On the Town: Jukebox helps take bar's pulse

Somebody give me a quarter, quick. Another jukebox song is skunkin' up the bar.

We've all plugged the music box with a ridiculous song that sounds good only after a few shots. Think spandex jam “Mr. Roboto” or the ever-poppy “Sweet Caroline.”

They get stuck in your head. And in the blink of an eye, they can send you on a wild dance craze.

Some of you spilled your guts last week about favorites. I'm giggling just thinking about your obnoxious song choices — ahem, “C'mon, Eileen,” by Dexy's Midnight Runners?

Not that mine is any better. I turn to aging rocker Rod Stewart. Specifically, “Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?”

Omahan Shawn Woodman tries to beat dweebs, like me, to the jukebox.

“I like to play songs that are incredibly long,” he said, “just so I don't have to hear the ... other people play.”

Sorry, Shawn. Rod's music isn't that bad. But just what do people spin in bars?

I asked Suzanne Maineri of Ecast, an interactive media company based in San Francisco, who runs a monthly report based on the music played on her company's digital jukeboxes. She has figures specific to Omaha.

Her report found that Journey was a big player in bars this past year with “Don't Stop Believing” as No. 1. Geezer bands Aerosmith and AC/DC followed with “Sweet Emotion” and “Rock 'n' Roll Train.”

The top nationwide jukebox song for music released on or after Oct. 15 wasn't a shocker. Fans of Britney Spears packed bars all over the country and insisted on playing “3” from her new album “The Singles Collection.” Tim McGraw's “Southern Voice” and T.I.'s “Hell of a Life” came in close at Nos. 2 and 3.

Maineri said her company's touchscreen jukeboxes are so efficient that they can pinpoint which small-town bar plays which song the most. At Bandits in Grand Island, Neb., for example, it's Jay Z's super popular “Empire State of Mind” featuring Alicia Keys.

Surely, Def Leppard's “Pour Some Sugar on Me” is high on the list, said Bandits bartender Blake Meier, because the “ladies go wild and crazy” for it in his nightclub-sports bar. The song tied for ninth on Maineri's list with a song by Jason Aldean.

Some of the most popular songs tend to be obscure ones, Maineri said, such as Dean Martin's “Ain't That a Kick in the Head.”

“We can track all kinds of things,” she explained, “down to the genre of music a bar plays.”

“There are some things you wouldn't expect, like Dean Martin sitting in a list of classic and contemporary rock 'n' roll,” she said.

Maineri reminded me the purpose of a jukebox is “to get people out of their homes to socialize.”

“Music brings people together,” she said.

I couldn't agree more. Her words made me think of hanging out with my sister Leticia at the Homy Inn, a quaint bar just off Saddle Creek Road. Whenever she's near the jukebox, she selects Michael Jackson's “Billie Jean.” When the song comes on — usually multiple times throughout the night — she jumps to her feet and wiggles her hips, catching several snooty glares. I'm pretty sure that's why she does it.

Another Omaha gal told me she plays Bon Jovi's “Livin' on a Prayer” just so she and a friend can punch their fists in the air during the “Whoah-oh!” part.

And then there's Chontelle Carter, who picks an awful song depending on the city she's in. When in Sioux City, she plays Aaron Tippin's “Kiss This.” In Omaha, it's Nelly's “My Place.” And whenever she travels to a small-town Nebraska bar, she defaults to “Pour Some Sugar on Me.”


Contact the writer:

j.loza@owh.com, 444-1075

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