No more fucking about. The jukebox thread.

[hmg]

The jukebox thread.

I choose pubs by jukeboxes. Cambridge was well served. The Salisbury had most of the pixies back catalogue, but no dance music at all. The White Horse in Waterbeach had a stack of old skool hardkore compilations mixed up with rockabilly and 60s standards. The king Street run with its metal, punk and ska.

But Cambridge is in the past. I've moved back to London and need to know which pubs have the best jukeboxes.

Best value for money creditwise?
Most spectacular old-style jukebox?
Best in-pub sound system attached to a jukebox?
Most surprising find?
Favourite 'who put this shit on?' you like to deposit before leaving...

I was attacked by a dog after selecting Dillinja's 'the angels fell' in a bar in Amsterdam. That was unexpected. But apart from riling animals, the jukebox phenomenon is the perfect trinity of music, booze and inflicting your taste on the general public.

 

[DJ PIMP]

I once attracted the ire of almost every woman in the pub by selecting 'Baby got back' by Sir Mix-A-Lot... but to rile a dog, thats amazing

Jukeboxes are great fun - communal DJing.

 

[swears]

Take Wyatt and party

I just like to put on something happy like "Right Here" by SWV or "I love your Smile" by Shanice.

 

[hmg]

I just like to put on something happy like "Right Here" by SWV or "I love your Smile" by Shanice.

Is this a chink in your armour we're seeing? Or just an ingenious troll?

Either way, good choices.

 

[hmg]

Is there a comprehensive jukebox logging website service? One with up-to-minute listings on every known jukebox in the land? Linked into Google Earth? If not, there should be.

And if you could use this system to pay to put on tracks in pubs you're not actually in... that would be awesome.

 

[swears]

Is this a chink in your armour we're seeing? Or just an ingenious troll?

Either way, good choices.

I think I've made my love of R'n'B and lovingly crafed pop pretty clear so far.
I made The Prince Thread didn't I?

 

[Guybrush]

Haven't seen a jukebox for years, so I'm a little curious how they look nowadays. Is the song selection up to date, for example, and who controls the volume level?

The Dells' "Oh, What a Night" must be the ultimate jukebox anthem, instantly conveying images of prim and proper pre-adolescents milkshake-sipping and holding hands--adorable!

 

[hmg]

Volume is usually controlled through a dial behind the bar, so you're in the hands of whoever is pulling the pumps.

 

[STN]

I think the Lock Tavern in Camden has one of those MP3 jukebox things, which may even be free but I don't know about that because I haven't been there for years because every other aspect of the pub is complete cock.

If a jukebox has The Best of the Sweet I'm pretty much sold so I'm really the wrong person to be contributing to this debate. The Shakespeare in Stoke Newington has an okay jukebox in that kind of earnest Clash/Jam/Love way.

 

[mistersloane]

Best jukebox in the world used to be in Dick's Bar in New York on 2nd and 12th, I was once in there when the owner got in a fight and a guy through a stool through the front window and when the cops arrived some bright spark put on God Save The Queen. Genius.

Downtown Beirut had a great one as well, Sexbomb by Flipper! Yaaaaaah!

 

[dubversion]

I think the Lock Tavern in Camden has one of those MP3 jukebox things, which may even be free but I don't know about that because I haven't been there for years because every other aspect of the pub is complete cock.

fucking horrible, isn't it? i gave it another chance a while back and the terrace was full of coked up wideboy twats / Doherty wannabes blathering on about chang, groping their partners and knocking tables over.

I like the jukebox in the Crobar opposite Foyles for its sheer bloody mindedness. 200 none-more-metal CDs - and we're talking doom metal as well as the old faves - interspersed with the odd Big Bad Voodoo Daddy album

 

[petergunn]

mp3 jukeboxes have their pluses and minuses...

the cool thing is you can (for a extra fee) browse and download songs that aren't on there, thus not locking you into the bar's selection...

the bad thing is, it means that instead of entire albums being on there (one of the few great things about cd jukeboxes vs. 45 jukeboxes), you'll see a picture of the album cover, but when you click on it, they'll only be a track or 2, often eliminating my favorite jukebox trick: picking the LONG songs in order to get your money's worth... i.e. Creedence's "i heard it thru the grapevine"...

 

[petergunn]

cd's that must be on a jukebox to make it best in the world, whether it's a neighborhood joint or a hip place...


slayer- reign in blood
wu tang- enter the wu tang
james brown- anything, but greatest hits is fine
guns n roses- appetite for destruction



stuff i can live without

eagles
santana
london calling
johnny cash at folsom

stuff that i hardly see that makes me happy
roky erickson
black flag
small faces
any 60's soul other than j.b, aretha, or motown...


a friend of mine once got us kicked out of a real dump or a bar (the type of place that has no taps and served mixed drinks in plastic cups) by putting the entire "nevermind the bollocks' LP on... he kinda had a point, as it was the only decent cd on there... the place was shut down by the drug squad about a year later for selling pills from behind the bar...

 

[mistersloane]

often eliminating my favorite jukebox trick: picking the LONG songs in order to get your money's worth... i.e. Creedence's "i heard it thru the grapevine"...

Bat Out Of Hell...9 mins 51 secs...

 

[hmg]

I expect the Joanna Newsom LP will make it onto a few jukeboxes here and there. 16'39" for only skin. I imagine it would split a pub population like any other.

 

[Leo]

as snotty young grungesters back in the day, my friends and i used to get a kick out of playing mudhoney's "touch me, i'm sick" about five times in a row at maxwell's in hoboken. even we got annoyed with it after a while...

 

[nomadologist]

can't stand it when bars have ten different ramones best of comps, because you know you're going to hear sheena is a punk rocker at least 5 times

cd's that must be on a jukebox to make it best in the world, whether it's a neighborhood joint or a hip place...


slayer- reign in blood
wu tang- enter the wu tang
james brown- anything, but greatest hits is fine
guns n roses- appetite for destruction



stuff i can live without

eagles
santana
london calling
johnny cash at folsom

stuff that i hardly see that makes me happy
roky erickson
black flag
small faces
any 60's soul other than j.b, aretha, or motown...


a friend of mine once got us kicked out of a real dump or a bar (the type of place that has no taps and served mixed drinks in plastic cups) by putting the entire "nevermind the bollocks' LP on... he kinda had a point, as it was the only decent cd on there... the place was shut down by the drug squad about a year later for selling pills from behind the bar...

 

[nomadologist]

I don't really hang out in the East Village but I remember Hi-Fi had that huuuge electronic catalogue mp3 jukebox that I'd spend too much time browsing. wonder if it's still there

 

[lazybones]

i'd love to go to that pub in camden with the doherty-esque characters and put supersharpshooter or some remarc on...!


wyatting was quite an amusing fad i must say... anyone know any pubs in brighton with the download/mp3 business??

 

[Guybrush]

Allegedly, this...

...is the world's most sold jukebox, with this...

...the most popular post-1960 one.

Here's the whole list.

Ladies and Gentlemen, by request, the Top 10 Danish Jukebox Singles!!!:

# 1 "Billet Mrk.", Bjarne Liller, 1980
# 2 "Kvinde min", Gasolin (Kim Larsen), 1975
# 3 "Mormors kolonihavehus", Eva Madsen, 1978 ("Grandma's Allotment Gazebo"—very punk)
# 4 "Så længe jeg lever", John Mogensen, 1973
# 5 "Papirklip", Kim Larsen, 1983
# 6 "Se Venedig og dø", Lone Kellermann, 1978 ("Behold Venice and Die"—this one maybe more so)
# 7 "To mennesker på en strand", John Mogensen, 1972
# 8 "Hva' gør vi nu, lille du", Gasolin (Kim Larsen), 1976
# 9 "Fut i fejemøget", John Mogensen, 1972
#10 "Hvalborg", Shu-bi-dua, 1976