Juke Box Music

For Doug Sahm's 1989 album, see Juke Box Music (album).

1977 single by The Kinks

"Juke Box Music"

Single by The Kinks
from the album  Sleepwalker
B-side|

* "Sleepless Night" (U.K.)
* "Life Goes On" (U.S.)

Released| 3 June 1977
Recorded| Begun 1976
Genre| Rock
Length| 5:32
Label| Arista
Songwriter(s)| Ray Davies
Producer(s)| Ray Davies
The Kinks singles chronology
| "Sleepwalker"
(1977)  | "Juke Box Music"
(1977)  | "Father Christmas"
(1977)

|
|

"Juke Box Music" is a track from The Kinks' 1977 album, Sleepwalker. It was one of the first tracks recorded in The Kinks' Konk recording complex. The song was also performed for The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977.

## Background

[edit]

Kinks frontman and songwriter Ray Davies described the song as being about "a girl who listens to the juke box all day and really believes all the lyrics. People like me write lots of lyrics and she really believes it."[1] "Juke Box Music" is about a music fan who believes in the lyrics of the songs that she plays repeatedly on the juke box. David Levesley of GQ called the song a "fresh take" on the female archetype in American rock 'n' roll culture, writing, "While this woman is obsessed with the romance and heightened emotions of music, it leads to everyone else wondering why she distances herself from reality."[2] Rolling Stone says that the topic "should be a pathetic song, yet Davies has us tapping our feet, singing along."[3]

## Release

[edit]

"Juke Box Music" was released as the second single from the band's 1976 Sleepwalker album, backed with "Sleepless Night" in the UK and Germany and with "Life Goes On" in the US. Despite the moderate commercial success of the band's previous single, it did not chart. "Juke Box Music" has since appeared on the Arista compilation album Come Dancing with The Kinks. It also gets the rare airplay on SiriusXM's Classic Rewind channel as well.

## Reception

[edit]

"Juke Box Music" has been positively reviewed by many critics. Robert Christgau recommended the track in his review of the Sleepwalker album,[4] and Rolling Stone claimed that it "is the best song [on Sleepwalker]."[3] AllMusic called the track "exceptional",[5] and said it was "yet another impressionistic portrait by the Kinks' Ray Davies".[6]

GQ's Levesley named the song on his list of "sixteen The Kinks songs that soundtracked England perfectly," writing, "Even here, in a song that feels like very old-school Kinks, they manage to do something fresh thanks to Davies' idiosyncratic look at the world."[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ ""Juke Box Music," The Kinks". The Old Grey Whistle Test. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
2. ^ a b Levesley, David. "Sixteen The Kinks songs that soundtracked England perfectly". GQ. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
3. ^ a b "The Kinks: Sleepwalker : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. 21 April 1977. Archived from the original on 30 November 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2014.`{{cite magazine}}`: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
4. ^ "CG: Artist 1464". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
5. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine (1 July 1976). "Sleepwalker - The Kinks | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
6. ^ Denise Sullivan (17 October 2006). "Juke Box Music - The Kinks | Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 June 2014.

* v
* t
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The Kinks

* Ray Davies
* Dave Davies

* Mick Avory
* Pete Quaife
* John Dalton
* John Gosling
* Andy Pyle
* Jim Rodford
* Ian Gibbons
* Bob Henrit
* Gordon John Edwards
* Mark Haley

Studio albums|

* Kinks (1964)
* Kinks-Size (1965; US-only)
* Kinda Kinks (1965)
* Kinkdom (1965; US-only)
* The Kink Kontroversy (1965)
* Face to Face (1966)
* Something Else (1967)
* Village Green Preservation Society (1968)
* Arthur (1969)
* Lola Versus Powerman (1970)
* Percy (1971)
* Muswell Hillbillies (1971)
* Everybody's in Show-Biz (1972)
* Preservation Act 1 (1973)
* Preservation Act 2 (1974)
* Soap Opera (1975)
* Schoolboys in Disgrace (1975)
* Sleepwalker (1977)
* Misfits (1978)
* Low Budget (1979)
* Give the People What They Want (1981)
* State of Confusion (1983)
* Word of Mouth (1984)
* Think Visual (1986)
* UK Jive (1989)
* Phobia (1993)

Live albums|

* Live at Kelvin Hall (1968)
* One for the Road (1980)
* Live: The Road (1988)
* To the Bone (1994/1996)
* BBC Sessions: 1964–1977 (2001)

EPs|

* Kinksize Session (1964)
* Kwyet Kinks (1965)

Compilations|

* The Kinks Greatest Hits! (1966)
* Well Respected Kinks (1966)
* Sunny Afternoon (1967)
* Then Now and Inbetween (1969)
* The Kink Kronikles (1972)
* The Great Lost Kinks Album (1973)
* Come Dancing with The Kinks (1986)
* The Kinks Are Well Respected Men (1987)
* Lost & Found (1986–1989) (1991)
* The Ultimate Collection (2002)
* Picture Book (2008)
* Waterloo Sunset: The Very Best of The Kinks & Ray Davies (2012)
* The Essential Kinks (2014)

Unreleased projects|

* Four More Respected Gentlemen
* A Hole in the Sock of (Dave Davies)

Concert tours|

* 1965 UK tour
* 1965 US tour

Related articles|

* Discography
* Band members
* Session performers: Clem Cattini, Bobby Graham, Nicky Hopkins
* Konk
* The Kast Off Kinks
* Argent
* X-Ray
* Do It Again
* Give the People What We Want: Songs of The Kinks
* Sunny Afternoon (musical)

* Category

* v
* t
* e

The Kinks singles discography

1960s singles
(UK & US)|

1964
"Long Tall Sally"
"You Still Want Me"
"You Really Got Me"
"All Day and All of the Night"

1965
"Tired of Waiting for You"
"Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy"
"Set Me Free"
"See My Friends"
"Who'll Be the Next in Line"
"A Well Respected Man"
"Till the End of the Day"

1966
"Dedicated Follower of Fashion"
"Sunny Afternoon"
"Dead End Street"

1967
"Mister Pleasant"
"Waterloo Sunset"
"Death of a Clown" (Dave Davies solo)
"Autumn Almanac"
"Susannah's Still Alive" (Dave Davies solo)

1968
"Wonderboy"
"Days"
"Lincoln County" (Dave Davies solo)

1969
"Starstruck"
"Hold My Hand" (Dave Davies solo)
"Plastic Man"
"Drivin'"
"The Village Green Preservation Society"
"Shangri-La"
"Victoria"

1970s singles
(UK & US)|

1970
"Lola"
"Apeman"

1971
"God's Children"
"20th Century Man"

1972
"Supersonic Rocket Ship"
"Celluloid Heroes"

1973
"One of the Survivors"
"Sitting in the Midday Sun"
"Sweet Lady Genevieve"
"Where Have All the Good Times Gone"

1974
"Money Talks"
"Mirror of Love"
"Mirror of Love" (band version)
"Holiday Romance"
"Preservation"

1975
"Everybody's a Star (Starmaker)"
"Ducks on the Wall"
"You Can't Stop the Music"

1976
"I'm in Disgrace"
"No More Looking Back"

1977
"Sleepwalker"
"Juke Box Music"
"Father Christmas"

1978
"A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy"
"Live Life"
"Black Messiah"

1979
"(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman"
"A Gallon of Gas"
"Catch Me Now I'm Falling"
"Moving Pictures"
"Pressure"

1980s singles
(UK & US)|

1980
"Lola" (live)
"You Really Got Me" (live)

1981
"Better Things"
"Destroyer"
"Predictable"

1982
"Come Dancing"

1983
"Don't Forget to Dance"

1984
"Good Day"
"Do It Again"

1985
"Living on a Thin Line" (radio promo only)
"Summer's Gone"

1986
"Rock 'n' Roll Cities"
"How Are You"

1987
"Lost and Found"

1988
"The Road"

1989
"Down All the Days (Till 1992)"

1990s singles
(UK & US)|

1990
"How Do I Get Close"

1993
"Only a Dream"
"Scattered"

Other singles
(non-UK/US)|

1966
"Dandy" (Europe)

1969
"Picture Book" (Australia)
"Australia" (Australia)

1983
"State of Confusion" (Germany)

1991
"Did Ya" (Europe)

Other songs|

"So Mystifying"
"Bald Headed Woman"
"Stop Your Sobbing"
"Dancing in the Street"
"I Need You"
"I Go to Sleep"
"I'm Not Like Everybody Else"
"Big Black Smoke"
"Party Line"
"Rosy Won't You Please Come Home"
"Love Me Till the Sun Shines"
"David Watts"
"Two Sisters"
"Polly"
"She's Got Everything"
"Do You Remember Walter?"
"Johnny Thunder"
"Last of the Steam-Powered Trains"
"Big Sky"
"Sitting by the Riverside"
"Animal Farm"
"Village Green"
"Phenomenal Cat"
"All of My Friends Were There"
"Wicked Annabella"
"Monica"
"People Take Pictures of Each Other"
"Berkeley Mews"
"Mr. Churchill Says"
"Strangers"
"This Time Tomorrow"
"Rats"
"Got to Be Free"
"Have a Cuppa Tea"
"Oklahoma U.S.A."
"Muswell Hillbilly"
"Sitting in My Hotel"
"The Hard Way"
"Life Goes On"
"Misfits"
"Attitude"
"Low Budget"
"Give the People What They Want"
"Heart of Gold"
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