Obscure Singles Heard at CVS

KLF's Justified and Ancient (Stand by the JAMs) at IKEA

(though looking it up, it made it to 11 on the Hot 100, so not actually obscure?)

Neil Sedaka “Laughter in the Rain” at a taco shop in San Diego.

“State Farm (Extended Version),” by Yaz(oo), at Chipotle just now

Chipotle plays some good sh*t

They’re in the middle of a wild punk-funk block... I’ve been trying to use Siri to ID the tracks, but she only knows some of them. NP: “The Mirror,” by someone called Damaged Bug

Now it’s “Huff & Puff,” by Just a Band(?)

I realize some of these who? artists are probably in the realm of stuff that’s chiefly licensed out for commercials etc.; but it sounds pretty great played loud at lunchtime. Whoever puts these mixes together is on-point.

Yeah, I heard The Slits' version of "...Grapevine" in Chipotle once, alongside something that sounded like "Radio Clash" but wasn't. If that programming is coming out of Chipotle corporate HQ, I'm impressed.

Chipotle just moved their headquarters from Denver, Colorado to Newport Beach, California and maybe that has something to do with it?

VP, Soundscapes

I guess it’s time for a moratorium on Chipotle posts — but I just stopped in to pick up dinner, and heard “Falling and Laughing,” by Orange Juice.

Paul's Westerberg ("Love Untold") & McCartney ("My Brave Face") at Kroger.

Ha, I heard My Brave Face at Kroger too. Been in my head for a month now.

Mother Love Bone’s “Stardog Champion” at Five Guys. I forgot that it even existed

Stevie Wonder: "Do I Do" at the Fed Ex Store.

De La Soul's "Buddy" at a Minneapolis airport bar

does "do i do" really qualify as obscure

It doesn't seem to me to have had the shelf life of other Stevie hits, and I don't hear it out there that much if at all.

If you want to be technical, a lot of what gets posted here--particularly in regards to major artists--are closer to deep cuts than genuine obscurities.

Boston: "Something About You" at Randall's.

All at Five Guys:

Spoon: "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb"
Foo Fighters: "Next Year"
Steve Miller: "Living In The USA"
Ratt: "Back For More"
Bad Religion: "21st Century Digital Boy"

I really want to know where my little Foodtown gets their music.

"Little Children" by Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas was obscure enough, but then they hit me with this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyxU9jmk21E

"Walk Tall (Like a Man)" by the Cincinnati girl group The 2 of Clubs from 1967. Going by the YouTube comments, this was a pretty big regional hit in the Midwest. I'm now obsessed with this song.

Blur "There's No Other Way" at Target.

it's funny as this song was not played on KROQ at the time as this was not a hit in America. MWRS 103.1 was around and did play it in the Los Angeles market.

meantg, MARS

Both at CVS:

Evan & Jaron: "Crazy For This Girl"
Steve Winwood: "The Finer Things"

Was walking into Trader Joe's just as Slade's "Get Down and Get With It" was ending.

Gin Blossoms: "Alison Road" at Fuddruckers.

'70s Gold at HEB:

Delaney & Bonnie: "Never Ending Song of Love"
Linda Ronstadt: "Silver Threads & Golden Needles"
John Stewart: "Gold"
Bob Welch: "Sentimental Lady"

Had I stayed longer I might have heard "Werewolves of London" or "Magnet And Steel" and completed the "Non-Mac Mac" hits set.

Grand Funk Railroad: "Shinin' On" and Elton John: "Little Jeanie" at Walmart Neighborhood Market.

The Police: "Driven To Tears" at Jack In The Box

That's when you know the Lord's just fuckin' with ya.

"Walk Tall (Like a Man)" is a totally awesome discovery, thanks for that!

If you're interested, it appears on one of the better Where the Girls Are volumes: https://acerecords.co.uk/where-the-girls-are-volume-6

(pushes thick glasses up on bridge of nose; runs hand thru greasy hair)

That volume ends with "Jilted," one of my all-time fave songs. ALL. TIME. FAVE.

"Walk Tall (Like a Man)" is a totally awesome discovery

I Shazam'ed it several times in the supermarket but came up empty-handed. I just had to hope that "Walk Tall" was the title so I could search my hard drive when I got home.

I've also got a British version by The New Faces on Sequel's Here Come the Girls, Vol. 8 comp, which isn't as good. Strangely, it's titled "(Walk Tall) Like a Man" instead of "Walk Tall (Like a Man)". Also strangely, the 2 of Clubs version sounds very British--I hear a lot of Petula Clark in the vocals.

Together or separately, the songwriters Paul Vance & Lee Pockriss also wrote:

Perry Como "Catch a Falling Star"
Brian Hyland "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini"
The Cuff Links "Tracy"
Simon Dupree "Kites"
Anita Bryant "My Little Corner of the World"
Shelley Fabares "Johnny Angel"
Clint Holmes "Playground in My Mind"
The Detergents "Leader of the Laundromat"
David Geddes "Run Joey Run"
and songs for the movie The Phantom Tollbooth

Donovan: "Epistle To Dippy" at Buc-ee's

god damn this thread fascinates me. it's just people saying "here's some shitty music I don't even really care about that I heard playing at some shitty place that I'd prefer not to go to but I kinda have to based on convenience and/or my pharmaceutical obligations." yet I keep reading it and making note of this seemingly arbitrary cross-section of hints gone by. I listen to enough of my own tastes, now it's time I be suggested that I listen to a forgotten Mike and Mechanics psuedo-hit because the tastemakers from the CVS muzak department decided it

and why do they seem to like Paul Westerberg so much

I just heard Portishead’s “Glory Box” booming out of someone’s open car window. Not too obscure, but cool to encounter in that setting.

apparently songs that were big radio hits once are obscure so "glory box" counts

I think "songs you were surprised to hear in a retail establishment" would be a more accurate title but this is an okay place to remark that you heard "Love Vigilantes" in Safeway or whatever. It's harmless fun; let ppl have it ffs.

The posts challenging whether something is or is not an "obscure single" are to be expected. It's already an odd category: singles tend to be less obscure than other songs. But I don't see what that debate adds to the discussion except to pooh-pooh the whole premise. No one is forcing you to read the thread; just look at one of the bajillion other ones if this one doesn't meet your high standards I guess?

Fwiw, in the quoted post by Croup in this thread's op, he's talking about hearing "Sleeping Bag", a forgotten Top Ten Pop hit by ZZ Top, at CVS.

this thread is ILM HOF material IMO

I love the thread because I love the act of putting on a song, I just love loving real songs for real reasons even more

Luv 2 luv 2 luv ya

baffled utterly by del griffith's interpretation of what goes on itt

last minute wedding gear shopping at Nordstrom Rack, serenaded by the Acid House Kings

Best wishes!

not my wedding, but thanks!

Cheap Trick: "Big Eyes" (studio version) at Walmart.

Jane's Addiction: "Classic Girl" at Freebirds.