Canthook

Muzak isn't just Muzak any more. They've always had a lot of competition - a store I worked at in the 1960s used National Spotcasting - but the style of Muzak has changed as well.

I think certain companies deliberately use bad "music on hold" to encourage you to hang up instead of tolerating excessive wait times. Stores, on the other hand, have switched to original recordings, often with voices.

There were studies in the 1950s and 1960s that showed that playing "elevator music" - music that was unobtrusive, meaning instrumental recordings that were deliberately bland, of old standards - put shoppers in a better mood. They stuck around shopping longer, were in better spirits, and consequently bought more, than when the stores were silent.

I think, for a long time, there was a great effort not to offend anyone. In the 1980s, I remember hearing an instrumental of the Beatles' The Fool On The Hill, and I was surprised, because some people interpreted the song (rightly or wrongly, I don't know) as an anti-establishment protest song, albeit one with a rather catchy tune. In the 1990s, I caught an instrumental of "Comin' Into Los Angeles" which is about smuggling dope.

Coming in from London from over the pole:
Flying in a big airliner.
Chicken flying everywhere around the plane.
Could we ever feel much finer?

Coming into Los Angeles;
Bringing in a couple of keys.
Don’t touch my bags if you please,
Mister customs man, man

Today, while shopping in Amelia's, they were playing the Everly Brothers' "Bird Dog" and I caught myself singing along with Phil and Don, fairly quietly.

Hey, bird dog, get away from my quail.
Hey, bird dog, you’re on the wrong trail.
Bird dog, you better leave my lovey-dove alone!
Hey, bird dog, get away from my chick.
Hey, bird dog, you better get away quick.
Bird dog, you better find a chicky little of your own!

And then I caught myself and I shut up, only to realize that someone behind me in the same aisle, and someone else, one aisle over, was singing to the lyrics, too!

It makes me feel better to realize that I'm not the only one making a fool of himself, singing in public.

Other Bloggers On Related Topics:
Beatles - Bird Dog - elevator music - Everly Brothers - Fool On The Hill - Muzak