New jukeboxes have remote control as standard and there is a company that could arrange a voice activated control if you like the sound of your own voice.

If you have a massive CD collection or are all your songs in mp3 format.
An mp3 format gives you the option of a table top or wall mounted jukebox to save on space.

If you want to update your library without having to open the cabinet up then digital jukeboxes are for you. If you have a fast internet connection you can simply hook up to online libraries for access to a vast library. That comes at a price – using your CDs doesn’t. Also, some of the newer jukeboxes are turning into computers in boxes which is stripping away the atmosphere and authenticity of the jukebox experience.

If you have a vinyl collection then things get tricky. Some of the Antique jukeboxes around were designed for American vinyl so English vinyl needs to have a hole punched in the middle of it. If you are out by even a few millimeters you have effectively ruined your record – it will not play at the correct speed.

Also voltage requirements differ between the UK and US models which will affect play quality.

Some older jukeboxes tend to have heavy needles which can easily damage your collection. So if you buy an antique don’t just chuck your vinyl in and cross your fingers. There are steps that can be taken to rectify these problems and there are plenty of hints and tips out there supplied by the great community of jukebox enthusiasts and restorers.

Do you have the physical space for a jukebox? They are big and clunky so are meant to look big and oversized anyway but just make sure you can get it through the front door.

Do you want extra speakers. If you are buying a new one you can order a matching set in some cases.

Make sure the jukebox is free play or you know how to convert it to freeplay as pumping coins in the slot eventually becomes tedious and the likelihood of malfunction rises.

How much do you have to spend? Its not something that people tend to buy very often so try to get the best example of your favourite model you can find for your money.

If you’ve got time, patience and money then go for an antique jukebox. Its an investment that will continue to grow in value and give you years of pleasure. Enjoy!

1. Hound Dog, Elvis Presley
2. Crazy, Patsy Cline
3. Old Time Rock & Roll, Bob Seger
4. I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Marvin Gaye
5. Don’t Be Cruel, Elvis Presley
6. Rock Around The Clock, Bill Haley & His Comets
7. Hey Jude, The Beatles
8. The Dock Of The Bay, Otis Redding
9. Lady, Kenny Rogers
10. Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White, Perez Prado

Jukeboxes made many artists famous without them even being allowed to air their songs on radio. This fact sometimes fuelled their popularity although in 1953 some counties in South Carolina banned the jukebox within earshot of any church.

In Texas the Parks Department removed rock and roll records from jukeboxes at swimming pools deeming it unsuitable for teenagers.

Pop music was labelled hedonistic and too tribal for mainstream culture. John Lennon became an enemy of the state and Bob Dylan was monitored by the FBI.

BBC radio was against any music that did not live up to its idealistic view of culture. Popular music was considered bad while original music was good. However, this didn’t stop the widespread access to American music via the jukebox. The BBC was powerless to stop it.

In the US, jukeboxes prevented discrimination of artists based on their race as listeners were unable to tell whether the artist was black or white in pre-war America. However, the US radio stations did their best to restrict them.

Felix Mendelssohn said that “music is more specific about what it expresses than words written about those expressions could ever be”

David Eaton, a musician himself believes that “any thinking, caring, probing musician should seriously contemplate a series of questions regarding music’s origins, its spiritual, religious and mystical properties, its moral and ethical power, its transcendent qualities, the role of the arts and artists and the importance of art in general, and music in particular”.

Music has the power to inspire a generation but it can also degrade culture. One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain. I happen to agree with Bob Marley on that one, may he rest in peace.

NSM were late arrivals to the jukebox manufacturing scene but that didn’t handicap them.

NSM Music have been trading for six decades and released an on-line digital ICON jukebox in 2008. In 1999 they patented the harbinger of digital technology and seemed to be ahead of their time as people couldn’t turn away from CD jukeboxes.

They have recently released a Welsh Language Platform Jukebox which is showing an attentive attitude to the demands of the consumer. They are watching growth areas such as the rise in popularity of welsh music and designing a product that will compliment and bolster the welsh music community.

For classic NSM jukeboxes nsmjukebox.co.uk are a UK supplier and service centre. They claim to have the largest stock of 50’s and 60’s jukeboxes in Europe so definitely worth a look. For a new NSM Jukebox head to www.nsmmusic.com

As per my previous post, Gibson have taken over Wurlitzer and their online museum is a sight to behold. Wulitzer has 150 years of jukebox manufacturing behind them.

A truly great peice of information was the list of the top ten all time jukebox hits. Here it is in all their glory.

1. Hound Dog, Elvis Presley
2. Crazy, Patsy Cline
3. Old Time Rock & Roll, Bob Seger
4. I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Marvin Gaye
5. Don’t Be Cruel, Elvis Presley
6. Rock Around The Clock, Bill Haley & His Comets
7. Hey Jude, The Beatles
8. The Dock Of The Bay, Otis Redding
9. Lady, Kenny Rogers
10. Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White, Perez Prado

A review by Audioholics (the online A/V magazine) of the Gibson Wurlitzer Digital Jukebox in 2007 and said “From advanced digital amplification to Klipsch loudspeaker design, the wulitzer Digital Jukebox utilizes exclusive technologies to deliver a satisfying music experience.

Their systems recognise the album art, artist name and song names when you insert a CD. Also with a bonus of access to Wurlitzer Music Service and a music library store for instant purchase and download. However, its not all that to look at unfortunately.

Gracenote is a the software company that works with Gibson Wurlitzer has designed a system MediaVOCS which allows user to control their music library using their voice. We’ve all talked to our jukeboxes, now they’ll finally understand us!

The country you would associate the most with manufacturing Jukeboxes would be the United States. According to Rock-Ola’s website. Their jukeboxes are the only American made jukeboxes or, as they put it, “The only American-Made Jukebox is Rock-Ola”.
Here is a link to their current catalogue http://rock-olamfgcorp.parks.officelive.com/Documents/62118_Catalog_2009.pdf

Rock-Ola
Email: sales@rock-ola.com
website: www.rock-ola.com

Seeburg, now defunct, were the innovators of their time. Famous for the Seeburg Trashcan.There are many Seeburg restorations for sale and they are highly sought after.

AMI, Bal-AMi

AMI, was the first Jukebox manufacturing company to use electronically amplified sound and are know for their Art Deco designs. The Streamliner was manufactured in the late 1930s. It featured a long light bulb which they called the Lumiline and it appeared that the light was not emanating from any single point along the bulb.

The AMI produced a very unique machine called the Singing Tower whose physical shape affected the sound to give the impression to the listener that they were sitting in the centre of an orchestra. It was the Surround Sound of its day and a real leap forward in design but was perhaps ahead of its time as it didn’t catch on.

In the UK, following World War II, a limit was set on imported products and every product sold had to contain a minimum amount (53%) of British manufactured parts. A deal was done between the Balfour Engineering Company based in the UK and AMi. Some of the AMi parts were imported and the rest were produced in the UK. The jukeboxes were designed by AMi but the UK produced jukeboxes were called BAL-AMi. The BAL-AMi model I was most popular at the time.

Wurlitzer (www.Gibson.net/products/wurlitzer)

Wurlitzer have been around since their first coin-operated electric piano, the tonophon, was manufactured. They have been taken over by Gibson and according to their website Gibson hopes to “accelerate the growth of business through broader international distribution and product development”. It seems to be a marriage of two quality brands that can only do good for the Wurlitzers to come.

The jukebox repair company, The Jukebox man (thejukeboxman.com), has a great website with a very helpful Hot Tips page for a methodical process of fault finding when your jukebox goes wrong. Also a great description of modifying your jukebox to Free Play.

Jukebox parts can be purchased from, as mentioned above, The Jukebox Man in the UK. There are several well known companies in the US.

Victory Glass was set up to help the jukebox restoration enthusiast. They claim to have a full line of reproduction parts and used parts.

Another US company is Musical Fun For Everyone. You can request parts and the owner will endeavour to source them for you. He does have a list of other sources on his website.

Vern Tisdale runs a company offering reproduction, used and also sells jukeboxes and their schematics. He is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

There are plenty of jukebox restorers with websites: Jukeboxes Direct (UK), Discomatics (UK), Jooks (UK), Jukebox Services (UK), David Webb Classic Jukeboxes (UK), Antique Jukebox Repair (USA), Retro Rock-It (USA).

Sound Leisure (www.slretail.co.uk) are manufacturers of digital audio, video and CD jukeboxes. They are handmade and based on classical designs. The sole UK manufacturer of jukeboxes and was founded in 1978. Their products are high quality, they offer training days for installation and provide support to owners. Their website also has a list of their European distributors.

Rowe AMi has produced over one million jukeboxes. According to their website they boast the broadest product range available so they might be the first port of call for any unusual commercial spaces or themes.

Rock-ola is the place to go for an authentic American-made jukebox. The Nostalgic Bubbler or the Peacock Touchscreen Music centre are at both ends of the timescale but equally mesmerising!

Most modern jukeboxes have replaced the classic transparent panel showing the inner working of the disc changing mechanism for an LCD screen. The LCD screen is used for song selection and video display. In commercial jukeboxes the LCD screen is also used for advertising.

The recorded music medium varies according to owner requirements. CDs are still commonly used but the music can also be stored on a hard drive in the form of mp3s (or a similar file format). The latest digital internet jukeboxes offer an accessible online library of over 200,000 songs. So modern jukeboxes can store vastly more songs than their ancestors.

The aesthetic styling of modern jukeboxes is still very much a tribute to the Golden and Silver Age jukeboxes. They have plastic or wood cabinets, neon or other coloured lighting, bubbles and the large circular dome of the classic Wurlitzer is regularly the basis for the shape of the jukebox. This is scaled up or down depending on the type of the jukebox.

A recent addition to the design of the jukebox is stylised artwork, pictures of famous music artists or nostalgic scenes that can be easily tailored to the owners requirements or musical taste and helps to invoke the desired atmosphere.

Music videos are frequently featured in the larger commercial models that have LCD screens. The videos are usually stored on DVDs and are shown while their song is being played.

Commercial jukeboxes come loaded with user friendly features that work for the benefit of the owner of the establishment in which the jukebox resides. A great feature is a limit to the number of times a song can be played in a row to limit “Nuisance Players”. I’m sure we’re all guilty of this.

The modern jukebox can be remote controlled which harks back to the mini boxes that would allow diners to select songs from their table.

The original jukeboxes had counters which counted the number of plays per record to determine what was popular and what was not making the owner any money. The modern jukebox allows the owner to download information from the internet about each song, compile statistics on popularity using software and update their library at the touch of a button.

The music library can be edited with great ease, using administrator screens the owner can delete or add music very easily. Some models allow the user to download songs from an external hard drive which is slightly more cumbersome but certainly easier than opening up the cabinet and swapping records!

The mp3 songs can also be stored on an internal hard drive that has the benefit of massive memory capabilities and also enables wall mount-ability with ease due to its light weight.

Celebrity bar owners place great importance on a jukebox containing quality music because it is their reputation at stake.  Shane MacGowan’s bar, The Boogaloo in London, boasts a jukebox containing 100 albums that must be older than 10 years and Shane picks ten of the albums himself.

Amy Winehouse was known to visit her local pub in Camden, choose her songs and turn the volume up to maximum in the middle of the afternoon much to the owner’s amusement.

People want to share their musical tastes and share the unusual in their collection instead of coming together to listen to the same thing. Perhaps people need venues to accommodate their varied tastes and not just play it safe. I know I’d like to head to Corbieres, Half Moon Street in Manchester, UK. Devotees claim it’s the best in the world.

A person’s favourite Jukebox playlist is a very personal and telling piece of information.
John Lennon owned a Swiss made KB Discomatic jukebox and was used while he was touring. There were 40 vinyl singles on it. Some of the artists included on the jukebox are Wilson Picket, Smokey Robinson and Otis Reading.

Leonard Cohen’s album named “Leonard Cohen’s Jukebox, The songs that inspired the man” has 25  tracks on it including: Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Janis Joplin. The album gives an insight into the songs he held closest to his heart. The auction of John Lennon’s Jukebox did the same.

A quality jukebox will draw in the crowds but a poor quality jukebox with a lot of trickery being employed to con the customer is not doing the industry any favours. It can be the equivalent of unwelcoming staff or being short changed because they think you’ve had one too many to notice.

A Jukebox Charter  has been formulated to address the frustrating side of modern commercial jukeboxes and has seven rules including:

-”The Jukeboxes should play the songs as faithfully as possible…the jukebox should not fade in and fade out at the beginning and end of songs”.
-”There should be an explanation on the jukebox of how to get a refund in cases where someone cancels a selection”

So the workings of a jukebox can be an emotive topic and generate a lot of frustration if the user is not given the control he expects such as the recent story of the American man who stabbed a bar owner who refused to turn up the volume of the jukebox. Perhaps this might not have happened if there was an explanation on the jukebox of how to get a refund!

There are, of course, still many original jukeboxes available that have been restored. These are collectibles that may not have the best functionality for the modern home. New jukeboxes have many benefits over an antique jukebox.

Restored antique jukeboxes are still in wide circulation and remain in demand. However, they can be cumbersome for those short of space. Modern jukeboxes vary between table top, wall mounted and free standing but also as virtual jukeboxes in the form of software that can be downloaded to a computer.

Antique jukeboxes provide a genuine experience and create an authentic atmosphere but modern jukeboxes either recreate the original cosmetic designs or offer such convenient functionality that they can be hard to rule out of your search for a home jukebox.

The large cabinet art deco styles have been recreated with the inner workings of the jukebox unrecognisable – not a record player in sight. The modern home jukebox tends towards either CD or mp3 format,or both, with mp3s being stored on CDs.

Your own CD collection can be ‘ripped’ and stored on the hard drive of the jukebox or your collection of mp3s can be stored on your mp3 player and plugged into the jukebox; For example new jukeboxes feature an iPod docks and some iPod docks are now being called Jukeboxes such as the Philips iBoom JukeBox iPod Dock.

There are many benefits to an iPod dock for the home user. Updates to the music library are simple using tried and tested software and the music library on the internet is vast and limitless. The smaller table top iPod docks obviously save space and suit the current trend for miniature everything: phones, cameras, jukeboxes…

If you find that the cost of owning a jukebox is prohibitive then you might consider a rental service. I found one that provides a free playing digital jukebox with 12000 songs in a funky, wavy stainless steel effect casing for around $370 or £250. This allows affordable accessibility to a jukebox for special occasions.

Jukebox software for use on the home pc is popular but lacking in atmosphere to say the least and staring at a set of speakers does not have quite the same effect as a visually attractive jukebox. However, if you are lacking in physical space at home and have a sound system already connected to your computer or laptop then jukebox software may be the thing for you.

The music source of jukeboxes progressed from steel combs to wax records, to a variety of vinyl records and to the modern day jukeboxes that use cds, mp3s, DVDs and Satellite downloads. When the 45rpm vinyl was released in 1950 it became the standard and was adopted until CDs replaced them in 1980s.

Jukeboxes were installed into juke joints, restaurants, saloons, diners and homes and provided welcome relief from the trouble times of the depression and imminent war. Following the end of World War II the popularity of the jukebox had a resurgence as the restrictions on manufacturing them were lifted. Wulitzer’s 1946 model was the most popular and remained a hit until the mid 1960’s. During that Golden Age the user could escape through the slot with that nickel and be transported to another world of beautiful marbled catalin plastic, neon lights, bubbles and the most popular music available.

The jukeboxes of the 1940s were called Golden Age jukeboxes because of their yellow Catalin plastic on their fascia’s and those of the 1950s are called Silver Age because of their chrome fascias.

Jukeboxes contained counters to record the number of plays of each record ensuring that only the most popular music would remain in the cabinet. With clever trickery and the development of the electronic components users could be fooled into thinking that they alone had paid for the song that was playing when in fact it was more than likely that several users had paid for it.

Jukeboxes had their heyday in the 1950s and during this period the development of wallboxes enabled diners to select music from their table, the number of songs available increased,they became aesthetically pleasing, treasured objects. The decline of partner dancing lead to the end of an era for jukeboxes. Big chain restaurants preferred their customers to eat and leave instead of hang around and dance.

There remains a huge appetite for vinyl jukeboxes and their original cabinets – mostly for nostalgic reasons. Antique jukeboxes are collected by enthusiasts and new jukeboxes are bought as luxury items, a must have for the games room. Jukeboxes have a faithful following and a thriving restoration and collectors community that show knowledge and keen enthusiasm.

The modern day jukeboxes have iPod docks and are usually smaller than the classic jukeboxes. The majority of them are wall mounted but still capture the spirit of the traditional large machine. They usually contain about 100 discs. The most advanced technology currently being used in jukeboxes are digital satellite downloaded music or DVDs replacing CDs to accommodate up to 1,000 songs.

The technologically advanced jukeboxes,however, have not dampened people’s appetite for authentic and original automatic music machines. The Sharpsichord, a unique instrument designed by Artist Henry Dagg is still being built even though it is four years behind schedule. The dedication of this talented enthusiast for dramatic sound has not been dampened. It was funded by the UK’s Big Lottery Fund and is solar powered. It works on the same principle as a barrel organ. Mr Dagg said “it is designed really as a composing machine – I want people to come and play their own pieces on it”. Perhaps the future of jukeboxes lies in the user’s ability to create their own rock and roll.

A good example of an early jukebox is the Orchestrian. It was designed to sound like an orchestra, had a large cylinder with pins to act as the music program. Some Orchestrian produced piano, percussion and wind sounds simultaneously.

The coin operated music boxes and phonographs of the 1870s produced sound using a set of pins placed on a revolving drum or disc which plucked the tuned teeth of a steel comb. Some also contained bells. Later came the development of wax cylinders, and tin foil drums, that could play music more than once leading to an appreciation of recorded music but what really fuelled people’s appetites was the proliferation of coin-in-the-slot phonographs in public places in 1890s. The phonograph maintained its popularity until the advent of radio in the 1920s and the economic depression of the 1930s.

The revolving cylinders were referred to as records and the early ones were sometimes made of wax or tin foil which deteriorated after a couple of plays. The Indestructible Record Company produced cylinder records made of celluloid that didn’t wear out for 1000’s of plays.

The flat disc was developed to compete with the cylinder records. Cylinder records went out of production in 1929 but their decline started when the industry leaders, Columbia Records, mass produced a double sided disc. However, the method of recording sound onto the flat discs had not yet been standardised until the early 1940s.

In 1918 Hobart Niblack patented a design that automated the changing of records which eventually contributed to the first jukebox, an Automatic Phonograph, being manufactured in 1927 by the Automated Musical Instrument Company (AMI).

In 1928 an electrostatic loudspeaker was attached to a coin-operated record player giving the user the a choice of 8 records. The world’s first electrically amplified multi selection phonograph was created by the Automated Music Instrument Company.

In 1950 the Seeburg Corporation introduced a 45rpm vinyl record jukebox which made the shellac 78rpm dominated jukeboxes obsolete. However, it took a while for the 78rpm jukeboxes to be taken out of use – they were simply shipped to the poorer areas.

The jukebox took its name from the ‘Juke  Joints’ of the south eastern United States. During the times of slavery, community rooms on plantations were provided for African Americans to socialise. The juke joints evolved after the Emancipation and allowed the patrons of the juke joints a chance to dance, drink, dine, gamble and trade goods. The word Juke may originate from a Gullah word Joog which means disorderly or rowdy. Gullah is a language spoken in Sierra Leone.