Long before there were iPods, boom boxes, multi-speaker car stereos or hi-fi consoles, if people wanted to hear great records on a great system, they would have to go
their local diners or malt shops (okay, malt shops were even before my time) to listen to them on juke boxes. Like most baby boomers, I listened to Rock music on my little battery powered two transistor radio – crappy sound but you could take it anywhere and even hide it under your pillow to listen to the latest tunes while you were supposed to be sleeping. My dad had this top end West German made Grundig stereo console and he would often let me blast my 45’s and LPs, although most of my vinyl records were mono so I couldn’t get the real quality effect. That’s why it was a special treat to drop a dime into the local juke box and experience my favorite records in the way they were mean to be heard which included the super rich bass from the throbbing subwoofer (bass guitar was my instrument so that’s what I listened for first). As I got older it was still a thrill to plug coins into those boxes. Rosa’s in Chicago has one of the best for Blues (obviously). Often you had to take the drinks off it and then plug it in, but man what a sound and what great classics. In Hoboken, not far from my publisher Wiley & Sons, there’s a wonderful juke box filled with whom else but local hometown hero made good – old blue eyes himself Frank Sinatra.
If I ever have enough deposable income, one of my dreams is to have an old restored Rock-Ola in my music room so I can play all those great records. Here are my top 11 juke box songs if that fantasy ever becomes a reality (note that there’s not much new stuff because most new stuff is not available on 45 records. Note #2: the list goes up to 11 instead of 10 because as Nigel Tufnel proclaimed, “Eleven is one more”).
11.) “Rock n Roll” by Led Zeppelin
– If that opening drum part and guitar riff was enough to electrify Cadillac’s staid image in one felt swoop, it’s good enough for me.
10.) “Paperback Writer” by the Beatles – Incredible guitar riff, slammin’ drums and than booming McCartney bass riff at the end makes for a perfect JB track (check out Geoff Emerick’s book “Here, there & Everywhere” for the secrets on how Macca got that monstrous bass sound).
9.) “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by the Who – Daltrey’s scream alone is worth the price of admission but add Townsend’s power riffing and you have one of the all-time classic arena anthems.
8.) “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak – One of the most haunting guitar riffs of all time over Rowland Salley’s sensual bass lines that created the unforgettable mood for David Lynch’s Wild at Heart.
7.) “Ain’t That Peculiar” by Marvin Gaye
– One of the best of all the Motown singers (and that says a lot) with the legendary James Jamerson’s brilliant bass lines as a perfect counterpoint.
6.) “Lay Lady Lay” by Bob Dylan – Bob’s venture into Nashville produced not only this all-time classic, but you have to concentrate to the amazing rhythm section behind him to really capture the true nuanced emotion the track.
5.) “All Right Now” by Free – With “the voice” Paul Rodgers on lead vocals and Andy Fraser’s killer up-front bass, not to mention Paul Kossoff’s constructing one of the most famous guitar riffs in all rockdom, this recording launched a thousand stripped down hot-roddded bands.
4.) “Green River” by Creedence Clearwater Revival – John Fogerty’s swamp tinged vocals and lead guitar made for one heck of a top ten single (CCR almost single handedly kept rock on the radio with hit after hit that cut through the lame pop that most of Top 40 stations programmed in the 1970’s).
3.) “Return to Me (Ritorna-Mi)” by Dean Martin – My wife and I were married in Siena, Italy (same town featured in the new movie Letters to Juliet) and after the town official “gave” the sunset to my lovely bride Bettina as a wedding gift, we danced our first dance under a storybook sunset and since we had no band, I sang the only song I knew in Italian and I would love to celebrate that moment over and over again.
2.) “Boys of Summer” by Don Henley
– The ultimate tribute to lost youth and one of Don’s most powerful vocal performances, this song has one of the best series of memorable guitar hooks of any song courtesy of co-writer Mike Campbell of Tom Petty‘s Heartbreakers.
And the #1 is…drum roll please…(pun intended)
“Honky-Tonk Woman” by the Rolling Stones
– That opening cowbell and Charlie Watts’ signature drum intro which leads into Keith Richard’s legendary guitar riff, this is my vote for the greatest juke box song in Rock history.
Coda: Every time I hear “Honky-Tonk Woman” it takes me back to my basement band the Tobacco Rouges when we took a break from practicing to grab a burger at our local grill down the street. After lunch, I had all of one quarter left in my pocket and noticed that the juke box in the corner had one play for a dime or three-for-a-quarter; so I got to hear “Honey-Tonk Woman” three times in a row.
