Best of Tucson 1996: Best Jukebox

Best Jukebox

Pink Motel
3226 E. Speedway

READERS' PICK: This one was no contest. Kidd Squidd lends his mean collection of '45s to the most happening Rock-ola in town, at the Pink Motel. Its rainbow-lighted pillars and Partridge Family Bus-colored speakers sit under a glass plate that lets you watch each disk get plucked from its rack by a loving mechanical arm, which hugs it as it spins out the sounds of the last four decades for a crowd of coffee-swilling hipsters and hairstylists. Selections change every few days, and recently have included Martin Denny, Johnny Horton, Link Wray and Patti Page, as well as more recent punk and cutting-edge rock. While you're listening, check out the record covers hanging on the wall above the jukebox: Pacific Island Drumming and Yma Sumac share wall space with Wild Guitars and assorted '60s lounge covers, all in glaringly old-fashioned-modern Technicolor tones. Best of all, it's free.

READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP: Little Anthony's Diner, 7010 E. Broadway.

STAFF PICK: Regardless of what else is happening at Club Congress, one can always count on the singular ambiance of the Congress Tap Room, a carefully cultivated mystique due in no small part to the Genius of the Jukebox, Dave Forbes. Dave may periodically change the songs in the Tap Room jukebox, but the eclectic ethic is never compromised. Along with a healthy variety of Golden Oldies, including Tommy Dorsy, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman, Elmore James and Billie Holiday, there's also a stew of popular artists' unpopular songs--David Bowie's "Lady Grinning Soul," for example--and alternative favorites by bands like the Violent Femmes, Velvet Underground and Stereolab. Perhaps the most notable and unique claim to be made of the Tap Room jukebox is the presence of local music, including songs by Al Perry, Blackmoon Graffiti, 35 Summers and Doo Rag. Two quarters beget five selections, and you'll be sure to find something you've either never heard before or haven't heard in a coon's.