Jukebox Warfare

[pokah5]

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quids,

IMO you can never go wrong w/ Jovi, Journey, or GnR when it comes to jukeboxing.

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or any popular 80's song for that matter.

[samjjones]

Notes:

1) Rico - I was with you until you cracked on "Gonna Make You Sweat". This is a great song to play in certain dive bar situations. Perhaps you can re-think this.

2) Re: Journey - as you noted, DSB has been essentially ruined by the Sopranos appearance. I think we need to shelve it for at least 9-12 months, at which point the hubbub will fade away. I've been playing OTY forever, as it is an excellent uptempo choice. More on that below.

3) Bon Jovi is obviously a great choice for virtually any jukebox situation. Quick story: my wife is friends with some chick who lucked into marrying Jon Bon Jovi's brother. We go to the wedding last year, and sure enough, JBJ is in the house. The reception is a good time...they had a local band who was playing tons of covers. I get a little more than a few in me, and think it would be a great idea to make a request. I tell the band "yeah, I'm a cousin, he won't mind". The uncomfortable look on JBJ's face when "Livin On A Prayer" played is something I don't think I'll ever forget.

4) When setting up a jukebox playlist, I like to start out with two uptempo songs, like "Only The Young" (great opener) and maybe a little G'n'Fing'R "Its So Easy". Then, I like to bring it down a bit with maybe a little Boston ("More Than A Feeling"), Toto "Africa" or some Foo Fighters ("Everlong", "Best Of You"). Or maybe a little Sinatra ("It Was A Very Good Year", "Fly Me To The Moon") or Dean Martin ("Ain't That A Kick In The Head"), depending on the crowd. Then, move into the big finish with "Gimme Some Lovin'", some Blues Brothers' ("Soul Man" or "Someone To Love"), and close with "Livin' On A Prayer".

[IronFly]

So this is not a jukebox story per se, but the concept is similar.

I had a buddy come visit me in Memphis, and we went to Silky O'Sullivan's, a piano bar on Beale St. There are two pianos and the guys have their schtick and songs they are going through. They take requests, and the request with the most money gets played first.

So some group of good ole boys in the bar decide its time for Dixie and plunk down $5. The pianos strike up:

ding-a-ding-ding-ding DING-DING-DING-DING ---

but then stop.

"All right folks, this nice lady just paid us $10, so we're gonna do Prince's 'Kiss'"

Booing ensues from the good ole boy table, and dude runs up with $20 (yes, you have to top the current bid each time, payment is not cumulative).

ding-a-ding-ding-ding DING-DING-DING-DING

"oh hold on folks, we just got $40 bucks, so get ready for Kiss"

The chords of 'Kiss' begin to ring out and then...

"Whoa, 50 bucks, get ready for the land of cotton!"

ding-a-ding-ding-ding DING-DING-DING-DING

The Kiss table then retaliates with an $80 bid.

The good ole boys look like they are going to riot. The kiss table of metrosexuals look triumphant. While the piano players launch into "don't have to be RICH, to be my GIRL" a good ole dude walks around the bar and begs us to "donate a little so we can get this [censored] off and hear Dixie". I tell the dude "you know they're gonna play it next, right?" but he doesn't look sober enough to understand.

Anyhow, my bud and I went to the outdoor area and fed the goats the last of our beer and left, sans Dixie. The piano dudes collect over $200 for two songs. And the Memphis night rolled on.

[RicoTubbs]

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Notes:

1) Rico - I was with you until you cracked on "Gonna Make You Sweat". This is a great song to play in certain dive bar situations. Perhaps you can re-think this.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know - this is a pretty horrible song and I don't know if it's the right type of horrible to make a good jukebox pick. I'm willing to open my mind to the idea, I guess.
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2) Re: Journey - as you noted, DSB has been essentially ruined by the Sopranos appearance. I think we need to shelve it for at least 9-12 months, at which point the hubbub will fade away. I've been playing OTY forever, as it is an excellent uptempo choice. More on that below.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. I'm trying to think of another example of a song getting shelved by way of a pop-culture re-introduction. Maybe "Son of a Preacher Man" coming back with Pulp Fiction.

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3) Bon Jovi is obviously a great choice for virtually any jukebox situation. Quick story: my wife is friends with some chick who lucked into marrying Jon Bon Jovi's brother. We go to the wedding last year, and sure enough, JBJ is in the house. The reception is a good time...they had a local band who was playing tons of covers. I get a little more than a few in me, and think it would be a great idea to make a request. I tell the band "yeah, I'm a cousin, he won't mind". The uncomfortable look on JBJ's face when "Livin On A Prayer" played is something I don't think I'll ever forget.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sam, we should hang out. And by we, I mean you and me and your wife's friend's husband's brother.
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4) When setting up a jukebox playlist, I like to start out with two uptempo songs, like "Only The Young" (great opener) and maybe a little G'n'Fing'R "Its So Easy". Then, I like to bring it down a bit with maybe a little Boston ("More Than A Feeling"), Toto "Africa" or some Foo Fighters ("Everlong", "Best Of You"). Or maybe a little Sinatra ("It Was A Very Good Year", "Fly Me To The Moon") or Dean Martin ("Ain't That A Kick In The Head"), depending on the crowd. Then, move into the big finish with "Gimme Some Lovin'", some Blues Brothers' ("Soul Man" or "Someone To Love"), and close with "Livin' On A Prayer".

[/ QUOTE ]

Completely agree with your tempo. Home Sweet Home is on of my favorite down tempo songs, but Africa is a really good one, too. So are a lot of non-Brown Eyed Girl Van Morrison songs.

The finisher is key, obviously. My primary two criteria for the finisher:
1) I have to like it
2) It has to be recognizable. Obscure songs are fine in the middle of a list, but not the beginning or end.
3) It has to have a very distinctive intro. "Livin On A Prayer" and "Photograph" both have awesome intros for this.

And it's a sad fact of life that some really good songs just don't seem to make the cut into a good playlist. For example, I really like Bob Seger's "Hollywood Nights", but I have a hard time seeing it playing any of the roles in a list. Maybe it could be a "This is a good song that people will probably like, but not notice too much and it won't get their expectations too high." But what kind of category is that?

[Ditch Digger]

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Avril Lavigne – Sk8r Boi
Motley Crue – Home Sweet Home
Whitesnake – Here I Go Again
The Killers – Mr. Brightside
Def Leppard - Photograph

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So do you put the Avril song at the beginning so you don't have to claim it as one of your picks? The playlist besides this song is pretty solid. You can never go wrong with popular 80's rock songs.

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"Don't Stop Believing" used to be a staple, but I really don't know how the Sopranos finale has affected it. I just don't feel comfortable with it right now. I don't think I have the tolerance to hear some idiot say, "ZOMG, YOU JUST PLAYED THAT BECAUSE YOU SAW IT ON THE SOPRANOS." If I was drunk, I'd probably start going ballistic and tell him how I almost picked "Only the Young" because I get really psyched up thinking about Louden Swain cutting weight so he could take down Shute. I'm sure that wouldn't go well.

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I swear DSB is played at least twice at every bar around the country on any given night. It's one of those songs that almost never gets old. I never actually pick it because I know one of the 3 people behind me will.

My jukebox selection depends on the friends I'm with and the type of bar I'm at. I do have some old faithfuls that usually get played regardless.

ACDC - Hells Bells
U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday
Cake - Going the Distance
Loverboy - Turn Me Loose(one of the most underrated 80's rock songs)
Weezer - El Scorcho
Reel Big Fish - Beer

If I really want to stretch my playlist out I'd end it with Phish - Wolfman's Brother live version.

[whale_hunter]

Just wanted to give props to the OP. This is the best thread I've read in awhile. Everyone was spot on, and I have been laughing for the last ten minutes.

I have a question for any of the more serious Juke Boxers, what is the ruling on Wish You Were Here by Floyd?

Great song, but how about for a night out?

Great
Good
Ok
Lame

I'm honestly curious. I've played that song a few times and got some mixed reactions.

PS- Hall and Oates?

[cianosheehan]

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Loverboy - Turn Me Loose(one of the most underrated 80's rock songs)

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Ha ha...great track. It was in the film 'Crank' (great film too!).

[EMc]

I agree. One thing I like to do when using these jukeboxes is to typically pick long songs, so I feel as if I got my monies worth. This usually leads to a freebird and paradise by the dashboard lights pick, sandwiched between some sublime and stevie ray vaughn

[sirtimo]

What really sucks is when you got your jams ready to go, all planned out for max rockage, you are dropping the money in an pushing the buttons, and due to intoxication or gettingbumped or whatever you hit the wrong freaking button and it sticks some lame crap right in the middle of the set like...

Desperate People- Living Colour
You Shook Me All Night Long - AC DC
Foxy Lady- SRV
Rock You Like a Hurricane - Scorpions
(BUMP) Achey Breaky Heart - Billy Ray Cyrus
Say What You Will- Fastway
Long Time- Boston

then your friends are all like "WTF???" and you feel like you just got slapped by your best buddy in front of your ne w girlfriend or something.

[img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[RicoTubbs]

whale_hunter,
WYWH is ok for an early afternoon play at the bar, but I don't think I'd want to hear it at night. All of this is obviously situation-dependent, but I'm struggling to imagine a good situation for that.

Hall & Oates, on the other hand, can be an awesome pick. "Maneater" and "Private Eyes" are both good. "You Make My Dreams", also.

EMcW,
I'm sure you're a nice guy, but I don't think I want you in charge of my jukebox. Jukeboxes aren't for getting your money's worth, they are for creating an awesome atmosphere so you can have a great time, with the secondary benefit of advertising your sweet music tastes.

sirtimo, sounds like you've got some fat fingers. Maybe you could get a jukebox assistant with more dexterity.