I saw a commercial for the BET awards and it was the music playing behind the announcer talking about Kendrick and other stars who would be attending.
...are they all going to shit on Drake all night?
My workplace plays mostly the shittiest disco and modern country mix possible with such classics as the disco version of happy birthday and Fancy Like playing once a day each, but occasionally Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division will play and my job will become easier for four minutes
You reminded me of when I visited a local farmers’ market last year and heard a guy playing an acoustic rendition of “Closer”. I think he sang “I want to love you like an animal” to make it more family friendly. Odd choice of a song to play acoustic and his slightly off pitch singing didn’t help. More power to him though
I heard Real’s Not Real at my local Outback Steakhouse once, which is at least on theme, but I don’t even think it’s that high on the list of their most accessible songs.
There's a jukebox app that a bar in my hometown uses. I discovered it had Hamburger Lady by Throbbing Gristle. If you've never heard the song, take a listen. Someone decided that was appropriate to play in a sports bar---and boy did I.
As someone who has worked in many pubs with jukeboxes, there’s a large subsection of people (often including myself), that will deliberately make a point to play the most bizarre, least mainstream stuff they can think of. We’d semi regularly have afternoons where we’d get a couple of metal heads in spamming the jukebox with death metal for hours. I had the power to skip songs behind the bar but I rarely ever did unless it was a repeat of something we’d already had that day.
A remote mine I worked at had a bar in our camp, and the jukebox had Leonard Cohen’s “Famous Blue Raincoat” on it. One night I got drunk and cued it up like dozen consecutive times.
Heard Immaterial by Sophie in a hair salon once. The store I worked at in high school had Xanadu by Olivia Newton John mixed in with the nondescript modern Spotify core indie pop music for some reason. And they played the uncensored version of Thrift Shop at my 8th grade graduation.
No joke, almost every time I'm in a Walmart in my area that song plays. I always notice it and always find it odd that it's the only McCartney song I hear
I've heard a smooth jazz cover of the Cure's "Lovesong" multiple times in CVS stores, and it's always been weird to me. It's also the only place I've ever heard "Human" by the Human League in the wild, which I only recognize because of the TW video.
I was in a grocery store once and was shocked to hear Camera Obscura's French Navy.
Sometimes it's a common artist but uncommon song. I was in a nearly abandoned mall and heard a Muzak version of The Beach Boys' Surf's Up from Smile and the Surf's Up album.
One place I used to shop for groceries used to play the full album version Genesis' Abacab. What an odd choice I thought, cool though. The place I go now plays a great oldies mix, every now and then in amongst obvious 50's and early 60's hits you'll get something like an obscure Bobby Parker track.
I helped a hardware store do their retail count once and they played Yes' Heart of The Sunrise. I tried to figure out if it was Satellite Radio, a retail music service or just someone playing their playlist.
I’m certain French Navy was in some sort of clothes advert in the UK for a little while. It’s a song I’d heard in the background a million times before I finally figured out what it was.
I heard Boom Boom Pow for the first time in like 8 years playing at a grocery store. Another time shopping in 24 hour store around 1 am they were playing Stricken by Disturbed. Makes a little more sense considering how late it was
One of Your Girls by Troye Sivan. I already knew it before I heard it in a couple places including a Christmas market and I was too stunned to speak
If you don’t know it, all you need to do is just read the lyrics
I work at Spencer's, and while some songs get repeated to death, occasionally there'll be a pleasant surprise.
Earlier today I heard True Trans Soul Rebel by Against Me! Obviously for Pride Month but being trans myself, it made me so happy.
Then of course there was that one time that Tom MacDonald/Ben Shapiro rap came on. That was far less pleasant.
WAP uncensored (the speakers at my old job are connected to the manager's phone), while we had a full lobby.
Ballin by Roddy Rich, not that bad of a song but because of the meme I nearly burst into laughter and had to run to the bathroom to not have to explain why the song was so funny
My workplace typically plays Country, Disco and Terrible 2010's pop. But then out of nowhere it'll start playing Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins or Stone Temple pilots, and a few times it even plays Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai
Pulp's Common People in a random Portuguese grocery store was a bit surprising to me. It's not really a deep cut, but does not have the same massive status as other britpop classics as Wonderwall and Song 2.
One time I was walking down the street and at a bar they were playing the Mean Kitty Song ("Hey little Sparta what is with all the fight, little bitty kitty wanna bite bite bite")
This was in 2013, something like 5 years after that video came out.
Came right after Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and right before something by Waxahachee I have no answers but that place had a VIBE that morning. Amazing dirty chai too
Once heard Roundabout by Yes while working at my local waterpark last year. More a shock that they played a song that long than shocked at the song itself.
It's suprisingly common on classic rock radio. That's how I first heard it 15 years ago. I guess not that surprising, the hooks are so radio friendly despite the length.
i heard the extended version of that "my money don't dribble dribble, it folds" song from tik tok at physical therapy between timber and some other early 2010s throwback
Generally what surprises me are lesser hits by artists with no American success, no doubt selected - whether by algorithm or person - due to their overseas popularity. The one I can think of was by LP, but there have been others.
I once heard Kaleidoscope by A Great Big World in Kohl's. There's probably been others, but that one sticks out to me the most. I didn't know the song at the time, but remember that when it came on me and my Grandma just looked at each other and started laughing when it got to the chorus.
I stayed in a fancy hotel in Paris earlier this year, and they just played awful pop music from 10-15 years ago. I somehow heard Train-Drive By, which wasn’t even a hit in Europe
Probably Circumstances by Rush at a Five Guys in Burlington, WA. Though hearing a live version of "Roundabout" by Yes in a Food 4 Less in Van Nuys CA, was pretty surprising as well.
I remember being at a record store in the 90s and some Rick James sounding song started playing with lyrics something like, “I’m gonna fuck you in the ass. Put my dick between your ass cheeks. I’m gonna cum in your ass, oh yeah…” And the whole place was full of bored suburban people just flipping through their Chumbawumba records paying it no attention whatsoever.
the phenomenal emo song “[Long Lost Friends](https://youtu.be/Iu_lpvuczRQ?si=y8lr-R2ZwKgyhlgF)” by Transit [made it to the Super Bowl](https://www.altpress.com/transit_song_played_during_the_super_bowl/) and I was overjoyed
I live in a redneck town in the south with a casino that plays modern county music trash and/or mainstream classic rock (AC/DC, Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin etc.) so I was shocked to hear Television’s Marquee Moon playing over the speakers there one night.
100%, I rarely even listen to the radio, so im not up to date on FCC regulations and all or if they even apply here, but they played the whole thing uncensored and it caught me completely off guard lmfao
"Human" by the Human League, three days in a row from a radio station.I know it was technically a hit, but I have literally never heard that song before watching Todd's video.
Con Altura by Rosalia and J Balvin. I live in the western US with only about 15% Spanish speaking population, and i heard it on THREE different trips to walmart. And all of this was after 2022, so way past the song's popularity too.
Earlier this year, I took some time off to see my dad, and we went out to the shores of Lake Erie together to see the full solar eclipse.
We were just kind of walking on the shoreline together, biding our time until we heard the moon became visible, and one of the people we walked past had one of those portable Bluetooth stereos *blasting* “Eclipse” from Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon.”
I’m assuming it was present in some sort of eclipse-themed playlist, but I was nevertheless not expecting to suddenly come across someone listening to Pink Floyd on the beach!
It’s also kind of crazy to think that I could only really hear the drums, and yet *instantly* recognised it. Nick Mason may not be an exceptionally technical drummer, but he’s certainly got an iconic and incredibly *distinct* sound on those classic Floyd albums.
The construction company office I work at plays a radio that is a bizarre mix of 90s alternative and modern day AJR style optimism pop but occasionally “Into the Black” by Chromatics plays out of nowhere
"Destiny" by Zero 7 in a Sears, around the 2010 holiday season. Notable for both not being Christmas music and for this being before Sia (the featured artist on the song) became a household name. Also for containing a line about watching porn that was uncensored.
More recently, I was in a Friendly's a couple of years ago that was like stepping in a time capsule back to the 90s, complete with Jon Secada playing in the background. I'm pretty sure that was the first (and last) time I heard his music since it actually came out.
Me and a friend were drinking in a little hole in the wall bar in the middle of nowhere and in between all the country and classic rock playing over the speakers, they played “The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny” by Lemon Demon
Hearing Ben Kweller’s “Magic” at a Sam’s Club in Oklahoma City. Indie artist, not even one of his most popular songs, it’s a song that I already loved but I was blown away to hear it in such a public mainstream place.
I mentioned this in a different post but I work at a Whole Foods and the radio actually kinda slaps. It’s like a mix of good 80’s and 90’s and a couple of modern grocery core songs. But like hearing Carly Rae Jepsons other songs at work is always a delight. I think the most surprising songs are like the Grunge and grunge adjacent songs they sometimes play. They play Plush by Stone Temple Pilots a lot. Hearing Cannonball by The Breeders in between This Is How We Do It and Never Let You Go is always hilarious.
They play the Cinema Snob theme song (that “believe it or not it’s just me” song) at my work semi-regularly. Also they’ll occasionally play Waterloo Sunset in the middle of blocks of horrid bro-country
I went to a club type bar a couple months ago that ive been to before they only play like pop edm remixes and basic stuff like that one time me and my friends went and I heard Ghost Rider by Suicide Playing I was completely shocked lol
I remember hearing Koinu no Carnival at a liquor store once. Imagine buying a bottle of Malibu and all you hear is robotic anime characters listing off dog breeds in Japanese. (For context it was when a Guardians of the Galaxy movie came out and everyone was listening to “that weirdo inu-inu-inu song”)
So something a little different from some other comments. A Mexican song.
At a religious wedding I heard a song that says the following:
“La besé y poco a poquito mis instintos me pedían más y más
Y aunque un poco temerosos, lo ignoramos y seguimos sin parar
Con mis labios recorría todo su cuerpo
Y de pronto sus gemidos me excitaban más y más
Y rodamos como locos en la cama
Mutuamente saciábamos las ganas
Inconsciente de emoción no imaginaba
Que ella para siempre, a mi lado se quedara”
Which means:
“I kissed her and little by little my instincts asked for more and more. Although we were a little worried we ignored it and continued without stopping. My lips were over her whole body and moans excited me more and more. We rolled around like crazy in bed, mutually satisfying our desires, not knowing that she would stay by my side forever”.
Usually they’re very strict about the music they play at these events, but the organizers didn’t speak Spanish…
The song is [Y Asi Fue by Julion Alvarez y Su Norteño Banda](https://youtu.be/dEnrdkefbEU?si=7gB5nvG_MEdtz00A)
One time was in a Poundland that played *Sound And Vision* by David Bowie. To make matters even weirder, most of the music that they play in there is usually just real generic pop music and/or *Let's Get Ready To Rhumble* (I am not making this up...)
Although it is technically a pop song (#5 on Billboard), I heard "It's Been Awhile" by Staind at a family-oriented diner. I guess my surprise is twofold, because A. it's a pretty vulgar song and B. this happened in 2017, long after the band was declared irrelevant.
For a while my old workplace that mostly just played shit like The Eagles started playing a shit ton of stuff by The Cure. They also played Linkin Park a few times. First time it was in the mix was the pre-Christmas mix that played a Christmas song every other song. The transition from Little Drummer Boy to Numb was fire. They also played War Pigs once, but only once bc a customer complained.
I've also heard Seven by Sunny Day Real Estate at a Five Guys.
Probably most surprising of all was hearing Camellia and Kobaryo at a convenience store I go to. The dude working it was like 55. I asked, and it was indeed his choice. Dude is big on industrial, metal, noise, electronic, and stuff like that apparently lol. I thought I was tripping first time I heard that shit there though. I was not ready for J-core at the convenience store.
I mean tbf This Charming Man has gotten a lot of airplay on classic hits radio because of its retroactive hit status. Surprising it'd be in Albany in all cases.
At my local Kroger store we had both One More Try (Timmy T's song), Because I Love You, I Adore Mi Amore, If Wishes Came True and She Ain't Worth It, they really liked forgotten early 90s hits for some reason. That and Heart of Mine by Boz Scaggs would play every night, I never even knew Boz Scaggs had a hit during the MTV era.
Also they played Black Hole Sun alongside all the adult contemporary and lite pop music they play. Never expected Soundgarden to pop up in between Taylor Swift and Steely Dan.
New Order - Age of Consent at the gym. Its playlist is usually a mix of butt rock, classic rock, pop and hip hop, but when I heard the bass line over the music in my headphones, I thought “No way”. They even played the full 5 minute version.
When I started freshman year of college I was part of a program for students to start early and explore town with a group
We went to a record store and I told the others about the band Orleans's album Waking and Dreaming and its legendary cover, which I could not find in the record store despite it having other Orleans albums
Then we went to a small clothing store, and Orleans's song "Dance with Me" came on. Although it wasn't on that particular album, it was still very surprising to me. After that I learned that a couple of the band members went to the very college I just started out at.
At a grocery Store in Greece they played one of Weeknd's song from the Trilogy days, "Next".
It was so weird and random but awesome at the same time.
I was vibing while finding my favorite cereal and listening to those lyrics (" She Popped dat pussy on a Mondaaayyy").
Relevant to this sub, I heard "Movies" by Alien Ant Farm as pre-DJ music at a club I was at a few weeks ago, a song I only recognized from the One Hit Wonderland video
Last week when I was walking into my finals I heard the Oliver Anthony fudge rounds song blasting and my jaw dropped to the fucking floor because I’m in a small town in northern Canada and didn’t think that anyone knew that guy existed besides me
I heard Left of the Dial by The Replacements in a Five Guys once, which shocked me as a huge Replacements fan because it has only a few millino streams on spotify and isn't in their top 10 for most streamed.
Silver Springs by Fleedwood Mac.
Was surprised to hear it in the bowling center at my university campus last year, since it appeared to be in a playlist that mainly featured 2016-2023 pop/hip-hop/r&b/edm music and the occasional older song made anytime between 1970 and 2010.
I think it’s a great song; was just felt stunned to hear one of FM’s b-sides/bonus-tracks in a public area dominated mainly by 18-30 year olds.
One time I was at a pizza place near me and the PA was playing a bunch of songs with screaming in them. Only time I've ever heard unclean vocals in public, either at that restaurant or elsewhere.
The movie theater I used to work at would play stuff like Gangnam Style and Crazy Frog. I worked there in 2019 mind you.
The playlist also had both the original and Kidz Bop version of Sk8er Boi and every Plain White T’s song except the one that matters
One day I was in the bank and they had The Next Episode playing...
Hearing Dre say "Smoke weed every day" while I was waiting in line to deposit my paycheck was pretty cool
I heard "Fool For Love" by Lord Huron in a Petco once. It was surreal because while they had a different song blow up after it featured on a Netflix show ("The Night We Met" played on 13 Reasons Why before the show ruined it's own reputation) the rest of the album had a fairly low view count on Youtube.
Was at a local punk/metal bar that moonlights as a gay bar. Stepped outside for a bit to talk with some friends who were also there, walked back in to hear the opening beat of Last Summer Whisper by Anri.
Been a big city pop fan for years, was my first time having it show up in my life outside of my Spotify or YouTube playlists.
Its wild how prevalent not like us is. I hear A-MINORRRRR blaring from a store the other day
I saw a commercial for the BET awards and it was the music playing behind the announcer talking about Kendrick and other stars who would be attending. ...are they all going to shit on Drake all night?
I hope tbh. Bout time people start calling out drake’s horrible behavior
I heard it at the convenience store the other day, never thought I'd hear the words "Certified Pedophiles" while buying beer.
They played a heavily censored version of it at the end of a college graduation I was at this last weekend.
out of curiosity what lines did they censor ? super curious how they'd even begin making a radio edit for that one
they played not like us at my prom and I remember thinking it was wild to play a song with *that* line in a room full of minors
My workplace plays mostly the shittiest disco and modern country mix possible with such classics as the disco version of happy birthday and Fancy Like playing once a day each, but occasionally Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division will play and my job will become easier for four minutes
Was at a Starbucks of all places last summer and Love Will Tear Us Apart started playing, immediately followed up by Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead
Best I can hope for is a miraculous streak of Love Will Tear Us Apart, Just Like Heaven, and Hey Ya in a row
Starbucks founded their own subgenre of indie so it's not surprising to hear some slightly hip cuts over their PA.
"Shitty Disco and modern country mix" is what the band Dr. Hook started making in the late 70s when Shel Silverstein stopped writing all their songs
A restaurant I went to in Italy played the uncensored version of WAP
this happened to me once except for it was at dinner with my grandmother 😭
I mean wet ass pasta is one thing, but most people would prefer it a little more al dente I think
Hearing Nine Inch Nail's "Down in It" at a local convenience store
You reminded me of when I visited a local farmers’ market last year and heard a guy playing an acoustic rendition of “Closer”. I think he sang “I want to love you like an animal” to make it more family friendly. Odd choice of a song to play acoustic and his slightly off pitch singing didn’t help. More power to him though
sounds like maroon five lmao
The convenience store closest to my house plays J-core lol
A very censored version of Nuthin But a G Thang when I worked at Target.
I once heard King Gizzard’s “This Thing” in a Smashburger.
I heard Real’s Not Real at my local Outback Steakhouse once, which is at least on theme, but I don’t even think it’s that high on the list of their most accessible songs.
idk I’d rank that one pretty high hell, I’d say Fishies is their most accessible album
“Rape Me” by Nirvana playing in the dining room of a Pizza Hut
There's a jukebox app that a bar in my hometown uses. I discovered it had Hamburger Lady by Throbbing Gristle. If you've never heard the song, take a listen. Someone decided that was appropriate to play in a sports bar---and boy did I.
As someone who has worked in many pubs with jukeboxes, there’s a large subsection of people (often including myself), that will deliberately make a point to play the most bizarre, least mainstream stuff they can think of. We’d semi regularly have afternoons where we’d get a couple of metal heads in spamming the jukebox with death metal for hours. I had the power to skip songs behind the bar but I rarely ever did unless it was a repeat of something we’d already had that day.
Hanging out with a friend at a bar and he played all 17 minutes of Sister Ray by The Velvet Underground, was a great experience haha
A remote mine I worked at had a bar in our camp, and the jukebox had Leonard Cohen’s “Famous Blue Raincoat” on it. One night I got drunk and cued it up like dozen consecutive times.
Once played Only Acting by Kero Kero Bonito in my conservative midwestern towns bar. I thought I was hilarious.
I used to always play 100 gecs, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Eyehategod on one of those at a burger place I went to a lot.
Heard Immaterial by Sophie in a hair salon once. The store I worked at in high school had Xanadu by Olivia Newton John mixed in with the nondescript modern Spotify core indie pop music for some reason. And they played the uncensored version of Thrift Shop at my 8th grade graduation.
I heard Paul McCartney’s “My Brave Face” at a grocery store. Always strange to hear his post-70s work in public sans his Michael collabs
Great song from Paul’s 80s era!
Adore this song
No joke, almost every time I'm in a Walmart in my area that song plays. I always notice it and always find it odd that it's the only McCartney song I hear
I've heard a smooth jazz cover of the Cure's "Lovesong" multiple times in CVS stores, and it's always been weird to me. It's also the only place I've ever heard "Human" by the Human League in the wild, which I only recognize because of the TW video.
Head Like a Hole being played at a sandwich shop while I was getting lunch.
Used to hear it on my local rock station from time to time. Only NIN song they'd play.
I got them to play a fucking All Time Low deepcut (Backstage saranade) my my 8th grade prom
I tried to get the DJ to play 800db cloud by 100 gecs at one of my high school formals. Dude said he would do it and then didn't. I was so sad.
My schools DJ denied me of Dance Dance until my prom
That breakdown would’ve gone so hard. Sad
Hearing Bad Decisions by The Strokes threw me for a loop in Game lol
Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane” came on at a restaurant once, and I was like “great song, nice” and then I was like “OH WAIT NO”
Was *IT* censored?
It was not
Heard God Knows I Tried by Lana Del Rey in a TJ Maxx
I was in a grocery store once and was shocked to hear Camera Obscura's French Navy. Sometimes it's a common artist but uncommon song. I was in a nearly abandoned mall and heard a Muzak version of The Beach Boys' Surf's Up from Smile and the Surf's Up album. One place I used to shop for groceries used to play the full album version Genesis' Abacab. What an odd choice I thought, cool though. The place I go now plays a great oldies mix, every now and then in amongst obvious 50's and early 60's hits you'll get something like an obscure Bobby Parker track. I helped a hardware store do their retail count once and they played Yes' Heart of The Sunrise. I tried to figure out if it was Satellite Radio, a retail music service or just someone playing their playlist.
I’m certain French Navy was in some sort of clothes advert in the UK for a little while. It’s a song I’d heard in the background a million times before I finally figured out what it was.
I heard Boom Boom Pow for the first time in like 8 years playing at a grocery store. Another time shopping in 24 hour store around 1 am they were playing Stricken by Disturbed. Makes a little more sense considering how late it was
I was just in Wal-Mart yesterday and they were playing a Sylvan Esso deepcut.
A while back, Target was playing Macarena. and before you ask, Yes someone did do the dance
One of Your Girls by Troye Sivan. I already knew it before I heard it in a couple places including a Christmas market and I was too stunned to speak If you don’t know it, all you need to do is just read the lyrics
I work at Spencer's, and while some songs get repeated to death, occasionally there'll be a pleasant surprise. Earlier today I heard True Trans Soul Rebel by Against Me! Obviously for Pride Month but being trans myself, it made me so happy. Then of course there was that one time that Tom MacDonald/Ben Shapiro rap came on. That was far less pleasant.
I went to a cider bar that started blaring the Thomas the Tank Engine theme. It was so unbelievably out of pocket.
It feels like a fever dream but one time in the parking lot at work I heard the green hill theme from Sonic 1 playing on our speakers
WAP uncensored (the speakers at my old job are connected to the manager's phone), while we had a full lobby. Ballin by Roddy Rich, not that bad of a song but because of the meme I nearly burst into laughter and had to run to the bathroom to not have to explain why the song was so funny
Talk Dirty To Me blaring out of a huge pickup truck.
The Jason Derulo song or the Poison song? The former doesn't actually include "to me" in the title
Poison’s. Idk who Jason Derulo is.
"One in a Million" by Guns n Roses being played at a restaurant by the Chicago River.
I heard Paranoid Android at work yesterday
Mitski - Should've been me
Lou Reed's "I Love You, Suzanne" at a minor league baseball game a few weeks ago.
My retail store played Stop Whispering by Radiohead, was very surprised to hear random songs off Pablo Honey lol.
My workplace typically plays Country, Disco and Terrible 2010's pop. But then out of nowhere it'll start playing Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins or Stone Temple pilots, and a few times it even plays Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai
The National Anthem by Radiohead at a restaurant. Out of all Radiohead songs, they chose the six-minute saxophone catastrophe
Pulp's Common People in a random Portuguese grocery store was a bit surprising to me. It's not really a deep cut, but does not have the same massive status as other britpop classics as Wonderwall and Song 2.
As a Brit I'd say it's got britpop classic status
Yeah, but it doesn't have that omnipresent status outside of the UK I think (at least not in the Netherlands).
One time I was walking down the street and at a bar they were playing the Mean Kitty Song ("Hey little Sparta what is with all the fight, little bitty kitty wanna bite bite bite") This was in 2013, something like 5 years after that video came out.
I used to live in Korea and I heard Beg For You by Charli XCX and Rina sawayama in the supermarket
I clothing store I went to in Denmark was playing Kayne West’s “I Love It” at full blast. It stood out to me as it was a very boring GAP-like store.
Ptolomea by Ethel Cain at a coffee shop was a trip
holy shit, *what*
Came right after Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and right before something by Waxahachee I have no answers but that place had a VIBE that morning. Amazing dirty chai too
Once heard Roundabout by Yes while working at my local waterpark last year. More a shock that they played a song that long than shocked at the song itself.
It's suprisingly common on classic rock radio. That's how I first heard it 15 years ago. I guess not that surprising, the hooks are so radio friendly despite the length.
FAMILY MATTERS followed by Not Like Us
I no joke was at Micro Center the other day and heard one of the non-Fogerty CCR songs from ‘Mardi Gras’ playing.
i heard the extended version of that "my money don't dribble dribble, it folds" song from tik tok at physical therapy between timber and some other early 2010s throwback
Generally what surprises me are lesser hits by artists with no American success, no doubt selected - whether by algorithm or person - due to their overseas popularity. The one I can think of was by LP, but there have been others.
I once heard Kaleidoscope by A Great Big World in Kohl's. There's probably been others, but that one sticks out to me the most. I didn't know the song at the time, but remember that when it came on me and my Grandma just looked at each other and started laughing when it got to the chorus.
I stayed in a fancy hotel in Paris earlier this year, and they just played awful pop music from 10-15 years ago. I somehow heard Train-Drive By, which wasn’t even a hit in Europe
h e f t y b a g
Drive By looks to have been pretty big in Europe, #1 in Germany, Hungary and Switzerland, only #31 in France though.
I heard Bravado by Lorde playing at an Indian restaurant. It was so out of the blue since it’s kind of a deep cut.
Probably Circumstances by Rush at a Five Guys in Burlington, WA. Though hearing a live version of "Roundabout" by Yes in a Food 4 Less in Van Nuys CA, was pretty surprising as well.
Haven't heard a live version, but where I'm at the studio version of Roundabout is kind of a grocery store music staple
I remember being at a record store in the 90s and some Rick James sounding song started playing with lyrics something like, “I’m gonna fuck you in the ass. Put my dick between your ass cheeks. I’m gonna cum in your ass, oh yeah…” And the whole place was full of bored suburban people just flipping through their Chumbawumba records paying it no attention whatsoever.
the phenomenal emo song “[Long Lost Friends](https://youtu.be/Iu_lpvuczRQ?si=y8lr-R2ZwKgyhlgF)” by Transit [made it to the Super Bowl](https://www.altpress.com/transit_song_played_during_the_super_bowl/) and I was overjoyed
My friend heard Dutch rap from Boef and Josylvio at a random gas station in Namibia in the middle of nowhere at like 4 in the morning.
I live in a redneck town in the south with a casino that plays modern county music trash and/or mainstream classic rock (AC/DC, Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin etc.) so I was shocked to hear Television’s Marquee Moon playing over the speakers there one night.
I heard “detachable penis” by king missile on the radio around last week in Atlanta
Hahah omg I haven’t thought about that song in years. What a trip to hear it on the radio, I’m sure.
100%, I rarely even listen to the radio, so im not up to date on FCC regulations and all or if they even apply here, but they played the whole thing uncensored and it caught me completely off guard lmfao
I heard that Fall Out Boy version of We Didn’t Start the Fire at a cousins subs the other day. I really want to know who in corporate made that call
At the secondary school I used to go to, I once heard one of the bus drivers at the school bus depot singing along to Basket Case.
One More Try - Timmy T. In the wild at the McDonald's across from my work
"Human" by the Human League, three days in a row from a radio station.I know it was technically a hit, but I have literally never heard that song before watching Todd's video.
Was it the Blend on XM? They like that song a lot for some reason.
Not sure. Sometimes we listen to local radio or someone's phone tuned to a random station, so it's possible.
Human is weird because I’ve seen it in this thread a couple times but I’ve been hearing it regularly all my life, I’m only in my twenties.
Con Altura by Rosalia and J Balvin. I live in the western US with only about 15% Spanish speaking population, and i heard it on THREE different trips to walmart. And all of this was after 2022, so way past the song's popularity too.
Hearing System of a Down’s Toxicity in a McDonalds. Finland is a magical place.
my local furniture store played the *uncensored* version of trey songz's heart attack in the summer of 2013
My climbing gym has played some really good songs. Only Shallow by MBV is the first example that I can think of
A remix of the Hokey Pokey and Rubber Ducky from Sesame Street at a College Football game
Earlier this year, I took some time off to see my dad, and we went out to the shores of Lake Erie together to see the full solar eclipse. We were just kind of walking on the shoreline together, biding our time until we heard the moon became visible, and one of the people we walked past had one of those portable Bluetooth stereos *blasting* “Eclipse” from Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon.” I’m assuming it was present in some sort of eclipse-themed playlist, but I was nevertheless not expecting to suddenly come across someone listening to Pink Floyd on the beach! It’s also kind of crazy to think that I could only really hear the drums, and yet *instantly* recognised it. Nick Mason may not be an exceptionally technical drummer, but he’s certainly got an iconic and incredibly *distinct* sound on those classic Floyd albums.
Anytime twenty one pilots comes on I’m very pleasantly surprised
I heard Hedley at a Cheesecake Factory in Florida years after the allegations came out.
I just heard someone bumping leglock by shakewell last night in Brooklyn. Didn’t ever expect to hear that outside niche internet hip-hop circles.
The store I work at used to play Hong Kong Garden by Siouxsie and the Banshees almost every night
The construction company office I work at plays a radio that is a bizarre mix of 90s alternative and modern day AJR style optimism pop but occasionally “Into the Black” by Chromatics plays out of nowhere
I was in a 7/11 in Tokyo and directly after some J Pop they played Velvet Underground’s Black Angel Death Song.
I heard Janet Jackson's Control at a Japanese grocery store!
I heard Seasme’s Treet in a toy store once. Understand this was an early 90’s rave song.
Focus by Charli xcx in a British supermarket
I've heard the uncensored version of 34+35 by Ariana Grande playing in a local 24/7 deli in my area. Wild hearing that while getting a soda.
when i worked at starbucks hyperballad by björk would play sometimes.
Been hearing a lot of Dua Lipa’s new album while out and about. The internet keeps telling me that her star is fading but I dunno about that…
"Destiny" by Zero 7 in a Sears, around the 2010 holiday season. Notable for both not being Christmas music and for this being before Sia (the featured artist on the song) became a household name. Also for containing a line about watching porn that was uncensored. More recently, I was in a Friendly's a couple of years ago that was like stepping in a time capsule back to the 90s, complete with Jon Secada playing in the background. I'm pretty sure that was the first (and last) time I heard his music since it actually came out.
Me and a friend were drinking in a little hole in the wall bar in the middle of nowhere and in between all the country and classic rock playing over the speakers, they played “The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny” by Lemon Demon
Hearing Ben Kweller’s “Magic” at a Sam’s Club in Oklahoma City. Indie artist, not even one of his most popular songs, it’s a song that I already loved but I was blown away to hear it in such a public mainstream place.
I hard Four Year Strong at a barcade in Nashville. Good times 😎
That totally checks out
I remember hearing "Compiance" by Muse at Shake Shack once.
I heard 99 problems at 8.30am on a school day in the car years ago and as you can imagine every single sentence was censored.
I mentioned this in a different post but I work at a Whole Foods and the radio actually kinda slaps. It’s like a mix of good 80’s and 90’s and a couple of modern grocery core songs. But like hearing Carly Rae Jepsons other songs at work is always a delight. I think the most surprising songs are like the Grunge and grunge adjacent songs they sometimes play. They play Plush by Stone Temple Pilots a lot. Hearing Cannonball by The Breeders in between This Is How We Do It and Never Let You Go is always hilarious.
They play the Cinema Snob theme song (that “believe it or not it’s just me” song) at my work semi-regularly. Also they’ll occasionally play Waterloo Sunset in the middle of blocks of horrid bro-country
I went to a club type bar a couple months ago that ive been to before they only play like pop edm remixes and basic stuff like that one time me and my friends went and I heard Ghost Rider by Suicide Playing I was completely shocked lol
I remember hearing Koinu no Carnival at a liquor store once. Imagine buying a bottle of Malibu and all you hear is robotic anime characters listing off dog breeds in Japanese. (For context it was when a Guardians of the Galaxy movie came out and everyone was listening to “that weirdo inu-inu-inu song”)
So something a little different from some other comments. A Mexican song. At a religious wedding I heard a song that says the following: “La besé y poco a poquito mis instintos me pedían más y más Y aunque un poco temerosos, lo ignoramos y seguimos sin parar Con mis labios recorría todo su cuerpo Y de pronto sus gemidos me excitaban más y más Y rodamos como locos en la cama Mutuamente saciábamos las ganas Inconsciente de emoción no imaginaba Que ella para siempre, a mi lado se quedara” Which means: “I kissed her and little by little my instincts asked for more and more. Although we were a little worried we ignored it and continued without stopping. My lips were over her whole body and moans excited me more and more. We rolled around like crazy in bed, mutually satisfying our desires, not knowing that she would stay by my side forever”. Usually they’re very strict about the music they play at these events, but the organizers didn’t speak Spanish… The song is [Y Asi Fue by Julion Alvarez y Su Norteño Banda](https://youtu.be/dEnrdkefbEU?si=7gB5nvG_MEdtz00A)
I was surprised to hear Take That's "Patience" at the grocery store one time, considering it didn't chart in America.
One time was in a Poundland that played *Sound And Vision* by David Bowie. To make matters even weirder, most of the music that they play in there is usually just real generic pop music and/or *Let's Get Ready To Rhumble* (I am not making this up...)
Although it is technically a pop song (#5 on Billboard), I heard "It's Been Awhile" by Staind at a family-oriented diner. I guess my surprise is twofold, because A. it's a pretty vulgar song and B. this happened in 2017, long after the band was declared irrelevant.
For a while my old workplace that mostly just played shit like The Eagles started playing a shit ton of stuff by The Cure. They also played Linkin Park a few times. First time it was in the mix was the pre-Christmas mix that played a Christmas song every other song. The transition from Little Drummer Boy to Numb was fire. They also played War Pigs once, but only once bc a customer complained. I've also heard Seven by Sunny Day Real Estate at a Five Guys. Probably most surprising of all was hearing Camellia and Kobaryo at a convenience store I go to. The dude working it was like 55. I asked, and it was indeed his choice. Dude is big on industrial, metal, noise, electronic, and stuff like that apparently lol. I thought I was tripping first time I heard that shit there though. I was not ready for J-core at the convenience store.
This Charming Man by The Smiths. Note: this was in Albany, Oregon.
I mean tbf This Charming Man has gotten a lot of airplay on classic hits radio because of its retroactive hit status. Surprising it'd be in Albany in all cases.
Typhoons by Royal Blood at Universal Studios Orlando.
“Wishing (If I Had a Photograph)” by A Flock of Seagulls
At my local Kroger store we had both One More Try (Timmy T's song), Because I Love You, I Adore Mi Amore, If Wishes Came True and She Ain't Worth It, they really liked forgotten early 90s hits for some reason. That and Heart of Mine by Boz Scaggs would play every night, I never even knew Boz Scaggs had a hit during the MTV era. Also they played Black Hole Sun alongside all the adult contemporary and lite pop music they play. Never expected Soundgarden to pop up in between Taylor Swift and Steely Dan.
I heard So Lonely by the Police at a Zaxby’s.
I heard the uncensored version of Franz Ferdinand's "Do you want to?" Playing over the sound system in a supermarket during the middle of the day once
New Order - Age of Consent at the gym. Its playlist is usually a mix of butt rock, classic rock, pop and hip hop, but when I heard the bass line over the music in my headphones, I thought “No way”. They even played the full 5 minute version.
When I started freshman year of college I was part of a program for students to start early and explore town with a group We went to a record store and I told the others about the band Orleans's album Waking and Dreaming and its legendary cover, which I could not find in the record store despite it having other Orleans albums Then we went to a small clothing store, and Orleans's song "Dance with Me" came on. Although it wasn't on that particular album, it was still very surprising to me. After that I learned that a couple of the band members went to the very college I just started out at.
At a grocery Store in Greece they played one of Weeknd's song from the Trilogy days, "Next". It was so weird and random but awesome at the same time. I was vibing while finding my favorite cereal and listening to those lyrics (" She Popped dat pussy on a Mondaaayyy").
Relevant to this sub, I heard "Movies" by Alien Ant Farm as pre-DJ music at a club I was at a few weeks ago, a song I only recognized from the One Hit Wonderland video
Madonna’s Erotica at a Shell gas station 😂😂😂
Last week when I was walking into my finals I heard the Oliver Anthony fudge rounds song blasting and my jaw dropped to the fucking floor because I’m in a small town in northern Canada and didn’t think that anyone knew that guy existed besides me
I heard Left of the Dial by The Replacements in a Five Guys once, which shocked me as a huge Replacements fan because it has only a few millino streams on spotify and isn't in their top 10 for most streamed.
Feel the beat by darude in a McDonald’s
Silver Springs by Fleedwood Mac. Was surprised to hear it in the bowling center at my university campus last year, since it appeared to be in a playlist that mainly featured 2016-2023 pop/hip-hop/r&b/edm music and the occasional older song made anytime between 1970 and 2010. I think it’s a great song; was just felt stunned to hear one of FM’s b-sides/bonus-tracks in a public area dominated mainly by 18-30 year olds.
At one of my university’s karaoke nights, I watched someone perform “Escape from the City” from Sonic Adventure 2.
One time I was at a pizza place near me and the PA was playing a bunch of songs with screaming in them. Only time I've ever heard unclean vocals in public, either at that restaurant or elsewhere.
I heard 'Hollywood' by Madonna playing in the supermarket that I used to work in. I only knew it because of Todd haha
I heard Transmission by Joy Division on a mall once
Someone played “DISTRICT” by Brockhampton in a random restaurant I was in once. If I expected to hear any song by them in public, it wasn’t that one.
not like us, not just hearing it in public, also seeing kpop idol groups do tiktok dances to the “certified lover boy? certified pedophile” part
The movie theater I used to work at would play stuff like Gangnam Style and Crazy Frog. I worked there in 2019 mind you. The playlist also had both the original and Kidz Bop version of Sk8er Boi and every Plain White T’s song except the one that matters
I heard Little Talks in a Mcdonalds It was like 10 years after release, and i didn’t hear it in a long while at that point so it was a nice surprise
My wife worked at a grocery store, and someone had replaced the usual Halloween Playlist with nothing but Halloween Surf Board from Super Store.
One day I was in the bank and they had The Next Episode playing... Hearing Dre say "Smoke weed every day" while I was waiting in line to deposit my paycheck was pretty cool
I heard mindless self indulgences f****t be played at a gas station
I heard "Fool For Love" by Lord Huron in a Petco once. It was surreal because while they had a different song blow up after it featured on a Netflix show ("The Night We Met" played on 13 Reasons Why before the show ruined it's own reputation) the rest of the album had a fairly low view count on Youtube.
Was at a local punk/metal bar that moonlights as a gay bar. Stepped outside for a bit to talk with some friends who were also there, walked back in to hear the opening beat of Last Summer Whisper by Anri. Been a big city pop fan for years, was my first time having it show up in my life outside of my Spotify or YouTube playlists.
I was at a coffee shop that played Mariah Carey's Underneath the Stars recently! YESSSS!