rostasi Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 (edited) A family member wanted to go to "Macaroni Grill" to celebrate a birthday tonight. In the middle of long bouts of bellowing baritones and shrieking sopranos, suddenly I hear "Mambo Italiano" - done not by Rosemary Clooney or someone else relatively well-known - but by Alma Cogan! I was so taken aback that I completely lost my train of thought and mentioned this to my sweetheart. I then heard, "The other night, you didn't know that it was Pearl Jam and tonight you recognize Alma whatshername?" Anyway, do any of you have any stories of hearing the VERY unexpected song in a public place? ® Edited March 31, 2009 by rostasi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Driving home from Tampa, we stopped in a McDonald's in Orlando for a late dinner. To my absolute astonishment, the debut recording of "Watermelon Man" was on while we walked in, and while we ate our food, a Dexter BN recording came on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Twenty years ago I regularly drank my morning coffee at the Burger King in Tucker, GA, northeast of Atlanta. Apparently the manager liked jazz, because I heard Song for my Father by Horace Silver and other jazz songs over the sound system every day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewHill Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 There's a department store I cut through to get to the mall-some clothes shop-but they were playing Joe Henderson's Mode for Joe one day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikelz777 Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 I don't remember specifically what they were playing but once I had lunch at a Wendy's restaurant and they were playing some very hip, classic Blue Note hard-bop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 I got to a meeting half an hour too early once, so I nipped into the coffee bar on the block, to find myself listening to David Newman & Ray Charles "Hard times". MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Weiss Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 I heard the Berg piano sonata in a Newark Airport terminal a few years ago. Really puts you in the mood to fly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.:.impossible Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Just yesterday, on the way home from the Drive-By Truckers show in Asheville, I had to make an emergency "pit stop". We chose Panera Bread. As I sat, contemplating Keith Jarrett's merits, on the overhead was... HERBIE NICHOLS!!! What?!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 I heard Weather Report on a porn soundtrack once. Not that I ever watch that sort of thing, of course...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 (edited) Do we have a thread on this already? Yeah, but it's an old one, and the only reason I found it is because I figured "Phinupi" would be a good search filter, since that was my story! Edited February 2, 2009 by Big Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rostasi Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 (edited) Thanks Al for that! Just got back from a Chinese place...they were playing Freddie Hubbard's "Little Sunflower".... Do you remember if that Chinese place was anywhere in the North Texas area? (heh, heh...) R~~ Edited February 2, 2009 by rostasi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 I heard Weather Report on a porn soundtrack once. Not that I ever watch that sort of thing, of course...... Aren't they on just about every 80s porn sountrack? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.D. Posted February 3, 2009 Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 Couple of recent surprises: 1) I was at an art gallery opening, and they were playing a Charlie Parker CD. I hadn't really noticed the music (wasn't playing very loud), but all of a sudden, holy shit, Blues for Alice! 2) Even more surprisingly, a home goods/furnishings store was playing a tune from Stan Getz's People Time album. Didn't stick around long enough to see if they were spinning a whole disc, but I seriously doubt it was radio. Not a really common album, either... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcello Posted February 3, 2009 Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 It doesn't surprise me what I hear in a store or restaurant these days because they all subscribe to MUZAK or another service that has many channels that they steam, including a variety of jazz channels. So it's that you just got lucky, not that you came upon some underground hip store manager. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.D. Posted February 3, 2009 Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 If not Muzak, probably a satellite radio station... It was a small, relatively "hip" store, and I thought there was a slim chance they were really playing the disc, but not likely enough to bother inquiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 Couple of recent surprises: 1) I was at an art gallery opening, and they were playing a Charlie Parker CD. I hadn't really noticed the music (wasn't playing very loud), but all of a sudden, holy shit, Blues for Alice! 2) Even more surprisingly, a home goods/furnishings store was playing a tune from Stan Getz's People Time album. Didn't stick around long enough to see if they were spinning a whole disc, but I seriously doubt it was radio. Not a really common album, either... Now that last one is pretty startling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 Actually, we were in the Fog City Diner recently and heard a classic Blue Note hardbop track. I couldn't place exactly what it was, but it was very familiar. I said, "Hey, I've got this." My wife replied, "I know. I've heard you play it." Considering the venue it wasn't too surprising though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjluke68 Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 Panera always has Jazz playing - sometimes extremely loud in the bathrooms! I'm sure they're corporate CDs but it's nice to see that decision coming down from corporate America... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tapscott Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 At the old Sam the Record Man store at 347 Yonge St. in Toronto (a great store in its day) there were 3 floors - the 1st floor had rock and country and the cashiers; 2nd floor - jazz and classical; 3rd floor, I think, had sale items and concert ticket sales. When you came in at ground level, they were always playing rock music at an ear-splitting level. I don't know how anyone could have worked on that floor. You could hardly speak to any of the check-out clerks. If you were a jazz or classical fan, you raced for the stairs to get to the 2nd floor as quickly as possible. One day, and this would be around 1979 or 1980, I walked in the front door and to my absolute amazement, they were playing the Bill Evans Trio throughout the whole store - 1st floor included. It was truly beautiful, like I had walked into musical heaven. I was never so proud to be a jazz fan as I was that day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpklich Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 At the "Rock and Roll McDonalds" in Chicago on the second floor, they play jazz (50's-60s Prestige stuff when I've been there in the evenings). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewHill Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 Giant Eagle had The Replacements on while I was shopping last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 I heard an early Elvis Costello song, "Pump It Up," at my bank today. My BANK. Truly, the end times are upon us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewHill Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Cutting through Talbots (a women's clothing store) to get to the mall, and Dave Brubeck (with Paul Desmond) was playing. I asked the employees behind the desk if they knew who it was and neither one had a clue. This is the second time that they've had jazz playing there, the first time was Joe Henderson! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Giant Eagle had The Replacements on while I was shopping last night. This frightens me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewHill Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Giant Eagle had The Replacements on while I was shopping last night. This frightens me. It was a cut from the album "Tim" of all things! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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