* * *
* I love to listen to music while I play pinball. Many places that used to have pinball machines also had a juke box, so while I played, I had the advantage of listening. Sometimes, the music wasn't exactly my cup of tea (once played "Lawman" while "Tiny Bubbles" by Don Ho was playing. You can Google it). Other times, the songs were right up my alley. A lot of bowling alleys on military bases had juke boxes with Motown songs by the dozens. Then when rock (decades later "classic rock") became popular, the juke boxes reflected that.
* Now, there are so many options available if one wants to hear music. In less than ten feet from where I play TPA, there are no less than six sources of music: a stereo receiver, CD player, Pandora, TuneIn, an iPod and a WiFi radio. Pandora is an app on my "smart" LG Blu-ray player. TuneIn is an app on my iPad. My iPod is, well, my iPod. My WiFi radio is a Logitech Squeezebox, plays any station or channel that also streams on the Internet.
* Back to pinball. Before tables began to "talk", the only sounds they made were the bells, dings, thunks that came from hitting bumpers, rollovers, dropping targets, spinners, the "flip-flip-flip" of flippers and the ever-present "click-click-click" made when the scoring wheels turned. Then came the tables like KISS, and Playboy, that played those soft chimes, the equivalent of the three chords in classic rock. When upbeat music played, my friends and I found we did better. "Frankenstein", *"School's Out", "La Grange" pumped us up. "A Horse With No Name", not so much. "Kashmir", "Life In The Fast Lane", "Don't Fear The Reaper", "The Boys Are Back In Town", "Detroit Rock City" all created an atmosphere (in our minds) that helped us win games. Anything with hard guitar riffs and bangin' drums, that was our style. Of course, we played air guitar and air drum when we weren't playing.
* Although more and more tables nowadays produce their own soundtrack, and some that like to hurl observations on your ability to play, I still like to hear music. Jazz, blues, almost anything acoustical can be heard playing while I'm playing. And The Wife will sit and read while I play a game or two. But, at the end of the day, after the dogs have been out for the last time, after everyone is tucked away in bed, I'll turn out the lights. The headphones come out, and as John Bonham's drums start on "Rock And Roll", that silver ball arcs across the top.*
It's time to play...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Updated High Scores
Scared Stiff *55,817,910
Elvira and The Party Monsters *15,872,580
Genie *692,990
Gorgar *640,920
Monster Bash *267,622,480
No Good Gophers *23,074,210
Attack From Mars *28,651,306,930
Big Shot *196,510
Black Hole *2,235,620
Black Knight *1,248,420
Cirqus Voltaire *26,741,960
Central Park *5,651
Centaur *4,990,730
Victory *3,637,050
Fish Tales *199,104,650
Class of 1812 *16,616,720
Haunted House 334,250
Ripley's Believe It or Not 116,308,650
Star Trek: TNG 674,683,850
* Gottlieb and Stern Challenge-completed 2/23/2014
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Total points: 130.8
* * * * * * * * Williams Challenge-completed 2/24/2014
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Total points: 130.4
* * * * * * * * * Bally's Challenge-completed 2/26/2014
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Total points: 152.5
* I love to listen to music while I play pinball. Many places that used to have pinball machines also had a juke box, so while I played, I had the advantage of listening. Sometimes, the music wasn't exactly my cup of tea (once played "Lawman" while "Tiny Bubbles" by Don Ho was playing. You can Google it). Other times, the songs were right up my alley. A lot of bowling alleys on military bases had juke boxes with Motown songs by the dozens. Then when rock (decades later "classic rock") became popular, the juke boxes reflected that.
* Now, there are so many options available if one wants to hear music. In less than ten feet from where I play TPA, there are no less than six sources of music: a stereo receiver, CD player, Pandora, TuneIn, an iPod and a WiFi radio. Pandora is an app on my "smart" LG Blu-ray player. TuneIn is an app on my iPad. My iPod is, well, my iPod. My WiFi radio is a Logitech Squeezebox, plays any station or channel that also streams on the Internet.
* Back to pinball. Before tables began to "talk", the only sounds they made were the bells, dings, thunks that came from hitting bumpers, rollovers, dropping targets, spinners, the "flip-flip-flip" of flippers and the ever-present "click-click-click" made when the scoring wheels turned. Then came the tables like KISS, and Playboy, that played those soft chimes, the equivalent of the three chords in classic rock. When upbeat music played, my friends and I found we did better. "Frankenstein", *"School's Out", "La Grange" pumped us up. "A Horse With No Name", not so much. "Kashmir", "Life In The Fast Lane", "Don't Fear The Reaper", "The Boys Are Back In Town", "Detroit Rock City" all created an atmosphere (in our minds) that helped us win games. Anything with hard guitar riffs and bangin' drums, that was our style. Of course, we played air guitar and air drum when we weren't playing.
* Although more and more tables nowadays produce their own soundtrack, and some that like to hurl observations on your ability to play, I still like to hear music. Jazz, blues, almost anything acoustical can be heard playing while I'm playing. And The Wife will sit and read while I play a game or two. But, at the end of the day, after the dogs have been out for the last time, after everyone is tucked away in bed, I'll turn out the lights. The headphones come out, and as John Bonham's drums start on "Rock And Roll", that silver ball arcs across the top.*
It's time to play...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Updated High Scores
Scared Stiff *55,817,910
Elvira and The Party Monsters *15,872,580
Genie *692,990
Gorgar *640,920
Monster Bash *267,622,480
No Good Gophers *23,074,210
Attack From Mars *28,651,306,930
Big Shot *196,510
Black Hole *2,235,620
Black Knight *1,248,420
Cirqus Voltaire *26,741,960
Central Park *5,651
Centaur *4,990,730
Victory *3,637,050
Fish Tales *199,104,650
Class of 1812 *16,616,720
Haunted House 334,250
Ripley's Believe It or Not 116,308,650
Star Trek: TNG 674,683,850
* Gottlieb and Stern Challenge-completed 2/23/2014
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Total points: 130.8
* * * * * * * * Williams Challenge-completed 2/24/2014
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Total points: 130.4
* * * * * * * * * Bally's Challenge-completed 2/26/2014
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Total points: 152.5
