Obscure Singles Heard at CVS

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.

Eisley: "Golly Sandra" at James Coney Island.

R.E.M. - "Carnival of Sorts" at the coffee shop

Not to be the obscurity police, but isn't early REM pretty on-brand for a coffee shop?

Valid question. When I heard it, this thread was the first thing I thought of. Like, deep cut for 2019. Can't remember what came on next, but def was not thread-worthy.

There should be an alternative thread to this where we say "I heard 'More Than a Feeling' at Sufficient Grounds!"

Friend & Lover: "Reach Out Of The Darkness"
Hollies: "Here I Go Again"
Moody Blues: "Question"

All in almost that order at Goodwill.

Almost because there was possibly a non-obscure album track snuck in between somewhere?

The not-obscure enough "She's About A Mover" came after the Hollies.

Talking Heads: "(Nothing But) Flowers"* and Elliott Smith: "Waltz #2 (XO)" at Jack-In-The-Box.

*Actually have this a lot whilst out and about over the years.

Madonna’s “Deeper and Deeper” sounds good early in the morning at Whole Foods.

Rolling Stones: "Heart of Stone" & (Young) Rascals: "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" at Goodwill.