Woody And Anne's
Mike King
More Jukeboxing
Where they haven’t been replaced by charmless, trend-crunching tune-bots, jukeboxes say a lot about a place—nay, enhance the place.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, Decider spends some quarters and punches some buttons at Madison bars and venues. This edition takes a look at the jukebox at Woody And Anne's.
The Box: A dim "Laser Disc" player, crammed into a corner of Woody And Anne's, on a glowing wall of Golden Tee and Bars & Bells game machines.
Price: $1 for 3 songs; 20 for $5.
Drinkin’ songs: This box is brimming with new country, with very little twang predating late-period Garth Brooks (though Chris Gaines is conspicuously absent). If you’re not a fan, suffering through the likes of Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith will surely be enough to drive you to hit the bottle even harder.
Nerd jams: David Allan Coe is a rare honky-tonk outlaw with enough of a rap sheet to earn the title: He has spent time in the clink, sang reprehensibly un-P.C. lyrics, and, um, cut a record with Pantera. Sadly, Rebel Meets Rebel isn’t here, though Coe’s dubious greatest hits are. But real-life bands are for squares—hardcore nerds only listen to made up acts like Eddie & The Cruisers. Crank “On The Dark Side” and debate the relative merits of Spinal Tap and Josie & The Pussycats.
Mixes: Woody And Anne’s boasts a dizzying array of compilations, from Zydeco Essentials to Music For All Occasions. Marvel at the one-hit-wonders of yesteryear inhabiting the likes of Country Hitz, Platinum Hits, and Hot Summer Hits, all in mismatched volumes that give soon-to-be-forgotten acts like Panic At The Disco their rightful place alongside distant also-rans such as Jackyl and Live.
Locals: Madison bluegrass revivalists the Cork 'N Bottle String Band have already outlasted two venues where they held down weekly gigs, and show no signs of slowing down. These days, they split their time between the Rathskeller and The Frequency, so bone up for the hoedown here.
For bar time: When perusing the selections, it is impossible to play “which one of these does not belong?” and come up with anything other than Nine Inch Nails' semi-recent doomsayer Year Zero. If paranoid futurist soundscapes aren’t enough to clear the room, cue up Da Yoopers, a 30 years-running musical-comedy act specializing in humor related to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Seriously.
