“Big country” is absolutely obscure in the US
― calstars, Thursday, 23 November 2023 21:52 (ten months ago) link
Really?
― Shifty Henry’s Swing Club (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 23 November 2023 21:53 (ten months ago) link
It hit No. 3 on the Top Rock Tracks chart and No. 17 on the Hot 100… I definitely knew it as a kid, at the time.
― This field is required (morrisp), Thursday, 23 November 2023 21:55 (ten months ago) link
(I think the video also got a lot of play, but we didn’t have MTV yet)
― This field is required (morrisp), Thursday, 23 November 2023 21:56 (ten months ago) link
Loads of MTV play, plus they performed it live on SNL. It wouldn’t surprise me to hear it now, though it hasn’t had quite the traction of a “Don’t You Want Me” or something of that ilk.
― Josefa, Thursday, 23 November 2023 21:59 (ten months ago) link
It’s not obscure in the US
― brimstead, Thursday, 23 November 2023 22:47 (ten months ago) link
not obscure but never played on current 80s radio, in my experience. feel like there has been a great culling of the canon. i don't remember 80s radio of even ten years ago being as limited as it is now.
― slugbuggy, Friday, 24 November 2023 10:01 (ten months ago) link
like, i don't expect to hear shock the monkey or switching to glide but they don't play any duran duran other than hungry like the wolf or rio or any culture club other than karma chameleon or any inxs other than need you tonight. under these conditions everything she wants would be considered obscure because i've never heard my local 80s radio station play it so i assume it's dropped out of what anyone under 45 or so would be familiar with.
― slugbuggy, Friday, 24 November 2023 10:08 (ten months ago) link
I hear "In a Big Country" fairly often in the wild. ymmv
― stuffing your suit pockets with cold, stale chicken tende (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 24 November 2023 10:39 (ten months ago) link
And I hear "Everything She Wants" on A/C radio, not "eighties radio" fwiw
― stuffing your suit pockets with cold, stale chicken tende (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 24 November 2023 10:40 (ten months ago) link
oh yeah, i heard glenn frey's true love (obscure and forgotten imo) out and about at a speedway gas station not too long ago, and they played everything she wants during a previous visit. that's why i invoked that particular song: it occurred to me i hadn't heard it on the one media outlet that specifically should be playing that sort of thing on the regular. when your gas station's music playlist is better curated than the radio format that has that thing in its name then what kind of world are we living in.
― slugbuggy, Friday, 24 November 2023 10:54 (ten months ago) link
now see "True Love" is obscure -- and dreadful
― stuffing your suit pockets with cold, stale chicken tende (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 24 November 2023 10:55 (ten months ago) link
"In a Big Country" at Trader Joe's, is that an obscure song in the US?
I'll say this: It's the only song by Big Country that isn't obscure in the U.S.
― pplains, Friday, 24 November 2023 15:32 (ten months ago) link
I faintly recall a follow-up, but I can't remember what it was called without googling.
― pplains, Friday, 24 November 2023 15:33 (ten months ago) link
x-post lol, exactly
― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Friday, 24 November 2023 15:40 (ten months ago) link
I can imagine a dumb late in the show SNL sketch about "The Very Best of Big Country": "In A Big Country", "In A Small Country", "The Commonwealth I Am In" etc.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 24 November 2023 15:45 (ten months ago) link
Spice Girls: "Spice Up Your Life" & Lakeside: "Fantastic Voyage" at Torchy's Tacos
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 25 November 2023 04:01 (ten months ago) link
vc corporate era torchys here has just fucked their playlist to shit here. nuthin gold can stay
― digital chirping and whirring (Hunt3r), Saturday, 25 November 2023 04:38 (ten months ago) link
That's what happened with Freebirds, which is now all uptempo Top 40 through the ages and/or contemporary EDM.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 25 November 2023 06:01 (ten months ago) link
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, 25 November 2023 16:28 (ten months ago) link
"More More More" by Andrea True Connection in an Anthropologie.
― Lily Dale, Sunday, 26 November 2023 15:39 (ten months ago) link
Took me forever to figure out that "More More More" is the loop behind "Steal My Sunshine"
― Hideous Lump, Monday, 27 November 2023 06:41 (ten months ago) link
Talking Heads “Wild Wild Life” while grocery shopping late night at Ralphs in Pasadena.
― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 27 November 2023 07:37 (ten months ago) link
I love Wild Wild Life.
― 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.
― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Monday, 27 November 2023 11:31 (ten months ago) link
"Wild Wild Life" and "And She Was" are easily the two biggest Heads songs I hear most often in the wild.
― stuffing your suit pockets with cold, stale chicken tende (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 27 November 2023 12:45 (ten months ago) link
"(Nothing But) Flowers" too, which is funny to hear whilst out shopping, given what it's about.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 27 November 2023 14:17 (ten months ago) link
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
― dyl, Monday, 27 November 2023 15:23 (ten months ago) link
KLF - "Last Train to Transcentral" at No Frills supermarket in Canada.
― MarkoP, Friday, 1 December 2023 22:13 (nine months ago) link
"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.
― visiting, Sunday, 10 December 2023 23:17 (nine months ago) link
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.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 10 December 2023 23:39 (nine months ago) link
Dave Edmunds: "Run Run Rudolph" at Freddy's
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 20 December 2023 02:38 (nine months ago) link
Talk Talk - The Music Machine at Prost. The next song was CSN.
― digital chirping and whirring (Hunt3r), Wednesday, 20 December 2023 22:54 (nine months ago) link
Not sure if that's "Talk Talk" by The Music Machine or "The Music Machine" by Talk Talk
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 20 December 2023 22:56 (nine months ago) link
The garageynuggetsy one
― digital chirping and whirring (Hunt3r), Wednesday, 20 December 2023 23:00 (nine months ago) link
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?
― Confessions of an Oatmeal Eater (I M Losted), Wednesday, 20 December 2023 23:34 (nine months ago) link
Santigold's "Disparate Youth" at CVS.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 31 December 2023 15:41 (eight months ago) link
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!)
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 2 January 2024 20:37 (eight months ago) link
"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.
― Kim Kimberly, Saturday, 6 January 2024 16:02 (eight months ago) link
OH PLaCE YOUR HANDSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSssON MY HOPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
PUT YOUR HANDS ONPUT YOUR HANDS ONNNNNN
― Disco Biollante (Neanderthal), Saturday, 6 January 2024 17:18 (eight months ago) link
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.)
― clemenza, Sunday, 7 January 2024 19:26 (eight months ago) link
And now "Do Ya," although not loud enough to tell if it's the Move or ELO--the latter, probably.
― clemenza, Sunday, 7 January 2024 19:32 (eight months ago) link
Playing now: "Dead Flowers."
― clemenza, Wednesday, 17 January 2024 18:13 (eight months ago) link
The Urinals song??
― Wooly Bully (2005 Remaster) (morrisp), Wednesday, 17 January 2024 19:57 (eight months ago) link
Rolling Stones I assume
― Disco Biollante (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 17 January 2024 20:10 (eight months ago) link
Yeah...the only one I know.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 17 January 2024 20:40 (eight months ago) link
Ah – well here it is: https://theurinals.bandcamp.com/track/dead-flowers
― Wooly Bully (2005 Remaster) (morrisp), Wednesday, 17 January 2024 23:06 (eight months ago) link
"Riders on the Storm"--I basically never hear that anymore while out in the world.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 23 January 2024 18:37 (eight months ago) link
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
― scott seward, Saturday, 27 January 2024 19:24 (eight months ago) link
also who knew how cool the amherst records youtube channel was!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videos
― scott seward, Saturday, 27 January 2024 19:25 (eight months ago) link
Glenn Medeiros is a school principal in Hawaii now iirc
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 27 January 2024 19:29 (eight months ago) link