I know I'm not the only one here that gets really excited about crafting a four-song set with a dollar bill. There's something nice about restricting yourself to four songs on a well stocked jukebox. You're buying just enough time to craft a mood, yet you aren't roping yourself (and more importantly, the rest of the bar) into an entire night of any specific type of music.

Does anyone else think that a series of unwritten rules and customs have developed when it comes to playing a jukebox? Anyone ever had a night when everyone's tastes playing the juke just seemed to sort of gel?

i played Semisonic's Closing Time on a bowling alley jukebox once on a busy Saturday night and the place just went fucking ape

Topical and melodic. A crowd pleasure, for sure.

what the hell jukebox do you get 4 plays for a buck?? in the places i go, you get two and if the song isnt on the juke and you have to dl it, you pay a buck a song..

as for etiquette, if i put in the money ill play whatever the hell i want, if the rest of the bar doesnt like it, tough shit they can put in their own money n play pitbull or luke bryan or whatever top 40 songs they like

sometimes if im in a giving mood ill ask ppl who they wanna hear n pick a song i like by that artist

i'd love an explication of i got bugs' "giving mood"

There's a person in the coffee shop that I'm in right now who will forever remain unknown to me. They could be sitting directly to my left for all I know. Anyways, this person chose to close a mellow rainy day set with Dylan's "Joey," and in doing so, inspired this thread. Perfect execution. Now there's silence...who will play it next?

I played "Island In The Sun" by Weezer at a little outdoor cafe in Door County, Wis. and SEVERAL people actually got up and started dancing.

bugs lets his pecks do the explicating for him

reid, you have to play something

My favourite bar in Seattle has a great jukebox. They have Dead Kennedys, bootleg GnR, Neil Diamond. No Lady Gaga, no Coldplay. There's something awesome about drinking off a hangover on a road trip and hearing some Dead Kennedys come on.

pecks-plication

Did you know that the bartenders sometimes have the power to veto a pick that you play? Well, they do. When I was younger, I carelessly selected a few songs with the same attitude that you have just described, and I quickly found out what happens if you don't practice good jukebox etiquette. Two songs in, my set got the plug pulled on it...right when Pink Foyd's "Interstellar Overdrive" started that spacey middle section. Don't be that guy, bugs.

I don't have a dollar to spare today.

like sometimes ill play for the people and ask who they wanna hear.. if they say nickleback or a country artist ill tell them to fuck off, but if they say someone ok ill play a song by them i think is awesome

my friends know who i hate so they know better to say someone like bon jovi or somethin.. usually i play classic rock or 90s stuff n the crowd digs it.. every now and then i overdo it with the dead (just cuz usually theres a large selection) but besides for that not many complaints.. wagon wheel is usually a definite play, but everyone loves that song so its cool

if a set of recti abdomini like that walked into my local bar & dropped a quarter in the juke, i'd be nodding in cool approval too

one time a bartender vetoed my stuff n all drunk n pissed off i said either i get my money back or you pour me a free beer.. pretty sure i got the free beer

once i went to this hick bar n all i heard was country.. so i put in $$ and played wu tang triumph.. in triumph every member of the clan raps n its like 7 mins or somethin.. some big redneck in a cowboy hat actually walked up n ripped the power cord outta the wall halfway thru.. i didnt say anythin cuz i wasnt fuckin with that guy

I'm not sure what someone just played, but it was just the thing this coffee shop needed after that long silence. There's a driving rhythm to it, some blues licks, and a female vocalist mostly singing verses that all start with "Have mercy on me baby.." Let's see where this setlist takes us.

i submit myself to the comfort of penury's looming shadow

sounds like alex is ready to hear so bootleg gnr come on

Well, either someone put in one single quarter, or else this jukebox is programmed to fill the silence of the bar with tunes from time to time. It's almost as if the jukebox is a very sleepy dog and wakes up periodically to bark at some phantom scent before tucking back in.