Obscure Singles Heard at CVS

My local oldies station has an all-Sinatra show, broadcast weekly. And I've heard Nat King Cole, Jerry Vale and Roger Whittaker ("The Last Farewell") a few times. And Fabian. And Sly And The Family Stone and Curtis Mayfield and Badfinger. It's a weird station, but I dig it.

In fact, I just wandered over to their site to see what they've played today, and there's Jerry Vale! And Anne Murray!

http://www.albanymagic.com/

Huh, that reminds me of this Oldies station my Aunt used to have on her Warner Cable. A typical six song run would be like "Love Is Blue"-"Jailhouse Rock"-"Call Me" (Chris Montez)-"I Can't Help Myself"-"Soul Finger"-"Daytripper".

there's Jerry Vale! And Anne Murray!

And Bobby Goldsboro! Some oldies get lost to time because they really were terrible.

good post dyl, i buy all that. there's a whole canon of idk, "VH1 Music" that's vanishing from the wild perhaps.

https://i.imgur.com/70GionJ.png

Bonnie Raitt: "Used To Rule The World" at Jack-In-The-Box.

Bee Gees, "You Win Again" at Old Navy.

^^^ I did not know this song, and assumed it was a Hank Williams cover.

A chart-topper in several European countries, but peaked at only #75 in the US... I first heard it thanks to Tom Ewing's "Popular" column at Freakytrigger.

Stone Temple Pilots: "Sin"
The Kings: "This Beat Goes On"
L7: "Pretend We're Dead"

All at Freebirds.

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

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, February 8, 2017 6:10 PM (two years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Just heard it again tonight, different supermarket.

I'm not even sure I knew that 'Sunday Morning' was a single, but I honestly don't think I've heard it since the last time I listened to Tragic Kingdom 20+ years ago. Until today, that is.

At CVS, specifically.

I was surprised to hear "I Am Not a Robot" at a coffee shop in Asheville, NC yesterday but that probably doesn't count cause offbeat music is kind of the coffee shop shtick.

I feel like "Sunday Morning" quickly became the consensus "secret best song on the album" pick, among nearly everybody who bought Tragic Kingdom. With diamond-certified sales, it's understandable some of those people became algorithm-programmers for the CVS muzak providers, but I get and share the surprise at 90s alt-rock deep cuts making the cut.

not that obscure, but i still wasn't expecting to hear the sundays' 'here's where the story ends' in a cvs

1:17 PM (five months ago)

I hear that Sundays song in retail situations frequently, always a treat.

― spastic heritage, Sunday, January 20, 2019 7:05 PM (five months ago)

I heard 'Can't Be Sure' at Walmart a few days ago. slightly more unexpected considering that it didn't even chart in the US

xp I worked part-time at a retail clothing chain in the early/mid-2000s, and “Sunday Morning” frequently appeared on the monthly in-store playlist.... I grew to like/appreciate the song a lot.

probably posted this before - I don't shop at basic clothing store Next very often, but when I do, I nearly always hear 'I don't want control of you' by Teenage Fanclub.

Joe Jackson "You Can't Get What You Want" inside a Friday late-night grocery store.

A trip to my dentist and his Sirius light rock station usually offers up at least one obscurity, between the Elton John and Fleetwood Mac. This morning was "Beautiful" by Gordon Lightfoot (#58 on Billboard's Hot 100, #30 Easy Listening in 1972.) I had only the vaguest memory of this one.

JD MacPherson: "Lucky Penny" at Jack-In-The-Box.

Also heard "It's Bad You Know" there for like the third or fourth time.

Dwight Twilley: "Girls" at Chuy's.

...and The Modern Lovers: "Roadrunner".

...and Peter Godwin: "Images of Heaven"

Oh man, I love that song... and only ever encountered it on VH1 Classic, back when that was a thing.

Nilsson: Me and My Arrow in deirdorfs or beetborts or whatever the stl supermarkets are called.

Wow, great tune

Jason Mraz: "Sleep All Day" at Kroger.

Gap Band: "Sweeter Than Candy" at Walgreens.

I didn't even know that one! Late career, from a movie soundtrack, and no pop chart action.

...and it has a brief rap break!

R.E.M., “Fall On Me” at Chipotle.

Buy some guac and add some guac
And sell the guac, yeah sell the guac

Chipotle? More like, "Falls Out Of Me" an hour later, amirite?

lol'ing at my desk

Lol on me.

Beastie Boys: "Paul Revere" at... WALMART.

At first I thought it was employees blasting it in the warehouse, but there was a "Walmart Radio" bumper afterwards.

Did they helpfully guide you to the wiffle ball bats in aisle 9?

Cops got your gun? See Aisle 12!

i was getting some groceries and heard Television's "See No Evil" in the middle of a mix of more expected supermarket music like Justin Timberlake and Post Malone, a nice little surprise

— Al Shipley (@alshipley) July 26, 2019

Television - See No Evil, at Walgreens.

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, June 4, 2015 12:55 PMbookmarkflaglink

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

― Little Latin Lupe Feebfiasco (Dan Peterson), Thursday, June 4, 2015 1:06 PM bookmarkflaglink

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

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, June 4, 2015 1:08 PMbookmarkflaglink

bookmarkflaglink

Spoon, “Don’t You Evah,” at Nordstrom Rack.

It's hardly CVS, but the local family diner is playing tracks from the Portishead s/t album, and I'm finding it extremely incongruous.

New Order's "Age of Consent" at Whole Foods.

"Bizarre Love Triangle", I would have expected. Maybe even "Blue Monday", if they had the edgier Sirius station on. But "Age of Consent" brought a smile to my face.

And the shopper next to you was all, "Oh, I haven't heard this R.E.M. song in years!"

Adult Alternative motherlode at Jack-In-The-Box:

Pretenders: "Show Me"
Crowded House: "Weather With You"
Collective Soul: "No More No Less"
10,000 Maniacs: "Few and Far Between"

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings: "100 Days, 100 Nights" at FedEx Office.

Not obscure, but my Foodtown hit me with a stealth Michael McDonald three-fer last night:

Steely Dan - Peg
Doobie Brothers - What a Fool Believes
Carly Simon - You Belong to Me

Which makes me wonder once again where they get their music--no algorithm would have come up with that.

Once went to a restaurant where the playlist was weirdly similar to my wife's main playlist. We asked about how they chose the music and they told us they usually just choose a sing they like and then dial up the Spotify radio for that song. Maybe you encountered something similar.