Wednesday night I spent $16 on jukeboxes at two establishments in New York City. Sixteen dollars! That could buy, I don’t know, three pints of ice cream at the bodega down the block. But I felt like the investment was worth it, particularly at the second bar I visited, where six Washingtons allowed me to blare 19 songs throughout the bar and my friend and I were pretty much the only customers left in the place. Not that other patrons would have stopped me from playing the Monkees’ “Valleri” and the Raincoats’ “In Love”*; after all, the huge catalogs of the Internet-jukebox era have made it a lot easier to impose your tastes on others, even if doing so costs you an extra credit per song. So this weekend, I wonder: What songs will you always play on a jukebox if you have some unused dollar bills rustling around your wallet? Five songs that I have no problem dropping 25 to 100 cents on after the jump.
The Afghan Whigs, “Miles Iz Ded”
A personal drinking staple. (”Now You Know,” from Gentlemen, also works in a pinch, although I’d avoid it if you’re throwing back beverages while feeling bad about anything related to your personal life.)
Janet Jackson, “Miss You Much”
Note: It sounded quite complementary with this Fall Out Boy song Wednesday night.
Pulp, “Monday Morning”
“Why live in the world, when you can live in your head” is a lyric that really anticipated the “everything customized just for you” age, isn’t it?
TV On The Radio, “Golden Age”
The bigger the speakers, the better the sound.
The Mo-Dettes, “White Mice”
It’s not on too many jukeboxes–New York’s Hi-Fi has it thanks to its digitizing a few key editions of Rhino’s D.I.Y. series–but its ghostly “ooh”s and “ahh”s” sound even better underneath the din of inebriated patrons.
* Yeah, I wrote down all the songs that I picked. It’s a habit I picked up this year after a few nights of solo drinking. What.
“Achy Breaky Heart”, three spins in a row. Once, amused nostalgia. Twice, annoyance. Three, full-on Andy Kauffmann-esque comedy of chaos.
Queen-Dont Stop Me Now
The Hives-Die Alright
Kings of Leon-Velvet Snow/Trani
Bruce Springsteen-Backstreets
Love-7 and 7 Is
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Lodi
Michael Jackson - Dirty Diana
Elvis Presley - Suspicious Minds
Prince - D.M.S.R.
Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
Monster Magnet - Negasonic Teenage Warhead
Traffic - Dear Mr. Fantasy
Tammy Wynette - Delta Dawn
Thin Lizzy - For Those Who Love To Live
Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town
Under Pressure- Queen/Bowie
Beat Surrender/ The Bitterest Pill- The Jam
Temptation- Heaven 17
Parklife- Blur
Blue Monday- New Order (it’s on every jukebox)
Van Halen - “Jump”
Whitesnake “Still Of the Night”
Ratt - “Round & Round”
Poison - “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”
Quiet Riot - “Metal Health”
Europe - “The Final Countdown”
Nice weekend post. Last night I spent $10 in a jukebox, which netted me something like 32 credits. There is no way I’m remembering all ths songs, but I do remember playing:
Cure - Catapillar Girl
Pixies - Hey, Where is my mind, Wave of mutilation
Elvis Costello - Radio, Radio
Michael Jackson - Don’t Stop ’til you get enough
One song each by AFI, Linkin Park and Iron Maiden chosen by my friends who obviously hate me
Weezer - My Name is Jonas
Kinks - Lola
Man, there were a lot more than that. I’m writing them down next time.
until now i didn’t know what the guy from pulp looked like. dreamy! just like i imagined.
i am a little disappointed at the lack of bronx. and karajan. but now i’m just trying to impress you.
mayheminthehood- you had me at hello.
the rest of you- wow.
ps- i’m not gay.
pss- i hope.
psss- god what do i tell my wife…
pssss- greg dulli, where are you.
when will they ever reissue the mo-dettes?
or have they already and i just missed it?
that would be divine.
“Whiter Shade of Pale”, “Losing My Religion”, “Because the Night”, “November Rain”, and some sort of trend-bucking device involving black people and the post-1980s, two things you’ll be hard-pressed to find on a jukebox round these parts. Damn, that’s a pretty melancholic list!
As with you, Maura, I love how an internet jukebox gives one access to more obscure material. Here’s what I’ll dig deep for on one of those:
Brian Eno - “Burning Airlines Give You So Much More” or “King’s Lead Hat”
Pavement - “Zurich is Stained”
Spaceman 3 - “Hey Man”
Beastie Boys - “Get it Together”
The Walkmen - “The Rat”
Guess those last two aren’t that far out there. Also, Spaceland in Los Angeles has “Holes” by Mercury Rev on its jukebox, which I always find myself putting on when I’m there.
before the economic meltdown i was known to drop $5-10 in the touchtunes any given night, i was the bartender’s go to guy when the machine went silent
cheap trick - ain’t that a shame (live at budokan)
velvet underground - what goes on (live with lou reed 1969)
frank zappa - montana
mountain - man on the silver mountain
joe walsh - life of illusion
pink floyd - echoes
and when the bar had an old school cd jukebox, i often bragged about playing 90 minutes of pink floyd for $1.50. it was 25 cents per play and it also had the beatles. let’s give it up for innovation!
that should be mountain - mississippi queen and rainbow - man on the silver mountain
I have to disagree about the merits of the internet jukebox. It’s like nuclear power. In theory, when used properly, it’s better than the current system. In practice, people pick the worst songs ever, bars lack the local color of a hand-picked juke, and there’s added “fuck the GenPop” factors like being able to skip songs.
Even as a regular jukebox user, I pay to search for obscure classics as often as I go “wow, this bartender is terrible, these people deserve cancer, I’m playing ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ to teach them a lesson”.
Head East - There’s Never Been Any Reason
The Fall - any song that is on the jukebox because after i’ve had a few it never ceases to BLOW MY MIND that there are Fall songs on jukeboxes.
B-52’s - “Rock Lobster”
Trick Daddy - “Amerika”
Level 42: “Lessons In Love”
Thank you everybody, thank you. Seriously, thanks. No problem.
Bob Seger–Turn the Page
i find myself putting together a playlist to this effect at swinger’s diner on beverly blvd…
- mary mary, run dmc
- oh! you pretty things, david bowie
- devil’s waiting, black rebel motorcycle club
- snowblind, black sabbath
- in the fade, queens of the stone age
insert an ‘often’ between ‘i’ and ‘find’ kthx.
I almost got my ass kicked in Milano’s on Houston St. one time for putting the Salt-N-Pepa album-ending PSA “I’ve Got AIDS” on. I was very drunk and simply couldn’t believe it was on the jukebox (yes, it was one of those internet ones; I’ve since found that every time I’ve checked since, it’s been removed from the running order). I definitely don’t regret Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long (All Night)” from the same evening, however; I definitely would’ve gotten beaten up behind that one if the bartender hadn’t taken my side.
If I’m drinking:
Faces - Bad ‘n’ Ruin
The Posies - Dream All Day
(embedding disabled, boo! but it’s on YouTube, go find it!)
Laika - Sugar Daddy
James Brown - The Payback
Sloan - The Good in Everyone
I had no idea what I’d pick, since “Miles Is Ded” and “Monday Morning” were already taken. But there’s probably several more Pulp songs I’d be able to think of if I hadn’t just woken up.
There is only one song I will always play if I see it in a jukebox: “Cigarette Tricks,” by Guided by Voices. It makes a statement, namely, “I will pay full price for this 17 second song because it is awesome.”
Once in a New Orleans dive bar I bought four song credits and I picked ABBA’s “Take a Chance On Me” as my last song, because it’s a great song, because I was extremely surprised to see Gold in that particular jukebox, and because I was too curious about the other patrons’ reactions not to.
The bartender unplugged the jukebox.
My usual Monday night haunt plays witness to a battle of wills from time to time: my friends and I, trying to pick decent stuff that we like, and this one sad bastard who picks 12 consecutive Frou Frou/Imogean Heap songs.
That’s when I reach for the trump cards: really long songs.
Buddy Guy - Baby Please Don’t Leave
The White Stripes - Ball & Biscuit
Coldplay (I know, shut up) - Yes!
Gang of Four - He’d Send the Army (live)
Al Green - Love And Happiness
Man, don’t fight it…
The Weight.
@Ted Striker: @Ted Striker: i usually pick long songs as well, but its usually to save money. those internet jukeboxes are a dollar a song! and i need to feed my foosball addiction.
so i usually go for songs like:
purple rain - prince and the revolution
all my friends - lcd soundsystem
filmore jive - pavement
europe endless - kraftwerk (if they have it)
also note: it is usually just me and a few of my friends in this coffee shop so i can play whatever i want.
@DocStrange: “B.O.B.” actually went to No. 2 on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts. It didn’t chart Alternative or on the Hot 100.
@Michaelangelo Matos: Arrggghhh, I’m wrong: “B.O.B.” went to No. 69 R&B/Hip-Hop. (It’s “Ms. Jackson” that went No. 2; they were on the charts at the same time, and I didn’t look closely enough.)
I like flipping through an old time jukebox
Slayer - Angel of Death
Prince - Raspberry Beret
Weezer - Tired of Sex
Kenny Rogers - Lady
CCR - Lookin’ Out My Back Door
Pantera - Walk
Pixies - Bone Machine
Hall and Oates - Maneater
…And pretty much ANY Journey song (predictable. eh, sue me.)
Talking Heads- Once In a Life Time
The Replacements- Kiss Me on the Bus/Alex Chilton
C.R.E.A.M- Wu Tang Clan
“Wichita Lineman” by Glen Campbell
Voodoo Childe - Hendrix
Tie Your Mother Down - Queen
It’s A Long Way To The Top - AC/DC
My Wave - Soundgarden
Rearviewmirror - Pearl Jam
Stereo MC’s - Connected (a hit on pop, rap and alternative radio, and thus pleasing to 75% of the people in the vicinity)
The Pharcyde - Passin’ Me By (ditto)
OutKast - B.O.B. (not a hit on pop radio and a minor hit at best on the other two, but it’s one of the few songs almost everyone on a college campus can agree is extremely excellent)
I appreciate and applaud some of the strategies described above! Love the extravagance of the relatively high price-per-minute of Pavement’s “Zurich is Stained,” as well as the value-minded investment in lengthy clock-eaters (I’d go with the Rolling Stones’ “Midnight Rambler (live)” or Creedence’s “Grapevine” or whatever). And the repeating prank, an enduring classic: try “Under Pressure” times three (Vanilla Ice-over for max annoyance) . . .
huh — we don’t have the same kind of jukeboxes in Memphis. most of the places in Midtown still rely on good ol’ vinyl! nevertheless,the pop-culture disparity pointed out in your post inspired this: [www.memphismc.com]
MC5 - Kick Out the Jams
Flamin’ Groovies - Shake Some Action
J. Geils Band- Whammer Jammer
Real Kids- All Kindsa Girls
Plimsouls - How Long will it Take
The Paul Collins Beat - Walking Out on Love
Dbs - Black and White
The Rockets - Turn up the Radio
@dyfl: Holy shit, that’s awesome!
I like those new-fangled jukeboxes where you can download songs (like the one at McAleers) so I can put on “Mountain Jam” and stare at the people looking confused during the 12 minute drum solo.
@GhostOfDuane: We used to do that in college, so we could hear people around us saying “We have to stay, our songs are coming up soon” and laugh…
Fugazi, “Waiting Room.”
Nothing’s better than being with a bunch of drunks, leaning your heads back, and gleefully shouting at the top of your lungs “I WAIT I WAIT I WAIT I WAIT”…