“Fat Bottomed Girls” by Queen at the gym.
Yes, seriously.
In a small cafe in Chang Mai, Thailand I heard a Muzak-y version, in Thai, of the immortal classic “Kung Fu Fighting” that took me completely by surprise.
“Release the Bats” by The Birthday Party, in a Morrisons supermarket. That’s what happens when you have a bored student working there. Me and my partner had a bit of discussion with said bored student, it involved transferring “Friendcatcher” and “Deep in the Woods” via bluetooth, seeing as they are on the same EP. I don’t know if she played them.
Eating last night at a plush hotel restaurant (had to be there for work) with piped-in low-volume oldies, I was surprised to hear Dylan’s vitriolic “Positively Fourth Street” as one of the selections.
Earlier today I heard “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads at Pier 1 Imports.
When I visited Antelope Canyon I was amazed to hear Wish You Were Here, played a local kid on his guitar. I dropped a dollar in his hat.
On my recent Disney cruise, when I was on the pool deck, the live entertainers included a cover of the Violent Femme’s “Blister in the Sun.”
1968- Student tour of Europe.
We were in Zurich and had just gotten off a bus that took us as far up this alp as possible. We all got off to walk the rest of the way and were admiring the awe inspiring grandeur around us when I heard faint strains of music from a bistro at the top of the mountain. As we got closer I realized they were blasting “A Whiter Shade of Pale”. I guess I was expecting Bach or Beethoven.
I may have posted this before, I can’t remember…I was walking past a bar in Reykjavik, Iceland and the band inside was playing “Sweet Home Alabama”. What makes this story better is that I’m from Alabama and the trip was for my job at the Univ. of Alabama.
During the segue to commercial during a Red Sox game some years back they played the opening riff from Superchunk’s “Hyper Enough”.
Mercedes Boys by Pebbles just last year at a WalMart.
A couple of years ago I walked into Walgreens and I heard the original Telstar! I mentioned it to the HS girl clerk and she said earlier they played Purple People Eater.
Sisters of Mercy’s “Maryanne”, original studio version (aka not Muzak) at a grocery store.
I once heard “Goodbye Horses” at Old Navy. I can neither confirm nor deny that I did a little shuffle dance in the aisle.
…a few months ago on this board I read a thread about “The Curse” by Josh Ritter. Its a wonderfully haunting song without the video: and with the video it is simply an amazing piece of work. To my surprise a couple of days after watching the video I was sitting in a cafe when the song started playing. Because of the haunting nature of the song I kept looking over my shoulder to see if there was a mummy, watching, waiting…
All 12+ minutes of Bob Dylan’s Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands in a coffee shop in Quito, Ecuador.
“Thrasher” by Neil Young in a grocery store a few days ago.
I know there have been several threads on this over the years, but 10 minutes of searches brought up this one (I believe there was a more recent one), but, anyhoo… I’d say a major television network would qualify:
Had Sunday Night Football on last night, and during some graphic they were displaying heard an instrumental cut that I know is in my collection. Was up in bed for 2 hours driving myself nuts, until it finally hit me: Cat DNA by the Ozric Tentacles. Note this is a band which is pretty far removed from the mainstream, and off an album which is 25 years old.
Most unexpected would have to be “Reel Around the Sun,” the opening number from Riverdance, arranged for Asian instruments and playing as background music at a Chinese buffet I was dining at.
My girlfriend and I were taking a drive in the country when we came upon an old-fashioned country fair, where the band was cheerily rendering “Carmelita,” that rustic tune about heroin addiction.