Jukebox in London
Photograph: Ed Cunningham for Time Out
Photograph: Ed Cunningham for Time Out

The best pubs with jukeboxes in London

Four fantastic London pubs with jukeboxes

Ed Cunningham
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Jukeboxes – like fax machines, telegrams and appendices (the biological kind) – are pretty pointless things in Big 2024. We’ve got radio, we’ve got Spotify, we’ve got DJ decks and USBs. Who needs huge hunks of machinery just to play background music? Well, we’ll tell you who: us.

Since they were imported over here from the US back in the ’40s, jukeboxes have been one of the most characterful, fun and outright cool ways to make your mark on a pub’s ambience. And while the need for jukeboxes has long faded, the machines themselves remain widely adored.

From classic jukes like Wurlitzer Bubblers and Seeburg Select-O-Matics (great names) to their all-singing, all-dancing digital younger relations, London has reels of pubs with machines purpose-made for enabling customers to play their own tunes and get everyone up and dancing. Here are four of our faves in London.

Four fantastic London pubs with jukeboxes

  • Pubs
  • Oxford Street
  • price 1 of 4
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • Recommended

Oxford Street 

We’re kicking things off with a legend: Bradley’s and its iconic NSM Prestige II has long been a welcome retreat for shoppers looking to swap Oxford Street’s vapid chart tunes for proper boogieing. Playing only seven-inch singles from the bar’s 20,000-disc-strong archives, the selection is regularly refreshed with a half-century’s worth of classics. With three songs for a quid, the ground-floor is regularly packed-out with a mix of post-work and post-shopping punters. It’s much more of an old-school British boozer than a slinky Spanish bar, but you’ll still spot a few Iberian lagers and wines amongst its roster of bevs.

What are we playing? Culture Club’s ‘Do You Really Want to Hurt Me’ and Diana Ross’s ‘I’m Coming Out’. Classics – just like Bradley’s.  

  • Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington

An elegant corner pub sitting quietly off Stokey’s main drags with glamorous outside tiling, a decent assortment of real ales and a gorgeous island bar, The Shakespeare is also known for its jukebox’s stonking reggae and ska collection. From Toots And The Maytals to the Skatelites, the Shakey is the place to go for some chirpy horns and skanking beats. And if you’re not such a fan of wubbing bass and heavy offbeats? Fear not. The Shakey P’s full jukebox collection features plenty of Gil Scott-Heron, Modern Lovers and Ray Charles, too. Oh, and better yet: use of this j-box is totally free. Form an orderly queue, people.

What are we playing? Reggae ’n’ ska, obvs. Toots And The Maytals’ ‘Reggae Got Soul’, then ‘Silver Dollar’ by the Skatelites.

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  • Pubs
  • New Cross
New Cross

There’s no way in hell you could walk past the Marquis without taking a second look. On a busy junction, it’s slathered in an eye-catching mural of a very green, very blue country landscape. The inside is a classic no-nonsense boozer and the jukebox caters exactly to the Marquis’s three most common species of regular: Irish locals, Goldsmiths art students and fans of Millwall football club. Expect ska versions of football songs, arty new wave bangers and singalong Irish folk tunes, all in a mucky ’n’ musty Victorian pub.

What are we playing? Roy Green’s Millwall supporter anthem ‘Let ’Em Come’ followed by Goldsmiths alumni Blur’s 1997 indie classic ‘Beetlebum’.

  • Watford
Dalston

On the left as you walk in, the George’s free jukebox is best loved for its hipster-friendly deep-dives. Parliament, Jorge Ben, Yusef Lateef and Etta James are all to be found in this box-on-the-wall, alongside poppy stuff like Letta Mbulu and the Cimarons. JK, JK, there’s some Stones on here, too. The rest of The Prince George is airy and high-ceilinged, not quite as homely or locals-only as it once was but still a welcome breather from Dalston’s all-action high street. Head down on Tuesdays to combine your jukebox DJ set with free pool.

What are we playing? Parliament’s ‘Coming in out of the Rain’, Richard Hell’s ‘Blank Generation’ and Clint Eastwood’s ‘Stop That Train’ – a wide sweep of über-cool choons.

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