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90 Minutes Of Music For £2 On A Pub Jukebox
Looking for value for money in these difficult economics times? Then follow our guide to the best value music on your local pub jukebox including drawn out classics from Primal Scream, The Temptations and The Stone Roses.
The pub round the corner has got a great jukebox. One of those internet ones that’s got just about every song you could think of. It helps that the pub is a good one too. Friendly locals, decent banter, good landlord, five ever changing – mainly local – handpulled beers, and most importantly a fairly discerning clientele when it comes to what tunes they stick on. Usually stuff up my street – a bit of 50s or 60s rock n’roll, northern soul, Dylan, 80s and 90s indie or some none offensive 70s harder rock.
There are occasions though, when someone of a younger persuasion may stray in and you can see them eyeing up the jukebox and you know they’re not thinking of putting Steely Dan or Aztec Camera on. More likely Lady GaGa or Chiddy Bang (no I’ve no idea, I just had to Google the Top 40 to find another example).
It’s times like these where you have to think fast and beat them to the jukebox to avoid having to suffer half an hour of nauseating earache. But what to put on? It has so many songs by so many artists under so many categories and sub categories that it’s very easy to freeze when you’ve dropped your money in the slot. Even if you knew exactly what you wanted to play as you walked over. And if you’re on a limited budget (50p 2 plays, £1 4 plays or £2 for 9) that still gives them around half an hour tops, or a round of drinks, before they’re free to ruin your evening.
So, it’s time to bat clever and add song length into the equation. This is where my cut out and keep 9 song playlist comes in. That’s a whopping one and a half hours of quality tunes for two quid! Guaranteed not to have the landlord reaching behind the bar to turn it down and to fuck off anyone who wants to drink blue WKD and listen to Cheryl Cole back to the nearest Lloyds.
Weekender
Flowered Up
12:57
Ok, so this may be an obvious one to anyone over 30, it’s famously long and is accompanied by an equally epic video. A good song to start off on, especially on a Friday night and sets the mood for what’s to follow.
Marquee Moon
Television
10:40
Just when you think it’s finished after 4 minutes it comes back and that’s only the start, it repeats the trick just after 9 minutes. That simple guitar hook really gets into your head – twangy!
Come Together
Primal Scream
10:22
Probably my favourite song on Screamadelica. A shift away from jangly guitars for both Primal Scream and the £2 pub playlist. Uplifting and most importantly an impressive 10 minutes long.
Papa Was a Rolling Stone
The Temptations
9:59
Follows on nicely from Come Together, with funky soul stylings. I enjoy the deep baritone ‘and momma’ and the cool long intro which brings to mind a whole raft of 70s Blaxploitation movies.
Fools Gold
The Stone Roses
9:53
I make no apologies for including two Stone Roses songs on the list with Fools Gold being the first. Again, funky, dancey, jangly and at 9 mins and 53 seconds still not long enough.
Cowgirl in the Sand
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
10:03
From the whispering of Ian Brown comes the understated Neil Young with his tale of erm… a cowgirl in the sand. In fact I’ve no idea what it’s about, I just love the song and the twiddly guitar fuzziness. Goes well with a pint of Landlord.
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)
Pink Floyd
13:31
Not a massive Pink Floyd fan, but at 13 minutes this has to be on. Plus let’s not forget, there’s always going to be at one prog rock fan in any pub. It’s quite listenable and picks up when they actually start singing at the end.
Leave Them All Behind
Ride
8:17
I love Ride. Very odd seeing Andy Bell in Oasis on bass. Anyway, a great song from the glory days of shoegazing, with a hint of MBV which gets me up from my red velour stool and airguitaring.
I Am The Resurrection
The Stone Roses
8:14
A classic closer. A song that gets people’s arms in the air, bellowing the chorus as it rises to a crescendo and another one that catches people out with its two false finishes. The perfect final song of this 90 minutes of £2 musical excellence.
Bonus points if you time it so the last song ends bang on chucking out time. You may want to start the first one at around 10pm.*
Do you have any other suggestions for getting your money’s worth from a pub jukebox? Or indeed can you recommend a pub with a similar cracking jukebox? Let us know in the comments section below.
*closing times may vary, please ask your landlord for details.
More great music articles you might like…
11 Songs Chosen By You That Smash The 10 Minute Mark
EPIC! Seven Brilliant Songs That Break The Ten Minute Barrier
9 Short Jukebox Songs to go with a Quick Pint
9 Great Covers To Stick On A Pub Jukebox
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COMMENTS
to that i would def add the following Lord Funk - lord funk 21 minutes autobahn - kraftwerk 22 minutes these two are superb - however there's tonnes of shit prog and jazz odysseys by Pharoah Sanders (who isnt shit) but its hardly pub music
If you can find them on your pub jukebox then they're in. That was my only real criteria for inclusion. Most jukeboxes now seem to be the touch screen internet ones, that are mainly singles. I have to admit for a longing for back in the old days when there'd be 20 or so albums to flip through and you could stick some obscure album tracks on. Suppose it's got to be relatively pub friendly too. Some stuff by Can, Beta band and Kraftwerk could have the landlord turning it off or a clip round the earole by the regulars...
Maggot Brain by Funkadelic is about 10 minutes long, but may be a bit too maudlin for the pub. War - City Country City is a more upbeat 10 minute number.
2112 by Rush. Just keeps going and going for over 20 mins
I assume these can be found on all good pub jukeboxes. If not, I'll just take £2 worth of Rose of Cimarron by Poco please. Velvet Underground - Sister Ray 17:23 The Cure - Pictures of You - 7:28 Spacemen 3 - Big City 8:35 The Wedding Present - Take Me 9:21 Low - Lullaby 9:49 Bang Bang Machine - Geek Love 9:22 Galaxie 500 - Listen, the Snow Is Falling 7:47 !!! - Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story) 9:03 Mogwai - Mogwai Fear Satan 16:19
There's always all 4 parts of Dj Shadow's 'What Does Your Soul Look Like' in the order they appear on the compilation of his early Mo-Wax releases, Pre-emptive Strike... What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 2) – 13:51 What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 3) – 5:12 What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 4) – 7:12 What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1)"– 6:21 Clocking in at a total 31:36
someone's already claimed 'mogwai fear satan', but 'like herod' is still a vicious 11 minutes. combine that with the fall's '50 year old man' (11 mins) and sonic youth's 'the diamond sea' (19 mins) for optimum fun.
alternatively, if the pub's too crammed, stick on all 4 sides of lou's 'metal machine music' (16 mins each). after all that white noise, you'll have no problem finding space at the bar...
they got the mogwai track that's 21 minutes long. And a Spacemen 3 that's 41 minutes.... that's only for 50p....
Grendel by Marillion - clocks in at approx 20 minutes
Green Grass and High Tides - The Outlaws (9.52) Down By The River - Neil Young (9.20) Heard It Through The Grapevine - Credence Clearwater Revival (11.03) Mercyful Fate - Metallica (11.11) In My Time Of Dying - Led Zeppelin (11.06) Coma - Guns n Roses (10.14) Telegraph Road - Dire Straits (14.20) Sheep - Pink Floyd (10.20) The End - The Doors (11.40) I make that lot 99 minutes. Admittedly the target audience for most of these songs would probably prefer a pub without a jukebox but, hey, they fit the brief.
ok, so what about dian (live or album version) lookin at around the 9 minute mark, cemetary gates by pantera, well over the 10minute mark, off the top off my head thats it for now!
^^ dian is by therapy! think i forgot to add that, but also, how about the entire black sabbath paranoid album?
Of course a bit of Lynyrd Skynyrd "Freebird" , (9:06) is always more than welcome...
The full length live version of the Super Furry Animals' classic 'The Man Don't Give a fuck' clocks in at about the 25 minute mark. Great artwork on the first release too
Lord's Prayer - Roy Harper. Echoes - Pink Floyd. Supper's Ready - Genesis. 70 mins in total for 3 tunes. Alas Mr.Harper is not likely to be found on these machines...one of the main reasons the pub industry is down the dumper in my view. Pubs should be for quietly reflecting on a snatched lyric from When an Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease. Not eating wasabi peas.
Flowered Up, Roses, Super Furry Animals, Floyd and Ride. That's for the win!Good choices. I'd really get my moneys worth and put on, The Orb - The Blue Room 39:57
Crazy Game of Poker by O.A.R.
One of my local bars has a digital jukebox, last time I was there I played Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (Live) by Dream Theater (~45 min), Echoes and Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd (20+ min each), and 2112 by Rush (20 min). When I got up to pick another one, everyone rushed to make it there before me... I can't believe they didn't turn it off or reset it on me, to be honest.
And then there was the trick of putting on 2 tracks which ran together but which the box picked up as one track (pre Cd times i guess) A number of times i put on Rosalie/Boys are back in town by Thin Lizzy from the live album Live and Dangerous. Used to get a little thrill in getting one over on the "man"
Journey of the sorcerer by The Eagles (7 mins) Most people would recognize it as the theme song from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. There's a studio version knocking about clocking in at 19mins.
Fools Gold 'jangly'? Don't think so, more 'squelchy'.
Just found one - listening to Freddie King on Spotify, thought "this is going on a bit". The brilliant "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" weighs in at 12 minutes 45 seconds of brilliant blues.
If you could a pub with these tracks! My local has about 13 albums, the newest being Now This is what i call music 23.
Pub round the corner from where I worked had a free,but shit, jukebox. On leaving we would load it up with Julio Iglesias tracks as a parting shot.Probably still playing,five years on..(hope so)
The Damned, "Curtain Call" – 17:13, still gonna get the bastard who nicked that album from me one day. You know who you are, KAHHHNNNTTT!!!
Freaky Tales by Insane Clown Posse - 60:30 Great way to kill any set!
My Generation from Live At Leeds is over 14mins, Neil Young's Like A Hurricane is over 7mins (longer live version on Weld) There is a 10min version of Curtis Mayfields Move On Up, great bongo solo!
Great article, reminds me of my days of studying in Sheffield. I'd often go for the likes of 'The Rolling People' by The Verve and 'Station To Station; by Bowie.
it might be the types of pub i used to go to, but if you pulled this then some fucker would always jump the track. remember it happening often with i am the ressurection. the bar workers power
Jessica - The Allman Brothers Band, Estranged - Guns N Roses & Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Maiden
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