The Superior market in Boyle Heights has good recycled music playing on their PA system. Recently, it’s been 60s oldies, and in the past, it’s been 80s KROQ music (or what we think of as KROQ music, but stuff they didn’t play much of back then). This music reminds me that life can be cyclical and linear at the same time. I’ve had my shopping experiences “imprinted” by their sly use of music, and my eroding sense of “hip” upended by having these songs played while I’m buying food. With these blatant efforts by this corporation to appeal to aesthetic snobs, can (d|r)e/gentrification by an intellectual record collector vanguard be far behind? Shopping/music highlights:
Produce section, “Buzz Buzz Buzz“, The Hollywood Flames.
Produce section, “Love Will Tear Us Apart“, Joy Division.
Meat section, “She’s Not There“, The Zombies.
One song I hoped to hear, but didn’t, was 96 Tears by ? and the Mysterians. That would have been so ethnic. 😐
(I was hoping to publish something more substantial for my first post, but this will have to do. Image swiped from Curbed LA.)
I’ve noticed that at my local Big Saver they seem to change the music based on the time of day; early weekend mornings is more traditional, classic Mexican stuff whereas later in the day they have the Roc en espanol and other more recent pop acts. I don’t know if that makes me buy more tomatillos but it does make my “shopping experience” much more pleasant!
Superior is one of the few stores that carry greens anymore. You can get kale, collards, and mustard. I think there were turnip greens too. They’re not all wilted and sickly.
Oh yeah, I found out there’s a 96 Tears cover contest. Crazy!
http://youtube.com/group/96tears
I think I might have heard the same music at the Superior on Figueroa in Highland Park once. I especially recognized the odd fact that I was hearing “Love Will Tear Us Apart” as I was picking chile serranos. WTFOMGBBQ!
I noticed that the 99c Store also plays cheesy music as outdated and discount-bin as most of their merchandise. If I hear “Celebrate” one more time in there as I’m trying to shop, I’m grabbing a 99c jump rope and hanging myself!
My first job was at the 99 cents store,the music was pretty cheesy mostly Backsreet Boys and Britney Spears (when she first came out). I also worked at Vons and the music there was somewhat better but at night we turn off the music and put on own music into the speaker! ..I guess the corp office provided the music on the company station.
OMG, I love the song 96 Tears! I had no idea the singer was Chicano and shared the same name as one of my uncles, until you made the “ethnic” reference.
I heard some funny music today while I was eating lunch at Happy Family (not the Monterey Park one with the surly waitresses, the nice one). They had a whole mixtape of cheesy covers, it’s a tape I picked up myself many years ago in Chinatown. The first song goes “I want to dance/ would you like to Cha Cha?” it’s one of those old disco songs from the 80s, vaguely European. Brought back memories of doing the cha cha cha in Vietnamese nightclubs…
I thought that Viet pop and disco was dead, but it sounds like it’ll live on for a long, long time. I had a roommate who listened to that music, and it was interesting how it was really global.