Favoriting Music Only I Care About with Miss Mei: Playlist from September 24, 2024 Favoriting

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Music Only I Care About is the place to go for anything weird, forgotten and fun: Demos, Private Press, Outsider oddities and more! A little bit of odd, and a little bit of even odder, brought to you by a bespectacled bird with a lisp and a love for archiving.

Tuesday Noon - 3pm (EST) | On WFMU's Sheena's Jungle Room
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Favoriting September 24, 2024: Shopping at S. S. Kresge
Background music played at S. S. Kresge stores

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Playlist image Favoriting

Artist Track Album Format Images Approx. start time
Audio-Video Recording Company, Inc  KRESGE Theme   Favoriting AV1253 - KRESGE Song  Vinyl 
Favoriting
0:00:00 (Pop-up)
Special Recordings, Inc  VC-4119   Favoriting S. S. Kresge Background Music Record No. 306  Vinyl 
Favoriting
0:00:32 (Pop-up)
Special Recordings, Inc  VC-5818   Favoriting S. S. Kresge Background Music Record No. 380  Vinyl 
Favoriting
0:41:35 (Pop-up)
Special Recordings, Inc  VC-1823   Favoriting S. S. Kresge Background Music Record No. 241  Vinyl 
Favoriting
1:26:08 (Pop-up)
Special Recordings, Inc  VC-1564   Favoriting S. S. Kresge Background Music Record No. 226  Vinyl 
Favoriting
2:07:39 (Pop-up)


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Listener comments!

Avatar Swag For Life Member 11:58am
David The Splatter:

Oh, this looks good already! Hello, Miss Mei.
  👻 Swag For Life Member 12:01pm
WR:

Hello Miss Mei and folks.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 12:01pm
Kat in the chat:

"Please Do Not Use This Recording For Broadcast"
Avatar 12:02pm
Miss Mei:

heya!
Avatar 12:02pm
Miss Mei:

↳ Kat in the chat @12:01
What can I say, I'm a rebel
Avatar Swag For Life Member 12:03pm
David The Splatter:

↳ Song: "VC-4119" by "Special Recordings, Inc"
"Only records bearing this label are to be used for background music over PA system."

That's means NO "Hippie Music", you long-haired freaks! ;P
Avatar 12:04pm
Mr Fab:

hey mei!

Gawd, what I wouldn't give to have this stuff playing when I go shopping nowadays..
Avatar 12:05pm
Miss Mei:

And here are some visuals to go with the music, silent footage of an SS Kresge store in Ohio, 1965. www.youtube.com...
Avatar 12:07pm
Miss Mei:

To those unaware, S. S. Kresge was the founder of K-Mart. S. S. Kresge opened in 1899, the company became K-Mart Corporation in 1977. However, the first store with the K-Mart name opened in 1962, and the last S. S. Kresge store closed in 1987.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 12:10pm
David The Splatter:

↳ Miss Mei @12:07
And now the last U.S. K-Mart is closing on October 20.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 12:11pm
Kat in the chat:

I remember Kresge stores but not much specific about them. I remember the interiors of old K-marts and Woolworths a lot more specifically.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 12:12pm
Kat in the chat:

↳ David The Splatter @12:10
Really? They hung on for a long time.
Avatar 12:14pm
Miss Mei:

In Australia, K-Mart is widely successful, but it's technically a different company. they actually use a variant of an old Kmart logo.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 12:15pm
David The Splatter:

↳ Kat in the chat @12:12
I had no idea there were any left until I read about it. The only full-size store is in Bridgehampton, NY. That leaves a "micro" store in Miami.
Avatar 12:16pm
Miss Mei:

↳ David The Splatter @12:15
bridgehampton is about an hour and 35 minutes away from me.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 12:16pm
Rich in Washington:

My local K-Mart became a strip mall church decades ago, most recently rocked by a scandal when its pastor absconded with church funds and went on a South-of-the-border meth binge. Welcome to Vantuckey.
Avatar 12:17pm
Miss Mei:

↳ Rich in Washington @12:16
yikes.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 12:19pm
fred:

There are a few K-Marts in Paris, but they are Korean grocery stores
Avatar Swag For Life Member 12:21pm
David The Splatter:

Most of the ones I've been to have either become Dollar Tree, Ollie's Discount, a Trampoline Park or redeveloped into whatever.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 12:22pm
David The Splatter:

↳ Miss Mei @12:16
wow!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 12:23pm
Rich in Washington:

I love background music like this. I'm guessing the stores of my youth had perhaps music systems with music that was 20 years out-of-date because this stuff sends me back in time.
  👻 Swag For Life Member 12:27pm
WR:

↳ Miss Mei @12:07
Did not know or remember that Kresge to K-Mart connection.

I am the same as Kat, I remember that the Kresge stores existed but nothing much specific about them.
  👻 Swag For Life Member 12:29pm
WR:

↳ fred @12:19
Hi Fred!
Avatar 12:29pm
Miss Mei:

↳ WR @12:27
Kresge was pretty phased out after K-Mart became their moneymaker, I imagine most of you (who are older than me) were born quite some time after the heyday of S. S. Kresge.
Avatar 12:31pm
Miss Mei:

In 1977, nearly 95 percent of S.S. Kresge Company sales were generated by Kmart stores.
  👻 Swag For Life Member 12:31pm
WR:

↳ fred @12:19
By the way, Fred, in the USA there is a Korean grocery store chain, from the H-Mart wikipedia page:
H Mart is an American chain of Asian supermarkets operated by the Hanahreum Group, headquartered in Lyndhurst, Bergen County, New Jersey.
Avatar 12:33pm
Miss Mei:

↳ Miss Mei @12:31
Kmart store openings accelerated nationwide throughout the next three decades, eventually replacing Kresge stores, the last of which were sold to the McCrory Corporation by 1987.
Avatar 12:35pm
Miss Mei:

You can read more here:
kresge.org...
Avatar Swag For Life Member 12:39pm
Kat in the chat:

This one is especially sprightly
Avatar Swag For Life Member 12:46pm
Rich in Washington:

I feel like my soul's being cleaned up on aisle 11.
  👻 Swag For Life Member 12:47pm
WR:

↳ Miss Mei @12:33
Interesting. In my youth I was more aware and shopped at S.H. Kress or TG&Y stores which were operated by the McCrory Corporation. Thanks for the Kresge link. The KMart wiki page has some info but wanting more.
Avatar 12:50pm
Miss Mei:

To hear more of these great recordings, you can go here:
archive.org...

There's a ton of audio for you to sink your teeth into!
  👻 Swag For Life Member 12:57pm
WR:

↳ Miss Mei @12:33
Plus, ding ding ding, relative to selling the last of the Kresge stores to the McCrory Corp, Kresge had first got involved in discount retail by partnering with McCrory on opening a new store in Memphis in 1897.
  👻 Swag For Life Member 12:58pm
WR:

↳ Kat in the chat @12:39
Yes, there are several up-tempo tunes.
  👻 Swag For Life Member 12:59pm
WR:

Now one tipping its toes into exotica.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 12:59pm
Feldy:

Been listening and working, enjoying the show
Avatar 👻 1:04pm
Carist:

↳ Feldy @12:59
Yeah, this is nice work music
Avatar Swag For Life Member 1:07pm
David The Splatter:

Just got back from lunch break, about to dip back into the ether that is S.S. Kresge.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 1:07pm
Kat in the chat:

I remember Kress too. Were they related to Kresge? I don't see mention of that on the Kresge Foundation page, but the names are so similar.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 1:13pm
David The Splatter:

↳ Miss Mei @12:50
Thank you! I can't wait to dip into some of those Christmas records in a few months.
Avatar 1:14pm
Miss Mei:

↳ Carist @1:04
good for drawing too
Avatar 1:14pm
Miss Mei:

↳ David The Splatter @1:13
rest assured I will be playing them too!
  👻 Swag For Life Member 1:15pm
WR:

↳ Kat in the chat @1:07
Kress was not related to Kresge.
en.wikipedia.org...

As a kid, I was confused by the similarity in names. I also long thought the other similar chain was called Woolsworth (instead of Woolworth) so you can see I am not very precise about names.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 1:21pm
David The Splatter:

And what visit to Kresge's would be complete without a stop for some Cream o' Tomato Soup (WITH Saltines!!!)
www.reddit.com...
Avatar Swag For Life Member 1:22pm
Kat in the chat:

"Do Re Mi", oh no
Avatar Swag For Life Member 1:25pm
Kat in the chat:

↳ WR @1:15
Interesting read, thanks WR! It is odd that the names were so similar.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 1:28pm
Rich in Washington:

I wonder what stores were using to play these or if they were supposed to record these on a reel-to-reel system at something like 1 7/8 ips.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 1:30pm
Rich in Washington:

The Seeburg 1000 background system was something else. It played a stack of special records and could play both sides seamlessly for something like ten hours.
  👻 Swag For Life Member 1:31pm
WR:

↳ David The Splatter @1:21
Thanks for that menu link. I would really like a #3. Baked Macaroni platter.
Avatar 1:33pm
Miss Mei:

↳ Rich in Washington @1:30
Plenty of Seeburg on Internet Archive too!
  👻 Swag For Life Member 1:33pm
WR:

↳ Rich in Washington @1:30
I would imagine they used the Seeburg or something similar until a shift to cassettes in the 70s.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 1:34pm
Rich in Washington:

I just bought one of those funky 70s turntables that lets you stack a bunch of records on the spindle for automatic playback.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 1:34pm
David The Splatter:

↳ WR @1:33
And by the 80s or 90s, they would feed the music in from a satellite or cable wire.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 1:35pm
Rich in Washington:

↳ Miss Mei @1:33
there's also a site that has a live operating Seeburg 1000 unit with a livestream.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 1:36pm
Rich in Washington:

↳ David The Splatter @1:34
Yeah, Muzak had their stuff available on ISDN and satellite throughout the 80s and 90s, possibly still on the web, I would imagine.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 1:38pm
David The Splatter:

↳ Rich in Washington @1:36
ISDN: That was the name I was looking for instead of "cable wire". Thanks.
  👻 Swag For Life Member 1:38pm
WR:

↳ David The Splatter @1:34
The archive.org link Miss Mei posted is to a collection shared by a person who worked at K-Mart and he writes that in 1993 K-Mart rolled out satellite to replace the cassettes. That's where the collection he shared started from, he saved it from being put out to trash in '93.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 1:39pm
David The Splatter:

↳ WR @1:38
He's a good man.
  👻 Swag For Life Member 1:43pm
WR:

↳ Rich in Washington @1:36
Interesting, I've never encountered any ISDN distribution. For a time FM radio stations in the 70s to 90s were marketing subcarrier broadcasting. Muzak used it in some markets before going to satellite in the 90s.

en.wikipedia.org...
  👻 Swag For Life Member 1:51pm
WR:

Lots of "sampling", paraphrasing of well-known themes in some of the arrangements. The one that just ended melded a phrase from Gershwin with something I couldn't figure out but also sounded familiar.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 1:51pm
Herbie:

More K-mart memories!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 1:51pm
David The Splatter:

↳ WR @1:51
Kinda sounded like "Save the Last Dance for Me".
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 1:54pm
Herbie:

↳ Song: "VC-1823" by "Special Recordings, Inc"
Pretty aggressive for shopping - I love it!
Avatar 2:00pm
Miss Mei:

it's loads of fun!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 2:02pm
David The Splatter:

↳ Herbie @1:54
I get pretty amped up for a sale on 12 packs of socks.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 2:03pm
Kat in the chat:

↳ David The Splatter @1:21
Dammit my job blocks Reddit. Will enjoy later.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 2:03pm
Herbie:

↳ David The Splatter @2:02
...as you should.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 2:05pm
David The Splatter:

↳ Kat in the chat @2:03
Aw, crud. Sorry about that.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 2:07pm
Rich in Washington:

Thanks, Miss Mei! Fun visit to the shopping aisles of yesteryear.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 2:08pm
Rich in Washington:

ah. It went to the autostream so I assumed the show was over. Cleanup on aisle 7!
Avatar 2:11pm
Miss Mei:

↳ Rich in Washington @2:08
It did"? is it back?
Avatar Swag For Life Member 2:13pm
Rich in Washington:

↳ Miss Mei @2:11
Yes. It's back. T'was merely a hiccup.
  2:17pm
Milkies:

Thanks for the tunes, making cleaning easier
Avatar 2:25pm
Miss Mei:

↳ Milkies @2:17
yeah no problem!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 2:38pm
David The Splatter:

↳ Song: "VC-1564" by "Special Recordings, Inc"
A little more festive step as you peruse the Color TVs!
  2:47pm
wenzo:

Howdeee
  👻 Swag For Life Member 2:48pm
WR:

Another drop to the stream?!?
Avatar Swag For Life Member 2:48pm
Rich in Washington:

↳ WR @2:48
so it seems.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 2:49pm
David The Splatter:

I got nothing, I hit PAUSE on the player then PLAY again. It came back, but a lot louder. I'm assuming that's the Sheena back-up stream?
Avatar Swag For Life Member 2:50pm
David The Splatter:

↳ David The Splatter @2:49
Never mind, sounds like it's back.
Avatar 2:50pm
Miss Mei:

sorry about that, i had to take a quick bathroom break and my headphones paused the stream when i left the room.
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 2:56pm
Herbie:

↳ Miss Mei @2:50
Haha - when nature calls...
Avatar Swag For Life Member 2:56pm
David The Splatter:

No worries. When ya gotta go, you gotta go.
Avatar 2:57pm
Miss Mei:

one of my meds is a water pill, so it happens.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 2:57pm
Rich in Washington:

This music is having a surprising effect on my productivity at work. Confound you, Madison Avenue!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 2:57pm
David The Splatter:

Thank you, Mei, for another trip through Kresge/K-Mart.

Please bring your final purchases to the checkout at this time.
Avatar 👻 2:58pm
Carist:

Thanks, Miss Mei. Some great music to work to today.
Avatar 2:58pm
Miss Mei:

ive felt quite mellow thanks to this music(and cbd)
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 2:58pm
Herbie:

It's amazing that Kresge would invest in literally hundreds of background music albums and not just play the same thing over and over like they probably do today.
Avatar 2:59pm
Miss Mei:

thanks all for being here! last tune of the afternoon! may go a minute or two past 3, apologies for that!
Avatar 👻 Swag For Life Member 2:59pm
Herbie:

↳ Miss Mei @2:59
👍
  👻 Swag For Life Member 3:02pm
WR:

Thank you! Miss Mei!
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