I love Muzak

Well...at least the channel we have running in the store right now. They call it "Rock Show". Of course the usual suspects (Zep, Floyd, Bruce, etc.) are well-represented...but even then whoever programs the channel goes a little deep at times. The other day a Zep tune came on...I couldn't place it right away so popped into the office & took a look at the readout on the Muzak receiver. "The Song Remains The Same". Don't hear that one on commercial radio too often. Same for the Stones...I've heard "2,000 Light Years From Home", "Dandelion", "Monkey Man" and a few others recently.

A few other titles that have popped up recently:

"Beck's Bolero"
"Them Changes" Damn now I have to re-get that record. Only version I have is the live one Buddy Miles did with Santana (which is damn good) but the original can't be beat.
"Shape Of Things To Come" Nice Yardbirds pick there.
"My Back Pages" Same for the Byrds.
"Til The End Of The Day" A nice Kinks pick.
The Doors get their due as well..."Moonlight Drive" and "Whiskey Bar" have popped up recently.
And...have you heard any ClearChannel/Cumulus lowest common denominator station play "Rock & Roll Stew" by Traffic lately? Didn't think so.

Of course there's Steely Dan. Sounds like "Reelin'" and "Josie" are two of their SD "powers"...but I always get a few odd looks from customers who hear me singin' along to "Don't Take Me Alive" or "Doctor Wu".

And...any source that'll play "Psychotic Reaction" and "Hot Smoke & Sasafrass" back to back is OK with me

Any Andre Kostelanetz?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VR3-j03yUE

jgannon said:

Any Andre Kostelanetz?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VR3-j03yUE

Click to expand...

'Fraid not However, given the large number of channels Muzak now offers, I don't doubt that something similar is available.

I've had a few of the old Muzak demo albums. Reading their philosophy is interesting. Certain music can squeeze more productivity out of your workers without them realizing it. Kind of a Big Brother is Watching operation. I remember in my early years as a letter carrier I'd deliver the Muzak tapes to some businesses on my mail route.

THIS is Muzak?

The only Muzak I'm familiar with is the schmaltzy-sweet string orchestra re-works of 60s and 70s Top-40 hits that you used to hear in elevators. Are they actually releasing original-artist versions of more obscure material now?

Where do I sign up?

It's actually "Encompass" or something like that. Still Muzak, though. Satellite delivered, choose from a BUNCH of formats (50-60? I haven't counted the list), get the gear, pay the $$ and you're good to go. You can even select different formats to run in different time slots. I record the weekly store announcements with the specials, etc. on computer using Audacity, convert those files to MP3 & upload them to their website. I can pick the frequency of the announcements (right now I run them every 3 min), even block them certain days for special sales & such. All in all a pretty slick system. Audio quality is vastly better than the old days when it was either delivered by an FM subcarrier or over a phone line with about 3K frequency response.

One grocery store near me has a music " Service " of some kind. Occasionally when I go in they play some pretty amazing music. I'm not sure if it's some scientifically chosen mix of songs and types of music, or if some staff member has a channel selector. On the Loop of one " channel " I have heard several times Uriah Heep's - Easy Living. I have t chuckle when I hear it. When that song came out judging from my fathers reaction to the 8-track it was way off the chart of decent respectable music. Certainly nothing that would be played in a retail environment frequented by senior citizens.

It's a brave new world, and I like it.