform me that it is actually by Bad Company.

I... I hear that song all the time.

The Bad Company one?

the replacements "i will dare" at a fred meyers in seattle

i'm not a local (or an american) so maybe this is normal? threw me for a loop though

― olly, Saturday, February 20, 2016 1:41 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

No, that is not normal. At their commercial peak (such as it was), you couldn't even hear the Replacements on the radio (other than on a college station) in the US. That is absolutely bizarre that they'd be on a major chain store's playlist.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, February 20, 2016 1:45 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I would've been all, Oh Seattle, Don't ever change.

― pplains, Saturday, February 20, 2016 3:02 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

The supermarket (Red Apple) in my Seattle neighborhood seems to mostly play slow jams. Obviously this is a good thing.

Senor Coconut's "Neon Lights" in a Dutch supermarket.

^^Wasn't that in Y tu mama...? Seems like that another way these slip through--it was in a movie, so it can be in a store too.

Right. Replacements might also satisfy this rule.

The supermarket (Red Apple) in my Seattle neighborhood seems to mostly play slow jams. Obviously this is a good thing.

"Whip Appeal" last night

In France They Kiss on Main Street while waiting for my Tamiflu prescription.

Sometimes Chickie had the flu, or Ron had the flu...

Which would go some way toward explaining those nights when Leadfoot Melvin had the car.

CVS reminds you that it's flu season - come in for your flu shot today! Remember to take extra precautions in cold weather, and avoid kissing under bridges, kissing in cars, and kissing in cafes.

Lol. That's pitch perfect.

Subway blasting "New Attitude"

"Glorious" by Natalie Imbruglia at a random McDonald's in the middle of nowhere in Missouri.

I rarely go to Chipotle, but in the last few minutes they played "Cool Confusion" by The Clash, "Here to Go" by Cabaret Voltaire, and "Pink Frost" by The Chills, all in a row.

Wow! Yeah, hipsters are programming my Chipotle too; I've heard The Slits' version of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" more than once.

Elsewhere (department store) today, Go-Go's "Can't Stop The World."

best song on that album

Poco's "You Better Think Twice". Not all that obscure, but it's so nice to hear any Poco that isn't "Crazy Love"

i can never contribute to this thread because i don't remember ever hearing music at a cvs

i did however hear mouth & macneal's "how do you do" at bed bath and beyond. not terribly obscure but a weird song to hear anywhere in 2016. now i have it on repeat.

"Book of Dreams" by Suzanne Vega
at first I couldn't place it and I thought it was Julianna Hatfield

Ha. While totally obscure, it is curiously CVS-ready.

It's a good song!

Good song.

"Hourglass" by Squeeze, while pumping gas. Hadn't heard it in forever.

Bonnie Raitt "Have A Heart" at CVS this week.

^^^have heard that multiple times at the grocery store

it seems to go on forever

Crenshaw - Whenever You're on My Mind. Hear it all the time now in the grocery...

"Heartbeat" by Annie at a Vons grocery store.

Annie - Heartbeat at Giant.

http://www.youtube.com/v/f9Wf46tLonM&fs=1&hl=en

― how's life, Monday, November 23, 2015 8:04 PM (5 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

High five!

Some lucky people upthread. There's a small supermarket chain in Dublin called Fresh that has its own piped music of knockoff cover versions, presumably because it might be cheaper somehow? They're supposed to mimic the originals, but put you in uncanny valley territory when you hear the intro to, say, Pride (In The Name of Love) by U2, or Maria by Blondie with instruments that feel maybe 5% off, growing to 30% off when the vocals come in.

live version of Toto's "I'll Be Over You" in a pizza joint, followed not long after by Air Supply "Two Less Lonely People in the World"

The Cult - Revolution

Stray Cats: "She's Sexy (and 17)" at Fuddruckers

So I started a new job this week working at a Goodwill retail store and the musical choices are. . . interesting. Most of the time, it's totally nameless/faceless EDM pop garbage, but there's random 70's tune that will occasionally pop up. Some choice selections so far have been:

Yes — Long Distance Runaround
Bob Dylan — Buckets of Rain (two days in a row!) and Tangled Up in Blue
Joni Mitchell — Carey

And tons of Van Morrison. Seems like I get to hear him at least once every ninety minutes. All the primo stuff, too: everything from 'Caravan' to 'Wavelength.' I think the only of his 70's album that hasn't been repped for thus far is Veedon Fleece.

Londonbeat-Thinking About You

Wow, today I heard Crosby Stills and NASA's 'In my Dreams' at work. That's far and away my favorite CSN tune. I wasn't even aware it was a single.

*Nash's

Wow again, as I heard Crosby and Nash's 'Southbound Train' today as well. They were really on a roll with the folk rock stuff today.

ha, pretty good auto correct

"southbound train" is lovely. I don't really know csny's body of work but I dig a lot of that album. I would flip if I heard "immigration man" at cvs.

Austin, you were at CVS three times?

just goes for the music

No no no, it's the music beamed over the store speakers at the Goodwill retail shop where I work.

Nothing that great or out of the ordinary to report on from today.

Today's highlight was The Moody Blues - 'Timothy Leary's Dead.'

Heard R.E.M.'s "Talk About The Passion" in the supermarket yesterday. Not a single, never once heard it on the radio, was pleasantly baffled.

(Also, my favorite misheard lyrics: "Minty breath, minty mouth, it's Gumby in reaction. Minty breath, minty mouth, talk about the passion. Gumby in...Gumby in...Gumby into town...")

ha!

Jimmy Cliff: "You Can Get It If You Really Want" at Jack In The Box

not exactly obscure but i was surprised to hear Courtney Barnett's "Depreston" in a CVS today

heard that one in a movie theater bathroom last summer, too

The Records' "Starry Eyes" at a Chipotle the other day. Sorta surprising.

The Pretty Things: "Get A Buzz" at Freebirds World Burrito

Oooh, and now Bill Withers: "Who Is He (And What Is He To You)?"

At work today, I was treated to the full twelve minute version of 'Papa Was a Rollin' Stone.'

Nice!

They're on a roll today! So far, I've heard:

Bob Dylan - Positively 4th Street
Squeeze - Pulling Mussels From the Shell
A Flock of Seagulls - Space Age Love Song

In the second half of my day, I got to hear:

The Kinks — Set Me Free
The Jimmy Castor Bunch — It's Just Begun (probably the biggest surprise thus far)

Yeah wow, that last one is kind of all-time for the thread.

New Order - Age of Consent

The B-52's - Planet Claire

Lou Gramm - Midnight Blue

The Kinks — Sunny Afternoon

The Police - Walking in Your Footsteps

Romeo Void - A Girl In Trouble (Is A Temporary Thing)

Teenage Fanclub's "About You" at a joint called BurgerFi.

R.E.M. — Talk About the Passion

I love how Austin needs a CVS fix every three hours.

Modern English - Someone's Calling

Devo - Through Being Cool

this thread makes me want to go and just like hang out at the cvs for an hour or two and slowly peruse the eye shadow colors or w/e

i've always wanted to know in minute detail how these songs end up being played in these places, like is it sort of a roll of the dice among select back catalogs, are artists being measured according to some arbitrary standard, is it done in-house or contracted out, if the latter do these people offer the same service for other chains, how do they differentiate amongst their clients, etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muzak_(brand)#Original_artist_programming

i recall hearing "Truly Madly Deeply" at a Stop n Shop recently

Unfortunately that one's not obscure

what about "(i know) there's something going on"

hmm not sure why i thought there was a parenthetical there.

#13 on billboard hot 100

That one pops up in all kinds of strange places.

Frida was right, after all.

Publix plays 38 Special's "Second Chance" every time I'm fucking there.

They were really on a roll today with the new wave stuff at work:

The Cure — Lovesong (Extended Mix)
Devo — That's Good
New Order — Ceremony

New Order - Love Vigilantes

That's crazy, New Order have become like the Tom Petty of Goodwill.

In a grocery store right now listening to Built to Spill ' s The Plan. This is surreal.

R.E.M. - Harborcoat

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Dear Prudence

The Beginning of the End - Funky Nassau

Aztec Camera - Oblivious

!

I heard I Want You by Elvis Costello at my suburban New Jersey supermarket the other day, and it was loud. I normally enjoy that song but as it turns out, aching sexual obsession doesn't go well with shopping for cat food and Raisin Bran. I couldn't wait for it to be over.

The Cyrkle — Turn Down Day

Turn Down Day again this morning! And the ten minute long extended mix of 'Fascination Street' by the Cure.

OMD - Talking Loud and Clear

And more Cyrkle! 'Red Rubber Ball' this time.

Molly Hatchet: "Dreams To Remember" or whatever it's called, at Denny's

and now Elton John: "Take Me To The Pilot"!

...and as i'm leaving, most obscure of all--The Doors: "Gloria"

R.E.M. - Seven Chinese Brothers

Tom Petty: "You and Me" at Jack In The Box

.,.and now Beach Boys: "Don't Worry Baby"

^ not so obscure

Yeah, but it's now like the 10th or 12th most popular Beach Boys song on outlets that still play the Beach Boys.

FWIW, I heard "Feel Flows" at this very same JITB several years ago.

"Feel Flows" got a mini-sized "Tiny Dancer" boost from Almost Famous; I've never heard it in a chain establishment, but it's not the obscurity it once was. "Don't Worry Baby" is definitely fading from the radio landscape but it's something I would hear on oldies-type stations in the 90s and is presumably known to millions.

Kool and the Gang — Let the Music Take Your Mind

This evening I was treated to:

New Order — Ceremony
Kate Bush — Running Up That Hill

Not necessarily obscure (considering I've already heard 'Ceremony' at work once before), but the fact that they were back to back like that made me feel like I had my own iPod on shuffle.

Shuggie Otis — Strawberry Letter 23
April March — Somewhere Up Above

And the full fourteen minute version of James Brown — Papa Don't Take No Mes

Okay, that last one is ace. I would be so stoked to realize that my entire CVS trip had been soundtracked by that.

Austin, you should come up with a thread called Obscure Singles Heard at Goodwill.

Oh right. Yeah, that's still weird in its way. My Goodwill muzak experiences have either been imitation good-time workday radio stations (with nothing much rougher around the edges than idk "Brighter Than The Sun")... or Christian versions of same.

38 Special's "Second Chance" plays in my Publix all the damn time. literally twice it has come on while I was in the medicine aisle.

think it's a ploy to sell Advil

Phil collins "Dance into the Light". Ew.

^^That's another one of those songs that seems to live only on Muzak playlists.

Definitely how I got to know it.

the only time in my life I remember anybody even talking about it was when I was in high school choir and for whatever reason these two dudes were raving about it.

it was a very hot day.

heat stroke may have been involved

Otis Redding: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
Jerry Butler: "Hey, Western Union Man"
Wilson Pickett: "Don't Knock My Love" (Pt.1)

All on this deep cut Soul Oldies channel at my local KFC.

Would almost swear I heard KING today in Walgreens but it was near the end and I couldn't make out enough words to say for sure that it wasn't something from twenty years ago from which KING took inspiration. "Try to stop" and "By your side" the only phrases I got down.

that was them ("the right one")

Not obscure, but nice to hear "Closer to Fine" staying in the background-music mix (Panera).

xpost wow, neat! Clearly I need to spend some more time with the album.

Talking Heads — Girlfriend is Better (live)

The Style Council — A Solid Bond in Your Heart

Split Enz - Six Months in a Leaky Boat

Talking Heads: "Uh Oh Love Has Come To Town" at Kroger.

Pretenders: "Mystery Achievement" at Jack In The Box

Lonnie Liston Smith - Expansions

i wish we had this playlist at the cafe where i work

Not really obscure but I certainly didn't expect to be bopping along to it down the aisle at Foodtown last night: Velvet Underground "Sweet Jane"

similar: "caught a lite sneeze" by tori amos at pret a manger (sandwich to-go place)

The Dukes of the Stratosphere - Vanishing Girl

Dave Matthews Band - Satellite

Translator - Everywhere that I'm Not

Dammmn, nice one. I know that from exactly one playing of it on my local alt-rock station in the late 90s. Was years before I tracked down an MP3 even.

Yes, I was rather pleased to hear it.

That is probably my all-time least favorite song from my local alt-rock station (early 90s), but still really impressed that it made your in-store play.

Jimi Hendrix Experience: "Stone Free" at Freebirds World Burrito

...and now The Doors: "20th Century Fox"

"Help Me," Joni Mitchell at a CVS in Chicago this morning

Oh, come on, that's not obscure at all!

(but definitely a winner of a tune though)

Dire Straits: "Calling Elvis" at Randall's (grocery store)

...and Cowboy Junkies: "Common Disaster"

Ryan Adams: "Chin Up, Cheer Up" & Grateful Dead: "Ripple" at Jason's Deli.

Kaiser Chiefs _I Predict A Riot_

Possibly the worst thing I've ever heard in supermarket.

People -I Love You

Wire Train - Chamber of Hellos

Dave Alvin: "King of California" & 10,000 Maniacs: "About The Weather" at Jack In The Box

The Kinks - Victoria

They Might Be Giants: "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" at Kroger's.

Also because of this thread I bought a Translator vinyl comp for $1 today.

Ugh I heard that at the grocery store awhile back and it made me want to knock items off of shelves

Kate Bush — Hounds of Love

Beck: "Sexx Laws" at Freebirds

"We Don't Talk Anymore" by Cliff Richard in a Trader Joe's.

Waiting for Somebody - Paul Westerberg

Tom T. Hall: "The Homecoming" at Jason's Deli

...and going way deep for The Kinks: "Pictures in The Sand"

Real Life: "Send Me An Angel" at Denny's

Devo — Girl U Want

Huey Lewis & The News: "Walking On A Thin Line" at Denny's

Eh?

During some live performances, ESPN personality Chris Berman, who is a fan of the band, has shown up as a surprise guest, singing the song with the band.[7][8] Berman, who met the band at an ESPN tenth anniversary party,[8] when describing football highlights on NFL Live, will sometimes reference the chorus to the song.[9]

The selection at the local Giant has been so consistently good lately it feels like cheating to even post on this thread. Sunday morning at about 7 a.m.:

KISS - Detroit Rock City
Alice Cooper - Hello Hooray

DRC is obscure?

I've never heard it on the radio.

Fair enough

I mean, I'm sure it's been played, but the KISS selection at any classic rock station I've ever listened to has been limited to Rock and Roll All Night, Shout It Out Loud, I Was Made For Loving You, and Crazy Crazy Nights.

...and "Beth" (which, ime, could replace a few of the numbers you've mentioned).

Kiss is such a strange case: for a band that's such a commercial institution, you're more likely to hear multiple tracks from Kansas or Deep Purple or Foghat on the radio before one of theirs.

I've only ever heard "Rock & Roll All Night" and "Beth" on the radio -- and I haven't heard "Beth" on the radio since 1976.

I've heard Beth once on the radio and it was in the last year.

Huh, I definitely remember hearing "Beth" on classic rock radio growing up in the 90s. Maybe it was just played once or twice and I happened to be taping songs from the radio? My younger sister loved it.

late 80s/early 90s anyway

Also remember "Hide Your Heart" when it came out.

The Sound - Sense of Purpose

!

Grateful Dead — Sugar Magnolia

Electric Prunes - "Get Me to the World on Time" at the supermarket

Breathe-Hands to Heaven at the local Burger King

The Man Who Fell To Earth - Nirvana David Bowie. Chipotle.

Electric Prunes, nice.

The Man Who Fell To Earth Sold the World

INXS: "Listen Like Thieves" at Freebirds

...and The Ramones: "Howling At The Moon"

i go to macy's like once a year and it seemsthey're always jammin sweet mid-oos filtery mersh house / jacques lu cont remixes

I don't know where else to post this, but I just heard the unedited version of Ice Cube's 'It Was a Good Day' in Starbucks. I was trying really hard not to laugh loudly, as there were several children in there at the time and Ice Cube was talking about how his "dick runs deep, so deep."

...and The Ramones: "Howling At The Moon"

― a full playlist of presidential sex jams (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, September 2, 2016 6:16 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

One of my favorite songs. That's fucking awesome.

Pink Floyd: "San Tropez" at Jason's Deli

RULES!

...and now The Band: "Ophelia"

Heard a dope Latin house remix of Santana's "smooth" in a Tex-mex place the other day. Sounded like basement jaxx back when they were good

The English Beat: "Save It For Later" in a huge supermarket in upstate New York yesterday. None of their songs were remotely hits in the US.

^^Not denying the obscurity, but "SIFL" was a pretty big MTV track back in the day.

It was a semi-regular on San Francisco's "alternative"
station in the 90s... especially the dope "80s lunch" megamix thing they did. That was an exceptional window of programming, though

That station was 105.3. "Live 105"

XTC — Generals and Majors

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/k1Rlq6m0Aob8LRffG7nvlQscLK78WoY5AHffLT7y0VU=w640-h320-no

at Carl's Jr. today.

by Spoon in case you don't know.

^^^^

Love Live 105! I do miss the flashback lunch (and basically all of their programming before they got bought by cbs or whoever in 1998). Back when I first started listening to the radio, depeche, cure, new order, etc were played almost as much there as nirvana, pumpkins, nin, radiohead

Depeche Mode: "Behind The Wheel/Route 66" at Fuddrucker's

Blues Traveler: "But Anyway" at Jason's Deli

Neil Young — Walk On

Arcade Fire's "Rebellion (Lies)" at Jack in the Box today.

James Blunt: "1973" at El polio loco (Seems like this one and "Stay The Night" are both major candidates for 'Songs That Live On Exclusively On Muzak Playlists')

El POLLO Loco

Not obscure, but noteworthy:

The last two times I've filled up at my local Shell station, they've been playing "Carry On" by fun.

I heard Taylor Swift's 2010 single Story of Us in Bed, Bath, and Beyond. The song finished and another one started while I was in the checkout line. As I left the store and walked out to the parking lot, the shopping center's outdoor stereo system started playing Story of Us.

The Police: "When The World Is Running Down" at Which Wich

lol @ El polio loco

AC/DC: "Big Gun" & Kiss: "Strutter" (the original version) at HEB.

Smithereens: "A Girl Like You" at Five Guys

Thunderclap Newman "Something in the Air" at Foodtown

Pavement, I think "Gold Soundz?" - at Trader Joe's

Talking Heads: "Warning Sign" at this mom'n'pop pizza joint I ate at last night (noteworthy mainly because it was surrounded by really played-out Classic Rock stuff--think "Carry On Wayward Son" & such--and Johnny Cash for some reason)

John Mellencamp: "Key West Intermezzo" at the FedEx Store.

Marshall Crenshaw: "Someday Someway" actually at CVS (and interrupted at least twice for ads)

― Don A Henley And Get Over It (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, November 13, 2014 7:19 PM (two years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I too have heard "Someday, Someway" at CVS. Also heard "IGY" by Donald Fagen.

― ablaeser, Friday, November 14, 2014 9:45 PM (two years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Crenshaw - Whenever You're on My Mind. Hear it all the time now in the grocery...

― Jimmy_Chop, Sunday, May 1, 2016 8:59 AM (seven months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

My friend is interviewing Crenshaw on the radio rn, and they just had a little sidestep wherein they discussed hearing his music (particularly "Whenever You're On My Mind") in stores and restaurants.

"Recover" by Chvrches at Cane's.

Carl Perkins: "Matchbox" at Whataburger.

White Stripes: "Conquest" and Black Crowds: "Go Faster" at Freebirds

Black CROWES

Thanks to Spotify/Pandora it's easy nowadays for obscure stuff to slip into background music.

live version of Life During Wartime from Stop Making Sense

Heard a version of The Cramps' "TV Set" in a restaurant yesterday. Turns out it's a cover by Spoon, from the Poltergeist OST, I had no idea.

The Cure — Cut Here

Singing along at the top of my lungs whilst driving the forklift.

Howard Jones "Life in One Day" at the bank.

Delaney & Bonnie: "Only You & I Know" at Fuzzy's Taco Shop

Saint Etienne: "I Was Born On Christmas Day" (on Deep Cut Xmas Muzak) at Denny's

"Hong Kong Garden" at a Vons grocery store in San Diego.

lol

Moby Grape "8:05" in a McDonalds, how did that happen?

Ray Kroc was a head

Edwin Starr: "Agent Double-O-Soul" at McDonald's

Polly Brown "Up In A Puff Of Smoke" at a restaurant in Kissimmee, FL. I'm certain I have not heard this since it was new in 1975.

http://i.imgur.com/2oZoffa.jpg

I have literally never heard Sugarloaf before in my life. Song was decent.

Oh, that's a big one! Love that kinda lumpy, good-natured but insistent riff.... I guess there's not much else to it as a song. You'd hear it - the single edit anyway - infrequently on classic rock radio when I was a teen. Not a total out-of-the-blue thing but not in regular rotation. I can remember a point in tenth grade or so when I specifically registered it as a song that existed and got excited figuring out that riff in keyboard class (it didn't take long). Their other hit, "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" is pretty different in style/vibe, honestly not too great but interesting if you're into "rock stars bitching about the rock business" things.

The touch-tone phone dialing you hear in "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" was the real (and unlisted) phone number of their previous record company that had just dumped them, the band likely hoping they'd get lots of prank calls

Ha! Wow.

not exactly fitting for this thread, given its status as an underground classic, but i was surprised to hear "Vitamin C" by Can at a Chipotle in south Phoenix last month

IMHO that counts! Although it crystallizes something about this thread to me, which is that there's at least two versions of this. One is where retail playlist designers design or lease some algorithm meant to add "hippitude" (I'm guessing) - hence the Can and Television and Buzzcocks and so on. The other is where an algorithm meant to capture popular, well-liked music omnivorously consumes anything that's ever charted or been semi-popular or was released as a single by a top-40 act.

Version two is sorta more interesting in that it gives the uncanny sense that you are dealing with a live human DJ pulling out unjustly overlooked faves, even though everything they play can still be found in a reasonably well-stocked karaoke binder. AFAICT the people who make professional licensed karaoke CDs are similarly wont to include anything that was ever a 'hit.' A shame there is no way to measure the actual performance rate of these things - I have a strong suspicion nobody has ever once actively chosen to sing Van Halen's "Feels So Good" or Swing Out Sister's "La La," but there they are in the listings...

Actually there is a sort of way to track karaoke performance rates--albeit a very localized one. For my friend's birthday last summer, his wife rented out a private room at one of the big (although imho not the best) places in town. Alongside the binders (which were a bit out of date), they had a computer terminal where you would actually pull up and queue the track you wanted to sing. Each entry had a play count for the venue alongside it. There were several obvious Pop and Country things that were in the thousands. As for me, I gave (iirc) "Dead Flowers" and maybe a couple other things a debut.

Oh, yeah, that makes sense. I pretty much avoid booth-style karaoke though, and there's no tracking with the "hand in a penciled-on slip to the emcee" version.

last week, I went to a different location of the grocery store that I always go to (where I've heard everything reported on in this thread) and it was all instrumental smooth jazz.

Heard "Fascination" (the Human League song) in At Home. Not so obscure, but at the same time not something I can ever remember hearing in a store, while out and about, at least since the 80s.

not exactly fitting for this thread, given its status as an underground classic, but i was surprised to hear "Vitamin C" by Can at a Chipotle in south Phoenix last month

Very interesting to see this, because there was something I've wanted to post here for a while but I felt it might not be relevant. At the gym I go to - and this is why I hesitated, I wasn't sure if a gym is comparable to CVS or a similar retail outlet, but anyway - they normally play one of two things, a) a spectacularly dull classic rock mix, with CCR played at least once every half hour, or b) a Top 40 dance mix. Well one day recently I was doing my exercises and suddenly Can's "Vitamin C" came on. I don't know why, or what algorithm brought that about, but there it was.

Bowie's "Sound and Vision" in the supermarket just now.

IMHO that counts! Although it crystallizes something about this thread to me, which is that there's at least two versions of this. One is where retail playlist designers design or lease some algorithm meant to add "hippitude" (I'm guessing) - hence the Can and Television and Buzzcocks and so on. The other is where an algorithm meant to capture popular, well-liked music omnivorously consumes anything that's ever charted or been semi-popular or was released as a single by a top-40 act.

A third version of this kind of works as a fusion of the first two. BACKGROUND: Both my Mom and my sister are merchandisers for a magazine & other goods company that services most of the major chains in America. This jobs takes then into multiple stores daily, incliding CVS, Walgreens etc. Occasionally they'll ask me about some song they hear in those stores. one that sticks out was a single by JD McPherson, a neo-Rockabilly guy who's on Rounder, which was getting a lot of play in drug and grocery stores. I imagine his label, knowing that there is no place for him on commercial radio, instead turns promotion towards Muzak and related services. His song gets played in stores, getting exposed to way more ears than any terrestrial radio could (since alot of these services can guarantee one spin being heard coast-to-coast in thousands of Krogers), and hopefully a % of those hearing said song will Shazam it with a purchase or stream following.

So you get a song that is already kind of hip and at best will only be semi-popular chart-wise rubbing shoulders with the latest dispatches from Adele, Taylor, or Meghan Trainor in every grocery/drug/clothing store.

I think this was discussed somewhere on ILM when it broke, but it needs to be here too:

http://www.chartattack.com/news/2015/10/09/someone-just-uploaded-their-complete-collection-of-kmart-in-store-background-music/

Not me, but a friend is at Pearson Airport in Toronto and heard the Yardbirds' "I Can't Make Your Way" over the PA.

"Sleeping Satellite" by Tasmin Archer in a local burger joint (#32 in the US).

Lulu: "Oh Me Oh My" at Goodwill

...and Mercy: "Love Can Make You Happy"

Doobie Brothers - "Echoes of Love" at my local supermarket.

War: "All Day Music" at the FedEx Store

Reminds me that I heard "Cisco Kid" last week st the supermarket.

Steve Miller: "Dance Dance Dance" & Boz Scaggs "Breakdown Dead Ahead" at Krogers

The Yardbirds' "For Your Love" at Walmart.

Not obscure, but it's still kind of strange to hear "London Calling" when I'm (lost) in the supermarket.

Holy Shit!

Big Star: "September Gurls" at FUDDRUCKERS

the fuck are you doing at a Fuddruckers

Elton John "Tower of Babel" at Foodtown

ok woah.

Lyle Lovett: "Private Conversation" at Randall's

INXS: "Disappear" at Fuddruckers

Lyle Lovett: "Private Conversation" at Randall's

very austin

...except I was in Houston, but yeah...

I actually used to hear that track a lot in stores late '90s/early '00s.

whoops, i don't know why i always thought randall's was only in central texas

Not exactly obscure, but the huge at the time and now forgotten David Gray: "Avalon" at Jason's Deli

Squeeze: "Pulling Mussels (From A Shell)" at Which Which (not that obscure, but still somewhat surprising on a non-80s only muzak)

Happy Mondays - 'Step One

In Guitar Center.

*'Step On'

OMD - 'Souvenier'

In Starbucks.

Two different days, two early Elvis Costello's

"Crawling To The USA" at a pizza place
"No Action" at Fuddruckers

And this shouldn't count, but I had an extended project meeting at a local coffee house yesterday that was bringing the Punk/Post-Punk with full album airings of Pink Flag and Entertainment!.

Also at Fudds: Talking Heads: "Love-->Building On Fire"

local coffee houses absolutely do not count although that was probably pretty good listening!

It was! The amazing thing to me is this place isn't in some hipster enclave, but rather a strip mall wedged between two fairly large and untrendy subdivisions. I think some of the staff are punks, because I've heard similar stuff in there before, but not to the degree of full albums.

Yesterday the gas station I work at played Reel Big Fish's cover of "Take On Me." I have that on CD and I hadn't even thought about it in fifteen years.

Nirvana: "Molly's Lips", Rolling Stones: "Rip This Joint", and Black Crowes: "Sting Me" at Freebirds

ZZ Top: "Doubleback" at Randalls

Galaxie 500 - Tugboat - IKEA parking lot

wow that's a good one ^

^ Impressive.

Not impossibly obscure, but Morrissey's "Suedehead" is exactly what I didn't expect to hear in Bunnings [massive blokey hardware warehouse in Australia] recently.

Go-Go's: "Speeding" at Kroger

Badfinger "Maybe Tomorrow" at Foodtown

Liz Phair: "Supernova" at Fuddruckers

...and Split Enz: "Six Months In A Leaky Boat"

Classic Gold for this thread:

Lisa Loeb: "I Do" at Taco Bell

Followed up by Carole King: "Jazzman"

Just heard Icicle Works — 'A Whisper to a Scream' in Albertson's.

Georgia Satellites: "Battleship Chains" at Kroger

I heard "Don't Pay the Ferryman" in Safeway.

Otis Redding: "(I've Got) Dreams To Remember" at Fuddruckers

Not sure where else to put this, but I just heard 'Luchini (aka This is It)' by Camp Lo in Starbucks.

"Don't Pull Your Love" by Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds. Huge hit in 1971 but I've not heard it much since.

Really? I grew up hearing that. At least with the advent of the U.S. oldies radio format around the mid-'80s.

Heard that one on the radio yesterday.

My local oldies station has redefined oldies to skew more late 70s/80s. Much more likely to hear The Eagles and Phil Collins than early 70s Grass Roots/Guess Who/3 Dog Night-type stuff.

Talk about obscure! A version of "Don't Pull Your Love" was one of the final Sam & Dave singles on Atlantic (#36 R&B, #102 Pop in late '71).

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

I had that on some Edsel or Demon or Ace collection, but yeah never heard it over a public PA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhwOwl1KfSU

I remember my mom singing it as "Don't throw your love out on the table," but whether this was her mishearing, her mocking one of ours, or just her making fun of the song I cannot say.

Wilco: "Born Alone" at WalMart

Lenka: "The Show" at El Pollo Loco

I've heard this at a few places in the last year or so. Thought it was a bigger hit (only got to #25 on the "Billboard Adult Pop Songs Chart"--whatever that is)

Humble Pie: "I Don't Need No Doctor" at Burger King

"The Wire" by Haim at Vons.

such a great change of pace. loved this album and have yet to even play the new one.

"Allison Road" by Gin Blossoms at Vons

adore that one, changes my whole day any time i hear it

Just heard "4th of July" by X at Whole Foods, made my day.

Aimee Mann: "Save Me" at Buc-ee's (fancy truckstop)

At CVS right now: Collective Soul, "Run." I remember it having a nice but short run on alt radio, and being momentarily appreciated by a friend of mine who was a runner, but otherwise not sure I've heard it since idk early 2000.

Funky Green Dogs 'Fired Up' in KMart.

KC and the Sunshine Band's "Please Don't Go" at Trader Joe's

I know it was a #1 but I don't think I had heard Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" in decades before I heard it at CVS last week.

Wait, really??! I hear it all the time.

If you'd said "Leave a Light On," I'd believe it.

Totally possible that it's actually on all the time and I only paid attention when the music was really loud in CVS the other day.

Actually, I just started watching a Black Mirror episode and it opened with "Heaven" so.

"Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)" by Reunion (featuring Joey Levine) at Vons

Filter: "Take A Picture" at CVS.

that one's such an oddball, it was REALLY big but for a very short time and then dropped off the face of the earth.

I think people genuinely don't remember who did it. And even if you know some stuff, connecting it as the "Hey Man Nice Shot" guys isn't easy.

I liked how Alternative Press described it as '"Solsbury Hill" failing to get its 90 Day chip from A.A.' in the original review.

it has persisted on ac radio

hey dad what do you think about your son now

i found that song so confusing as a kid, if only i had wikipedia at the time

Filter's frontman, and founding member Richard Patrick has said that the song is about him getting drunk on an airplane and taking off all of his clothes.[1]

Well that's... unexpected. Not sure if I could have handled that information in 1999. I think I'e posted about this on ilx before but i had just had my first kiss, with someone met on a summer vacation far away. The idea of traveling on airplanes and feeling like a newborn and needing a picture of someone in order to remember them.... it was all charged with ~~big feelings~~.

You know what would really stun me to hear in any circumstance, though, would be that album's previous, "remind them we rock, before rolling out the hit" single, "Welcome to the Fold." True to form, it'd already died on alt-rock radio by the time "Take a Picture" went crossover, and it's a dreadfully unfashionable form of industrial-tinged grunge-metal that has no plausible constituency today. Even "Lakini's Juice" has more of a cultural footprint among people like me who were teenagers at the right time.

can everyone aGREE that no one should be left alone

By no means obscure, but I've heard Livin' La Vida Loca twice at the supermarket in the past few months and each time I was like 'whoa, what ska song is this?' right up until he gets to the 'make you take your clothes off' lyric. Then I'm like 'shit, you got me again Ricky Martin.'

I'm more likely to hear "She's All I Ever Had" at CVS.

"Shake Your Bon Bon" or nothing!

Madness: "It Must Be Love" at Randall's

LTD - "Back In Love Again." Love that song.

A cover version of Roxy Music "More Than This"

i heard hang a picture by thee oh sees at a sheetz the other day

Carly Rae Jepsen 'Warm Blood' in Panda Express 3 or 4 days ago. Took me a minute to process what was happening.

Nice!