If you’ve ever been annoyed by a lousy string of songs on your favorite jukebox, consider the plight of your bartender; while you may well occupy stoolspace for several hours at a stretch several times a week, your bartender stays in that place plenty of time to hear every song on the jukebox, most of ’em more than once. In the course of my (ahem) research, I asked several local barkeeps to tell me the best and worst of their jukeboxes: the songs they most liked to hear and the songs they least liked to hear. The “best” songs are basically their current favorites, and the “worst” songs ain’t all that bad – just played way too much.

Horseshoe Lounge
photograph by John Carrico

Casino Eighmey, Casino El Camino

Best: “Barbaretta,” Love Letter

Worst: “I remove ’em before it gets to that point.”

Inger Olson, Deep Eddy

Best: “Loving You,” the Mavericks; “Draw Your Brakes,” The Harder They Come soundtrack

Worst: “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight),” Bruce Springsteen; “Warm Beer and Cold Women,” Tom Waits. “I hate that song.”

Jen Ellis, Lovejoy’s

Best: “Keg Party at the Lake,” Voltage

Worst: “As much as I love Johnny Cash, and I do love Johnny Cash, that damn `Ring of Fire’ got to be more than I could take.”

Emo Hartman, Emo’s

Best: “Security,” the Effigies

Worst: “Where It’s At,” Beck. “When you hear it nonstop … ”

John Henry, Horseshoe Lounge

Best: Any of the Patsy Thompson

Worst: “They play `Pancho and Lefty’ way too much.”

Frances Lala, Lala’s

Best: “I like ’em all.”

Worst: “I like ’em all.”

Conan Lanon, Casino El Camino

Best: “I like NoMeansNo, Nirvana, the Propellerheads.”

Worst: “These Boots Are Made for Walking,” Nancy Sinatra

Anna LeDoux, Poodle Dog Lounge

Best: “In Another’s Eyes,” Garth Brooks

Worst: “Window Shopping,” Hank Williams. “I can’t stand Hank Williams.”

Archer Nielson, Carousel Lounge

Best: “El Paso,” Marty Robbins

Worst: “Brown-Eyed Girl,” Van Morrison. “They play that 500 times a night. I hate that song.”

Kelly Quinney, Lovejoy’s

Best: “Up for the Down Stroke,” Parliament

Worst: “Guitars, Cadillacs … ,” Dwight Yoakam. “It just gets played all the damn time.”

– J.H.

This article appears in August 28 • 1998 and August 28 • 1998 (Cover).

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