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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1981)
Wednesday, October 21, 1931 page 12 daily nebreskan Mechanical music machines play bar standards 7 "7" .(. c I " I 3 By Casey McCabe The days when jukeboxes ruled the malt shops and dedicated the Top Forty may be gone. But for bar wanderers who want to set up a home-away-from-home, the presence of these coin-operated sound systems is a crucial factor in making the beer and ambience easier to swallow. Jukeboxes are basically a democratic form of enter tainment, set up to provide a little something for every body . . . a few old memories, some mood music, a gen eral mix to placate the clientele. This theory, of course, falls to the ground when you are stuck next to someone with a pocket full of quarters and an unhealthy affection for Tammy Wynette. Musical diversity seemed to be the key in a haphazard survey of downtown Lincoln jukeboxes. For instance, nearly every machine had a least one offering by Elvis, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Willie Nelson, Otis Redding and Hank Williams. Because most jukeboxes are limited to around 80 selections, there is a tendency to go with the classics from various musical fields. All your favorites One Lincoln bar in which the jukebox is an important part of attracting and holding its crowd is O'Rourkes, 121 N. 14th St. The song selection focuses on those always recognizable hits from the 1960's by such artists as Jeffer son Airplane, The Yardbirds, The Stones, The Supremes, Spencer Davis Group, Aretha Franklin, Vanilla Fudge, Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, The Dead, The Doors, The Kinks, The Band and others. If you're feeling depressingly nostalgic you can even punch in Barry McGuire's fun lov ing pick-me-up "Eve of Destruction." But O'Rourkes avoids creating merely a cloud of Haight-Ashbury renaissance by throwing in a few hooks, such as big-band sounds from Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa, Jimmy Dorsey and Benny Goodman. Nat King Cole, Bobby Darin, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday are also available to take your mind off 1981 for only 25 cents. The attraction to such a jukebox may be that some of the songs are hard to get a hold of through any other source. Managers Doug McLeese and Dave Moreland pick aft the songs, and will take some of the patrons requests if the records are available. McLeese recently went to Chicago where he picked up 25 singles to help stock the jukebox. Profitable "slot machine' "Oi, .le is we won't put anything on the machine that wt n't like ourselves," says McLeese. "But we have a diverse clientele so we keep a diverse jukebox." McLeese said the jukebox has become a profitable side line for O'Rourkes. Across the street, the Zoo Bar offers a jukebox that maintains the atmosphere when live bands are not on stage. The jukebox has a collection of Blues and R & B 45's, again many of which are not available at local stores or through late-night TV offers. The Zoo's jukebox also features music by local artists as well as other bands that stop at the Zoo, including The Morells, Eddy Clearwater, and Magic Slim. Most bars don't want to alienate any category of potential customers, be they young or old, male or female, white oi blue collar. That's why the jukeboxes at such establishments as The Mountains, The Pub or The Wagon Wheel will give you such classic combinations as Way Ion Jennings and Pink Floyd, Freddy Fender and Led Zepplin, Pat Benatar and Mac Davis, Johnny Mathis and Tom Petty, The Commodores and Conway Twitty, The Statler Brothers and The Cars or perhaps Michael Jackson and The Oak Ridge Boys. Rural rhythms Jukeboxes can provide important social functions as well. Say you have pulled up to a small bar in a strange town. If you want more than a quick bag of Fritos it may be a good idea to check the jukebox. There's "Neon and Nylons" with "Truck Drivin' Man" by Red Steagall, "Beer, Beer, Beer" by Marion Lush, "Don't Make Me Go To Bed and I'll Be Good" by Ron Root, "I Like Beer" by Tom T. Hall, "Double Doo-Doo" by Little Wally, "Out Behind The Barn " by the Bounc'n Czechs, Loretta Lynn's "God Gave Me A Heart To For give" and Moe Bandy's "Cowboys Ain't Supposed to Cry." It may be a good idea to look over your shoulder at this point. If there's a cluster of Stetsons and quizzical, contorted faces looking at your sandals and Jimi Hendrix t-shirt, you may need to act fast. Playing The Village Peo ple at this point could mean trouble. Just quickly find a quarter and a Hank Williams song and you can buy yourself some time in almost any rural establishment, no matter what you look like. And in case you were wondering what the word juke" means, a check of the Funk and Wagnalls ties it to West African origin meaning "Disorderly, wicked, a brothel." "Jukes" was the ficticious name of a family that was the subject of a study of heredity tendencies to crime, im morality, disease and poverty. Any resemblence between these definitions and your favorite nightspot is purely coincidental. Police's new album shows sense of conscience By Bob Crisler The PoliceGhost in the Machine A&M The Police are a great idea. Accelerated reggae rhythms and snappy guitar hooks underlying the clear-as-glass voice of one called Sting. Masterful drumming by Stewart Copeland incorporat ing the reggae dictum of rhythm on the upbeat. What makes preppies sway to the cadence of the Jamaican surf in its unadulterated manifestations is at rock 'n' roll velocity, like sticking your pinkie in a light socket. feoflOffl reuievj Something has always lacked from the Police, though. They've always seemed a little too precise, too perfect, too much of a Pat Boone parody. Great records to test out that "new generation" stereo down at the corner hifi shop, but otherwise vacuous in content. Input concept music If HAL, of 2001: A Space Odyssey fame, includes "pop music" in his memory banks, chances are he has the new Police album, Ghost in the Machine, tucked away behind the nearest cargo panel. The theme: man as a mechanism, mind as matter-an entertaining discourse on life in the computer world. It's a futuristic concept album that calls attention to such studied subjects as world unity, factory labor as the 20th century robot, and international justice to the Third World. It speaks its case with matchless musical technique, but leaves itself wanting of the gutteral ramblings of revolut ion that are "real" rock. This doesn't mean that these are hollow, soulless, anth ropoloid bags of flesh. These are just wealthy, upper class guys. And wealthy, upper-class guys don't need revolution. They just need more people to think like they do. This release should increase their flock of followers among bipeds populating the Great American Desert, because this album contains some pretty darned good ideas. For instance, on the Third World: It's a subject we rarely mentionbut when we do we have this little inventionAbout pretendin' they're a dif ferent world from meI show my responsibility I don't want to bring a sour noteBut remember this before you vote We can all sink or we all float "Cause we're all in the same big boat - One world is enough for all of us. "One World (Not Three)" Marley echo The disc commences with what sounds like an echo of Bob Marley's heartbeat, but it sacrifices much of the endearing smoky mysticism of genuine Jamaican reggae through the slick and professional production that has become so characteristic of the Police over their previous three releases. The Police have never claimed to be true reggae artists-just matchmakers between its jumpy beat and the steamroller thrust of rock. Until now, the only reggae-rock fusion band worth its weight in social conscience was the redoubtable Clash, but it looks as if the Police are beginning to realize that if one is going to do reggae, one must be righteous. Ghost in the Machine does contain some of the super ficial fodder that makes radio broadcasting the venerated industry it is today. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" is a classic story of teenage unrequited love. The boy has found the girl, but she hasnt found him. Soon, he's so in awe of her that he cant even get up the nerve to call her on the phone. Sting asks, "Must I always be alone?" Next we get some ghostlike Wall of Synth vibes (not unlike Gary Numan's sounds) on "Invisible Sun." Parlez-vous Francais The band again demonstrates a worldly flavor on "Hungry for You," a song done almost entirely in French. Francois Mitterand might get a kick out of this one, and French has always had an artistic flavor as it is spoken, but what's it mean? Who knows? Who cares? This is sup erbly danceable, all-around snappy stuff. Let's rumba. Side two gets off the ground with some infectious funky rhythms punctuate with shouts of "Hey!", togeth er with a few icy sax blasts on "Too Much Information." Next we have "Rehumanize Yourself," a song about the stark realities of life on our planet in modern times Interesting, here is a cacophony of sax that sounds like a Wall Street traffic jam, and the lyrics: Policeman put on his uniformGot to have a gun just to keep him warmBecause violence here is the social normYou've got to humanize yourself This is shaping up as my favorite Police album to date, even though there are still some kicks left in the old re SSns! JS; Message In A Bottle," "Roxanne," and Fallout. They demonstrate here new political commit ments and a growing sense of conscience that become more and more invaluable as world tensions spark to flame, and enough optimistic pop that our minds arent allowed to dwell on it.
