Jukeboxing Old Town Ale House

Where they haven’t been replaced by charmless, trend-crunching tune-bots, jukeboxes say a lot about a place—nay, enhance the place. In Jukeboxing, The A.V. Club spends some quarters and punches some buttons at Chicago bars and venues. This edition takes a look at the jukebox at Old Town Ale House (also home of the infamous nude portrait of Sarah Palin).

The Box: Stocky with no speakable frills, the jukebox is classic in the vein of the beat-to-hell versions found in roadhouses and country bars. The control panel is a single button that flips the disc both ways. On the front, there’s a hand-printed sign that admonishes, “NO COINS.”
Price: A dollar (again, paper money only) buys three plays, two gets you seven, and a fiver buys 18. Who says the economy’s in trouble?
Drinkin’ Songs: There are few tried-and-true drinkin’ classics in Old Town’s jukebox, but plenty of interesting choices. Hank Williams will always be there with “Lovesick Blues,” and Aretha Franklin is, like the patrons, “Drinking Again.” For the discerning palate, there’s a copy of Tom Wait’s Rain Dogs and a collection of French crooner Édith Piaf’s sobbing-est classics.
Nerd Jams: Pretty much everything. Old Town’s playlists are something out of a Woody Allen wet dream—jazz and old-time blues, even bassist Django Reinhardt, and hard-to-finds like Cannonball Adderley. Also, Pavarotti. It’s pretty schizophrenic but there’s something for everyone.
Mixes: None.
Local: The only LP made in the last few years is Chicagoan-by-way-of-Detriot Alison Lewis’ Hum. However, there are several live recordings on display of performances in Chicago, like jazz pianist Eddie Higgins.
For Bar Time: Nothing to bring the house down, but bartender Ann-Marie Crespo let The A.V. Club in on an Old Town Ale House jukebox tradition: “A lot of people love ‘Ave Maria.’ It brings tears to a lot of drunks.”