The top ten all time jukebox hits:

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.