Making new friends through music

It costs £1 for four songs on our local's jukebox, or £2 for nine.  How can you get your money's worth?

These days most jukeboxes are the ones which hold every chart hit from the fifties onwards, so here's a handy guide on how to get the most for your money and really please the people who put their money in after you.

Watch as they sing happily along to your song choices, nodding at you, pointing at the jukebox and giving you the thumbs-up.  Landlords note:  This is also a good way to make money, as people will have to visit the bar another couple of times while they wait for their choices to be played, not wanting to have wasted their money.

There are longer songs than this but you won't find these on a jukebox.  Shame that.

TRACK LISTING:

1. The Breaks - Kurtis Blow.  Duration: 7m31s.  A nice short song to start with.  This is a fantastic piece of rap history.  I love this track, and it was this which inspired me to make the list after I'd put in on in our local, forgetting how long it was.

2. Sir Psycho Sexy - Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Duration: 8m17s.  From when they were good.  Funky funtimes. Not a single, but often appears if the whole album's on there.

3.  Rapper's Delight - The Sugarhill Gang.  Duration: 14m36, 6m30 or 4m55s.  Another rap classic.  Most jukeboxes will only have the single version but you might get lucky.

4. Voodoo Chile -  Jimi Hendrix.  Duration: 15m.  Not the Slight Return, although that is over five minutes long, but track four on Electric Ladyland.  Worth a pop.

5.  Bop Gun (One Nation) - Ice Cube.  Duration: 11m05s.  I didn't know, but this was released as a single in the UK reaching position 22, so it should be on the juke box.

6.  November Rain - Guns 'n' Roses.  Duration: 8m57s.  A proper lighter song, as in it should be set on fire.  But think of the value for money!

7.  This Corrosion - The Sisters of Mercy.  Duration: 10m18s.  No black eyeliner required.  Reached 7th position in the UK charts.

8.  Freebird - Lynyrd Skynyrd.  Duration: 9m06s.  Lighters out again!  If you get the single version it's only 4m18, but worth a shot.

9.  Lucretia My Reflection - The Sisters of Mercy.  Duration: 8m44s.  I remember this from a car ride to East Anglia, when it appeared on a mix CD for the car.  When it came on for the second time, we had to skip it.  There's only so much Sisters you can cope with.

If you find that some of these are the shorter single versions, why not exchange them for a banker like The Beatles - Hey Jude (7m06s) or Oasis - All Around The World (9m31s)?  There aren't any official shortened versions of these songs.

Total duration: 93m34s.  £1.28/h.  Not only will you get an hour and a half's worth of music for two quid, you can guarantee that your face will now be known by both landlord and punters alike!