In our story, “Kitchen Mix,” featured in the Food Issue, writer Mary Scott Hardaway provides a glimpse into the musical playlists of two River City restaurants. Take a listen to some of the chef’s back-of-house favorites, plus dive into some choice jukebox instrumentals on a playlist curated by Style Weekly Editor Brent Baldwin, who used to help choose songs for the vintage table jukeboxes at Millie’s Diner.
Kitchen Mix
Jukebox Gems
Somewhere around 2011, I was afforded the honor of selecting songs for the table jukeboxes at the legendary Millie’s Diner. While I had plenty of ideas, right away I realized it was important to listen to feedback from front-of-house staff and owner Paul Keevil, to make sure I avoided stuff that drove employees crazy by the 100th listening.
Of course, that didn’t always happen. Some tunes seemed to work well, because I would continue to hear about them for years. Or I might notice a rare deep cut appearing in some Martin Agency commercial (maybe that’s wishful thinking). But I definitely learned the value of a great instrumental track during rushes.
Below is a list of mostly instrumental tracks for the jukebox – plus a few newer ones at the end – that I would typically intersperse through songs by the likes of Ted Hawkins (“Happy Hour”), The Specials (“Ghost Town”), Nina Simone (“Funkier than a Mosquito’s Tweeter”), Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood (“Some Velvet Morning”), The Clash (“Lost in the Supermarket” or “The Magnificent Seven” 12-inch), Fela Kuti, Moondog, Peggy Lee, Howlin’ Wolf, you name it. –Brent Baldwin
