Great Jones' Jukebox

Would You Like Some Jazz with Those Fries?

Small Manhattan restaurant holds music treasure, vinyl jukebox

By Hannah Vanbiber (hvanbiber@gmail.com)

Everybody loves a jukebox. Sure, they have fallen into some disrepute in the last 20 years, but they remain objects of fascination, stuffed into a corner of the local Waffle House, waiting like a futuristic transportation device to begin shuffling, bumping, and delivering the greatest prize of all – music.

Nestled between the front door and the bar of Great Jones Café in the lower east side of Manhattan, a squat jukebox glows and gently whirs.  According to the restaurant’s co-owner, Bill Judkins, most customers throw it a cursory glance, look puzzled, and order a martini. It’s no wonder; the songs listed on the face aren’t exactly Ryan Seacrest’s Top 40 hitters. With titles like “My Dog Can’t Bark” by Muddy Waters or “Mama!” by Lefty Frizzell, who wouldn’t be a little nonplussed? It takes a real pro, like Judkins, who collects rare vinyls, to know a unique piece of music history.

The real attraction of this particular jukebox – and what won it a spot on Time Out’s list of top 100 things to see in New York – is that it plays vinyls. And not just any vinyls, those little 45’s that only people over 45 remember. In fact, the Jones Juke Box is allegedly the only vinyl jukebox left in Manhattan.

Thanks to the new hipster generation, vinyl is back in the music business and it’s hot. In Jan. 2008, TIME magazine reported that vinyl was getting its groove back. Now major indie hitters like Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens are promoting vinyl copies of their newest albums.  Record players are once again the holy grail of college students. So whispering “vinyl jukebox” in a dorm room might be as dangerous as “fire” in a theater.

Cut back to Manhattan and the Great Jones. How did such a down-home, hole-in-the-wall operation get such a class act? The answer is probably: Timing. The Great Jones opened in 1983, precisely when the vinyl had fallen into disrepute in the devastating wake of arcade games. Though cassette tapes and CDs would give the jukebox a slight comeback in the late 80’s and 90’s, its heyday was over. 

The Jones Jukebox is a classic, hailing from the time when jukeboxes were a major player in the success of recording artists like Bing Crosby. Now it plays everything from old classics to New Orleans jazz to “My Dog Can’t Bark.” Judkins has kept up an eclectic compilation of rare records.

“Just today he bought some crazy record from somewhere in South America,” said friend and co-owner Mark Hitzges. “I don’t know where he finds this stuff, but it’s definitely his thing.”

With the restaurant door thrown open, customers can hear faint strains from the 80-year-old jukebox mixing with the sounds of New York City.