The Jukebox

A good jukebox was a prime motivation for going to a particular bar back in the day and often the center of a bar. We loved playing the jukebox. The jukebox was a place we people met and interacted. Where people talked about the music and where people danced to the music. We always made sure we had some extra change for the jukebox but of course there were many times when we got change from the bartender. We always hoped there were no really bad songs because sometimes some drunk would play something awful over and over again. 

Some bars owned the records that were in their jukebox and had full control over the music. They would pride themselves with their good taste. However, most bars rented the jukebox and had a service come in to add and delete records that were often just reflecting the top 40 radio stations. A bar could also have an emphasis on country or soul music. Very occasionally we would run across a bar with some good jazz or blues on their jukebox.

We also liked going to a restaurant with a good jukebox and especially a diner with good food and those little remote control boxes at each table.

In the 90's jukeboxes appeared that played CDs but by that time I was not hanging out in bars where the primary music was coming from a jukebox anymore. Most of the places I went to had live music or there was a sound system with music coming from a CD player behind the bar. The individual bar customer no longer had control of the music except the few bars with the new jukeboxes.

Later still in the 2000's there were jukeboxes that played streaming music from over the internet where the customer had access to thousands of songs. Almost too much. Who had the time to go through what was available or you walked up with something very specific in mind. There was no longer the distinct character of the old time jukeboxes. I really do mix those good jukeboxes.