I'm taking a brief rest from our journey into musical space to celebrate ten songs about cashing in at the casino. Let the chips fall where they may...
My Top Ten Casino Songs
10. The Gore Gore Girls - Casino
Straight out of Detroit, the Gore Gore Girls rocked their local casino like no one else. Every one was a winner.
9. Thea Gilmore - This Girl Is Taking Bets
Thea has gambling on her mind, and lyrics that can’t ever lose. Take a listen to this song from the Rules For Jokers album - it's guaranteed to hit the jackpot.
8. Everclear - Blackjack
Everclear should know better than to play blackjack with “Scary John”. “Be careful what you ask for,” Art Alexakis sings on this track, but considering this is the man who also offers to “…Buy You A New Life” and dreams of living “Like A California King”, the stakes are obviously high. The first new Everclear album in six years is released next month… will it be another winner?
7. The Rolling Stones - Casino Boogie
Legend has it Mick couldn't come up with any decent lyrics to this song. So he scribbled some random casino-related phrases on a few scraps of paper and the band took turns drawing them out of a bag, making the words up as they went along. Despite all that, Keith's boogie-woogie riffs brought it home.
6. Bruce Springsteen - Roll of the Dice
It may be time to reassess Human Touch and Lucky Town. Releasing two albums on the same day is never a good bet for any artist, especially after a five year break. Expectations were impossibly high after Tunnel Of Love... the odds were stacked against Bruce. Still, he rolled the dice... and listening to this record 20 years later, it still sounds fresh. I call that a win.
5. Wilco - Casino Queen
Jeff Tweedy always bets on black...
4. Motorhead - The Ace of Spades
...whereas Lemmy only ever needs one card. Then again: win some, lose some, it's all the same to him.
3. Warren G featuring Nate Dogg - Regulate
Mr. G and Mr. Dogg lay out the consequences of street corner hip hop gambling after a game of Cee-Lo goes against them. Pity I couldn't find a Cee Lo Green track on this same subject, but at least I now know where the big guy got his name from.
2. Kenny Rogers - The Gambler
There are loads of songs about gamblers (in fact, there's a whole other Top Ten in them... one day), but none give quite so much useful advice to the budding casino goer. You never count your money when you're sitting at the table...
1. Elvis Presley - Viva Las Vegas
The ultimate gambling song for the ultimate casino town where all you need is a strong heart and nerves of steel. Of course, The King wins the pot... but ZZ Top, Bruce and The Dead Kennedys play to win too.
Those were mine… but which casino song is a guaranteed winner for you?
