Jukeboxing The 19 Bar

Where they haven’t been replaced by charmless, trend-crunching tune-bots, jukeboxes say a lot about a place—nay, enhance the place.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 Twin Cities bars and venues. This edition takes a look at The 19 Bar’s hand-picked jukebox selections.

The box: It’s one of those Rainbow Brite-y Starglo Rowe/AMI numbers, the kind of jukebox so central to the bar that it rarely ever shuffles through random songs. Every single song has been chosen with care, as part of a handwritten mix. That’s right—with the exception of a few choice best-ofs and a couple of ’80s albums, it’s all DIY mixes. Looking for one specific song? Good luck. But in failing to find your song, you’ll run across 20 you haven’t heard in a decade. This jukebox exists in the kind of world where Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses At Night” precedes three Macy Gray songs; where Len’s “Steal My Sunshine,” Dolly Parton’s “Harper Valley PTA,” and Blondie’s “Atomic” all grace the same album. A patron can spend 25 minutes looking for a Katy Perry song only to find her on the last page, sandwiched between The Cars and ELO. But it’s too late—they already spent their last credit on Dee Dee Sharp’s “Mashed Potato Time.” In other words, welcome to heaven.

Price: Four plays for a buck.

Nerd jams: A lot of the mixes in this box date themselves by their track list, yet others inexplicably show an array of old and new. Guided By Voices’ “Teenage FBI” and Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Holland, 1945” are both somewhere toward the front. There’s a Black Kids remix of the Lykke Li song “I’m Good I’m Gone” in there, as well as Meat Puppets’ “Severed Goddess Hand” and Gossip’s “Love Long Distance.” And remember Veruca Salt? Well, they make a few appearances too.

Drinking songs: The 19 Bar is more of a fun, homey, upbeat (albeit dark) place than a downtrodden watering hole. Songs about drinking are scarce and pretty cheery. Diana Ross’ immortal “Love Hangover” could be a good pick. The box boasts both Sammy Hagar’s “Mas Tequila” and Toby Keith’s “I Love This Bar,” a pairing that’s sure to get the party started, or just get you choked to death. No worries, you can try to redeem yourself with Rupert Holmes’ “Escape (The Piña Colada Song),” and if that doesn’t work, play Paris Hilton’s “Nothing In This World.” No, it’s not about drinking, but doesn’t the fact that she has two albums make you want to drink?

Mixes/actual albums: 99 percent of this jukebox is mixes, but there are scattered Now That’s What I Call Music! compilations dating back to the ’90s and up to the near-present. (Now 19 was the most recent we found.) There’s Superstar Country and Old School Funk in there, along with Fresh ’80s Movie Hits. There’s also a few actual albums thrown in for good measure (U2ʼs Joshua Tree, for one), and greatest-hits for artists including Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran, The S.O.S. Band, and The Righteous Brothers.

Local songs: They have the obligatory amount of Prince (of course) along with two Cloud Cult songs: “The Story Of The Grandson Of Jesus” and “Lucky Today.”

Testimonials: One patron pointed out the box’s almost magical qualities regarding an interior light that goes out sporadically, saying, “I hit it with my elbow, but nothing happens. Then I kick it, and the light turns back on. I thought I was like the Fonz, but it’s actually like, ‘Work, motherfucker!’” Another said, “It’s the best jukebox, but it’s the worst fucking jukebox ever because you have to read.” But perhaps the box was best summarized by a third juke enthusiast: “People are fanatical about this jukebox. [...] Holy shit, they have ‘The Goonies ʻRʼ Good Enough’!”