Monday, August 11, 2025
Time: 5:15 PM
Song: I’ll Take You There
Artist: The Staple Sisters
Mode of Consumption: Playing at the dentist’s office
Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/track/5YLnfy7R2kueN0BRPkjiEG?si=01337d8d289e442a
The opening lines of this play:
“Oh, mmmm, I know a place
Ain’t nobody cryin’…”
And I think, I don’t think I am at that place. A few minutes later, that’s confirmed as I can hear the dentist comforting a young girl through some sort of procedure and the girl’s cries could be heard throughout the office.
I’ll also realized that even though I have probably heard this song hundreds of times, I’ve never thought about who recorded it. With nothing else to do while the hygienist scraped plaque from my teeth, I figured it out.
That’s Mavis Staples.
Has to be. While I am far from a Mavis Staples expert, her vocals are unique. So, there, I learned something at the dentist’s office.
After the cleaning, the dentist arrived, and she commented on a Supremes song playing. The hygienist, who I think is older than the dentist, crinkles her nose. Apparently, she doesn’t like oldies.
From there, I get a breakdown of a recent change to the music played at the office. They rely on broadcast radio, and recently the station they traditionally listened to changed format from Top 40 to hard rock. It just didn’t work for their clientele.
They tried a couple other stations.
“One was Top 40,” the dentist said. “Really it was Top 4. That’s all they seemed to play. We called in ‘Pink Pony Radio.’”
“I kind of miss Pink Pony Radio,” the hygienist said.
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