I like my little LA Fitness gym.  The members are mostly nice, not too much attitude, and the gym is kept in reasonable order.  We have our gripes about all of these, but the gym does okay for me and my workout partner, John.  But one gripe we DO have is the canned LA Fitness music soundtrack.  Apparently this is created and controlled in the national office, and somehow they have determined what the average American gym member wants to hear.  And most every day at 5:00 pm, this is Justin Bieber.

For months it was Miley and “Party in the USA,” which I never liked and used to complain about endlessly.  But now it’s “Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby” or whatever this song is!  Every day it plays, and we look at the clock and it’s 5:00, and I will loudly say “It’s Your 5:00 Bieber!”

It would be nice if the person programming the soundtrack would realize that most gym members show up at the same time each day, and would therefore vary the songs played between 4:00 and 5:30.  But for me and John who are there each day at those times, we find we are forced to listen to the same group of songs every day.  I find myself doing abs to some bad rap song about “dropping the butt” and then at 5:00 it’s Mr. Bieber.  As a musician, this repetition of bad music can be a bit daunting.

Happily, I tend to forget the lousy soundtrack most of the time because of the fascinating soundtrack of stories that come from Mr. Passarella’s mouth.  But no matter how fascinating the tale, a lousy rap song or one more time for Mr. Bieber can make me cranky.

So maybe someone in California at LA Fitness will stumble upon this post and have mercy on those of us who are consistent and regular…in the gym, I mean!  But for now, it’s “Baby Baby Baby!” at 5.  Oh brother!  Almost makes you want to party in the USA!