I feel like you've discovered my secret stash of goodies no one was supposed to know about! Not that I've ever had any secret stash under any bed or at the top of any closet....ever....in my life....honest!
Brilliant collection, Dan, and an equally brave move to swim against the "too hip'n'cool to live" cognescenti! In other words, I wish I'd-a thought of this! While I don't, specifically, remember muzak playing in the stores Mommy would drag me to (I was 10 in '65 for point of reference), I've always known it was played...especially as I grew older, and might recognize recent pop hits being transposed into a Ray Conniff or Percy Faith wonder!
Plus, it's these EZ listening collections (YT, mainly) that I dial up as my writing background. I love the soothing sounds, plus, I can't have vocals or pop songs I know well playing, 'cause I'll be distracted, and start to sing, and there goes the writing!
As for these KMart-type Muzak collections, I've found one or two, myself thru the YT algo, but it's a pleasure to have all these, now, in one place, and I will bookmark it! Bottom line, they're wonderful nostalgia for me, whether I remember them playing back then, or not! It's still a relaxing blast imagining shopping back then, and the general laid-back feel of suburban Houston in the '60s!
I'm delighted to know that you're into this stuff as well, Brad! It's quite magical in its own strange way — and while I'm well aware that many people find this stuff extremely off-putting, it totally hits the spot for me. I love non-Christmas material of a similar bent; you would know better than I would when radio started referring to as "Music of Your Life," but it really reminds me of my grandfathers, both of whom loved the stuff.
I wish I'd gotten a chance to experience the "general laid-back feel of suburban Houston in the '60s," but I can almost imagine it. One of the great things about being a kid in the early 70s — for me, at least — was that the 60s and sometimes even the 50s were still close enough that you could almost touch them. For instance, until the "futuristic" Briarwood Mall opened up in Ann Arbor around 1973, all my family's local Christmas shopping outings were to older retail spaces like Hudson's in Detroit (a grand old department store) and Arborland, a sleek mid-century outdoor mall that was built in the early 60s. I definitely heard muzak like this at both places, which clearly warped me for life...
Comforting nostalgia and, yes, a guilty pleasure! That kinda wraps it all up for me, and, apparently, us! We be proud, too!
As for how radio refers to this MOR lane, I couldn't tell you when, but anything media-related, if there's a nostalgia factor aka self-consciousness (see "American Graffiti" and "Happy Days" on screens, not to mention Sha-Na-Na and Flash Cadillac in the music/records lane). Even as these media events occurred, I was noticing that the rear-view mirror seemed to be at about the 2-decade mark.
If that's an accurate assessment, themes like "Music of Your Life" might have started, if not in the '70s, then the '80s in full force. If program directors (or Muzak content creators) could give it a catchy name, and take advantage of their listeners' nostalgia, then that's about all that was needed!
The older "The Greatest Generation"/Baby Boomers became, the desire for nostalgia for the '50s and '60s (and following) grew, and you saw media creators respond, mostly to rousing success!
There was a great MOYL station in LA in the early/mid-90s; I can’t remember the call letters, but that was the station that really reintroduced me to a lot of this stuff, and made me appreciate it in a new light. Of course, hearing it all through my car speakers with heavy AM compression didn’t hurt one bit!
Nuts.....'93 is when I moved from L.A. back to TX...Austin, to be specific! I also think, Dan, that we can feel good about how secure we must end up being if we can "come out"😱as loving this stuff "in public," without fear of furrowed brows in our direction!
There's certainly a time in my past when I'd shudder at the thought of even giving a second glance at anything in the Muzak/EZ Listening lane! But, I think there IS a definite comfort level (speaking for myself) in the nostalgic aspect of it all!
Absolutely — though from a music/audio nerd standpoint, I'm increasingly wowed by the craft and engineering expertise that went into making a lot of these records, like with the Hollyridge Strings album I just wrote about. It took a lot of skill and studio savvy to make records that sounded that smooth!
Good point! I loved seeing the vinyl of that in-store play record! I've never thought of anything but tapes playing, or nowadays, a piped-in wi-fi system like (here!) at Panera! But, early on, folks were flipping records somewhere in the offices of malls'n'grocery stores!
"Still haven’t had enough?" Yes! As someone who truly bristles at walking into a store and hearing Christmas muzak, the genuine sentiments of a (for)giving season turned into crass capitalist consumer incentivization of cheap disposable crap, I probably feel about some of these playlists the way you would if I made you sit through all eight post-reunited James albums, on repeat! But a good Christmas song, a novel Christmas song, a beautiful Christmas song...? That one is a yes too! I'm now going to catch up on the more recent post, for which, a shame I could not contribute. Happy happy!
Well, as I mentioned above, I can completely understand why this stuff would make many folks run screaming in horror — but for me, the warm memories that Christmas Muzak brings back (combined with various degrees of appreciation from a camp angle) ultimately triumph over the inherent crassness of its original purpose. In any case, happy happy to you and yours, Tony!
I have to wonder if any of the old Canadian store chains (Eaton's, The Bay, Zellers, Woolco, Canadian Tire, etc.) have music libraries online like this.
EIGHT HOURS of K-Mart Muzak?!! Glory! Hallelujah!
Enjoy!🎄
I'm instantly transported back to 1971...
My work is done!
I feel like you've discovered my secret stash of goodies no one was supposed to know about! Not that I've ever had any secret stash under any bed or at the top of any closet....ever....in my life....honest!
Brilliant collection, Dan, and an equally brave move to swim against the "too hip'n'cool to live" cognescenti! In other words, I wish I'd-a thought of this! While I don't, specifically, remember muzak playing in the stores Mommy would drag me to (I was 10 in '65 for point of reference), I've always known it was played...especially as I grew older, and might recognize recent pop hits being transposed into a Ray Conniff or Percy Faith wonder!
Plus, it's these EZ listening collections (YT, mainly) that I dial up as my writing background. I love the soothing sounds, plus, I can't have vocals or pop songs I know well playing, 'cause I'll be distracted, and start to sing, and there goes the writing!
As for these KMart-type Muzak collections, I've found one or two, myself thru the YT algo, but it's a pleasure to have all these, now, in one place, and I will bookmark it! Bottom line, they're wonderful nostalgia for me, whether I remember them playing back then, or not! It's still a relaxing blast imagining shopping back then, and the general laid-back feel of suburban Houston in the '60s!
Thanks again!
I'm delighted to know that you're into this stuff as well, Brad! It's quite magical in its own strange way — and while I'm well aware that many people find this stuff extremely off-putting, it totally hits the spot for me. I love non-Christmas material of a similar bent; you would know better than I would when radio started referring to as "Music of Your Life," but it really reminds me of my grandfathers, both of whom loved the stuff.
I wish I'd gotten a chance to experience the "general laid-back feel of suburban Houston in the '60s," but I can almost imagine it. One of the great things about being a kid in the early 70s — for me, at least — was that the 60s and sometimes even the 50s were still close enough that you could almost touch them. For instance, until the "futuristic" Briarwood Mall opened up in Ann Arbor around 1973, all my family's local Christmas shopping outings were to older retail spaces like Hudson's in Detroit (a grand old department store) and Arborland, a sleek mid-century outdoor mall that was built in the early 60s. I definitely heard muzak like this at both places, which clearly warped me for life...
Comforting nostalgia and, yes, a guilty pleasure! That kinda wraps it all up for me, and, apparently, us! We be proud, too!
As for how radio refers to this MOR lane, I couldn't tell you when, but anything media-related, if there's a nostalgia factor aka self-consciousness (see "American Graffiti" and "Happy Days" on screens, not to mention Sha-Na-Na and Flash Cadillac in the music/records lane). Even as these media events occurred, I was noticing that the rear-view mirror seemed to be at about the 2-decade mark.
If that's an accurate assessment, themes like "Music of Your Life" might have started, if not in the '70s, then the '80s in full force. If program directors (or Muzak content creators) could give it a catchy name, and take advantage of their listeners' nostalgia, then that's about all that was needed!
The older "The Greatest Generation"/Baby Boomers became, the desire for nostalgia for the '50s and '60s (and following) grew, and you saw media creators respond, mostly to rousing success!
There was a great MOYL station in LA in the early/mid-90s; I can’t remember the call letters, but that was the station that really reintroduced me to a lot of this stuff, and made me appreciate it in a new light. Of course, hearing it all through my car speakers with heavy AM compression didn’t hurt one bit!
Nuts.....'93 is when I moved from L.A. back to TX...Austin, to be specific! I also think, Dan, that we can feel good about how secure we must end up being if we can "come out"😱as loving this stuff "in public," without fear of furrowed brows in our direction!
There's certainly a time in my past when I'd shudder at the thought of even giving a second glance at anything in the Muzak/EZ Listening lane! But, I think there IS a definite comfort level (speaking for myself) in the nostalgic aspect of it all!
Absolutely — though from a music/audio nerd standpoint, I'm increasingly wowed by the craft and engineering expertise that went into making a lot of these records, like with the Hollyridge Strings album I just wrote about. It took a lot of skill and studio savvy to make records that sounded that smooth!
Good point! I loved seeing the vinyl of that in-store play record! I've never thought of anything but tapes playing, or nowadays, a piped-in wi-fi system like (here!) at Panera! But, early on, folks were flipping records somewhere in the offices of malls'n'grocery stores!
This is amazing!
Drink up, me lad!
"Still haven’t had enough?" Yes! As someone who truly bristles at walking into a store and hearing Christmas muzak, the genuine sentiments of a (for)giving season turned into crass capitalist consumer incentivization of cheap disposable crap, I probably feel about some of these playlists the way you would if I made you sit through all eight post-reunited James albums, on repeat! But a good Christmas song, a novel Christmas song, a beautiful Christmas song...? That one is a yes too! I'm now going to catch up on the more recent post, for which, a shame I could not contribute. Happy happy!
Well, as I mentioned above, I can completely understand why this stuff would make many folks run screaming in horror — but for me, the warm memories that Christmas Muzak brings back (combined with various degrees of appreciation from a camp angle) ultimately triumph over the inherent crassness of its original purpose. In any case, happy happy to you and yours, Tony!
I have to wonder if any of the old Canadian store chains (Eaton's, The Bay, Zellers, Woolco, Canadian Tire, etc.) have music libraries online like this.
Sounds like it’d be worth a look!
Thank you for the links, Dan. Merry Christmas!
You are most welcome. Merry Christmas to you too!
Definitely downloading some of these playlists! Happy Holidays!
Enjoy, Aaliyah! Happy Holidays to you, too!