I am writing a little essay and I need some help. I need you to tell me about your favorite jukebox and the establishment that houses it. Why is it so great? What makes a good jukebox? What makes a bad one? What is the worst jukebox you know of and why is it so bad? What’s best: record, cd, internet type jukebox? What are signs of a pretentious jukebox? Know any interesting history or stories you could share with me regarding… jukeboxes? Thanks for your help. I can’t wait to hear what you guys come up with. Feel free to send this around if you think it might have some relevance to someone else. Thanks. -professoreric
p.s. missbrookline, please hold off on responding to this. i know you know where i am going with this and i am curious to hear peoples responses first.
professoreric– i will hold off but you better tell me what you are planning. it’s very hard not to describe my favorite jukebox, you brat!
i kinda have two minds about this. i really like the old fashion kind with a limited selection of 45’s. those really give me a sense of the era the jukebox came from and an idea of what life was like back then. then i also really like the newer version with a varied selection of cd’s. funny thing, it’s pretty rare that i find a lot of songs i actually “like”. when i do find a few selections…enough to fill out my 8 song quota, i’ll stay until my selections come up and keep drinking my troubles away. i’ve never actually seen the internet version, so can’t comment on that type. of course, a jukebox has to have the rainbow colored lights and bubbles flowing through it. anything else is a fancy record/music player
wannabe.
my last excursion was (vintage) mel’s diner on geary blvd. (sf), (modern) at some bar on broadway (burlingame) sorry i don’t remember the name, but i was a bit too drunk to care *hick*
thanks howard. i am excited to hear peoples opinions and stories. i am learning a lot. thanks again. -eric
While I love the design and nostalgia of the jukebox with the rainbow colored lights and bubbles, the type that plucks at my heartstrings are the small, pedestal versions that sit at the back of a countertop seating. The type with the round disc on the top that you spun to flip the “pages” of song selection. That was the type at the local luncheonette where my dad and I would eat every other Tuesday and Friday for several years of my early childhood.
They never had as big of a selection. But the one where we always sat at the counter had my favorite songs…”ABC” by the Jackson 5, “Big Girls Don’t Cry” by Franky Valli and the Four Seasons. (Hey, cut me a break….I was a just a kid.)
AWESOME Question…
Here in M-town (memphis) there’s a place called the Deli… it has a great jukebox with selections from Supertramp to David Bowie to Elvis Costello to Prince. Just all over the board - and since my tastes are all over the board that suits me just fine.
I’ve never been in a bad juke joint.
My favorite local restaurant/diner had some of the 1960’s era chrome/red remote selectors in their booths. They upgraded them a few years ago to a hideous grey plastic model, then finally took them out, altogether.
I was a child of the 60’s, so I saw the end of the 1950’s era jukeboxes at bars and restaurants around my home. Then, they brought in those low, wide, rectangular machines so reminiscent of the 1970s. I didn’t care for the 70’s versions, at all.
I’d have to say my two all time favorites are the old 60’s versions that played 45’s, and the 40’s versions that played 78’s. For all of you youngsters, 78 rpm vinyl records were being phased out in favor of the 45 in the late 50’s and early 60’s.
Pssst - don’t tell anyone: As a hardcore tech geek, I think the current variety of multiple CD/DVD players are pretty slick.
Gus’s in Royal Oak, Michigan.
Hands down, BEST PLACE. Best atmosphere, best jukebox, and my bands and I always go there after our shows and hang out.
Pretty kick ass place. It’s not that big, you wouldn’t think, but you’d be surprised at how many people can squeeze in there … oh, and the bathroom graffiti is always entertaining … I think they’ve been voted “Best Bathroom Graffiti” or something in the Real Detroit or MetroTimes alt-weekly for like, years in a row or something.
As we say in The D … ROCK OUT with your COCK OUT and JAM OUT with your CLAM OUT!!
Oh crap, doesn’t look like Joz lets HTML tags in her comments.
Here:
http://www.freep.com/entertainment/newsandreviews/clubs/gusoline.htm
The best jukebox EVER- IMO- is the jukebox at Fern’s, this wino bar in Long Beach, CA. They have old school punk, Generation X, The Clash, TSOL, The Germs; and also Frank Sinatra, Etta James, Johnny Cash- all the classics! Also, the V-Room down the street from Fern’s, and the Reno Room have pretty impressive jukeboxes. They all play CD’s- no newfangled internet stuff at these dive bars.