What Happened to Jukeboxes? | The History of Sound

[@dennisthebrony2022]

Even as a 2004 Born Gen-Z, I still admire these mechanical marvels of engineering. Especially the older classic 1950s Jukeboxes that don’t have a computer at all inside their mechanisms. It’s just interesting how much work the mechanism can accomplish without a single silicon chip inside them, it’s all electro-mechanical!! Man, it makes we wish I owned an old Jukebox in my house, since the way they work is just cool. I watch vintage Jukebox restoration vids on KZbin, and I’m fascinated with the mechanisms and how they worked, and the retro sound of the old school tube amps and vinyl.

[@Isaacfess]

I *love* videos of old tech like this. And you always add the special touches like the phonograph info. Now *this* is a quality and informative video.

[@gazza6359]

Excellent documentary the display was not busted it switched to the top 10 songs of the machine I own one and mine does the same

[@FrameRater]

Thanks for the clarification!

[@nickbenke3306]

In the UK we have NSM but the main British manufacturer is SoundLeisure, they have a wide range of mostly CD jukes for wall mounting, floor standing and the Bubble ones. Part of my job is repairing both brands and we have over a dozen out in bars in our city, and many more digital ones. So popularity is still high.

[@appleseed8282]

Ya'know, when I originally subscribed to this channel solely because of some memes of a wide nackles I didn't expected that I one day come back to it to learn about jukeboxes and the nickelodeon. Nice stuff.

[@metacrisis47]

Every time you come out with a video on some topic that isn’t game related, I put it on as background noise and then get so invested I have to stop what I’m doing and just watch it in full. Awesome video man, I never realized Hess things had so much history. Also I forget you’re a person and not just a voice over, nice seeing you on camera.

[@Thurston86]

10:35 According to this ad, the suggested retail price of the “Zenette” was $39.95. That’s more than $400 in 2024.

[@jeeziss]

The phrase "Let's rock this joint!" makes so much more sense now after watching this.

[@JessicaFEREM]

I've seen some modern Jukeboxes, they're more like audio players with a coin mech than anything lol

[@transitmechanic]

Having collected and sold jukeboxes for 40 plus years, the best book to get an idea of the history is "Jukebox Saturday Night" by J Krivine. Published in 1977 in both soft and hard cover. Absolutely excellent source of information and superb pictures. Welcome all to the wonderful world of Jukeboxes!

[@douglasthompson9482]

I have a 1951 Seeburg select-o-matic. Beautiful in every way . I restored it some time ago.

[@JessicaFEREM]

I remember one of my family members had a Seeburg record player in their home.

[@androidbox5445]

I'm a jukebox operator. My father was for 40 years before me. And I have been in it for 26 years. I started with 45s then CD then VCD and now Digital. With the pandemic and govt shutting down my clients I'm going broke. 3 big things that afected the jukebox business where I operate are: cheap djs spinning at locations for free or drinks, the availibility of cheap and well sounded sound systems for venues, and THE number 1 reason before The covid, jukebox business killer was and is still KZbin.

[@kalebschmidt100]

This video is so amazing I swear, you need to make more documentaries Framerater!!

[@DeadKoby]

I actually just fixed up a 1961 Jukebox. I found it cheap at an estate sale.........and it hadn't worked in 35 years. Now, after 3 months, it's working well.

[@jimmyday9536]

The Wurlitzer 1015 "bubbler" jukebox is the famous iconic jukebox people think of. Interestingly, it was produced right after WWII, and played 78 rpm records only, so they actually played very little "rock and roll", just big band music. The 1015 also had only 24 selections; imagine listening to a radio station that played the same 24 selections over and over. When Seeburg came out with a 100-select model that played 45 rpm records, a few years later, Wurlitzer was left in the dust.

[@stumpybear60]

The last places I saw a bubbler CD juke box was at several Steak ‘n Shakes. They had the type that would probably be illegal now. The CD was selected from a rotating wire rack and played the CD with a semi-exposed laser beam. That’s probably why they disappeared as that’s illegal for safety reasons in many places.

[@automatedelectronics6062]

Never seen an NSM bubbler before. In the U.S., all the jukebox companies tried their hand at making a nostalgia, Wurlitzer 1015-like, bubbler jukebox. Seeburg's version used the same Sony 60 CD changer as their other jukes. Without much room inside the bubbler for the mech, it stuck out the back of the top about a foot. This made it take up more space than a normal contemporary jukebox would. Independent jukebox company, Antique Apparatus, may have been the first to have a successful nostalgia bubbler. Internally, it used equipment manufactured by AMI-Rowe. Antique Apparatus ended up buying out Rock-ola and continued that name. At first, the Rock-ola nostalgia bubbler came out with a brand new CD changer mech. Next stop, as digital jukes were taking over the industry, Rock-ola installed a hard drive system which was also connected to the internet for even more selections. As records were becoming popular again, Rock-ola came out with a new mechanism which would play 45 rpm records and put it in their nostalgia bubbler. AMI-Rowe, not wanting to be left out, had custom retro bubbler cabinets made for them and installed their current 45 rpm changer or CD changer. Wurlitzer in the U.S. , ceased making jukeboxes after the 1974 model year because a fire destroyed the factory. They came out with a nostalgia model they named the 1050. It was very bright and colorful but had no bubble tubes. Wurlitzer of Germany took over the Wurlitzer jukebox manufacturing and imported some to the U.S. With the nostalgia craze in full swing, they introduced their own retro 1015 bubbler jukebox and continued making it until soon after Deutsche Wurlitzer was sold to Gibson Guitar, which shortly after shut it down.

[@kuramacon]

Takes me back to being a kid in the early 90's. My parents had a 50's style diner they liked to eat at a lot and we would go at least a few times a month. I loved being able to pick a song on that big old bubbler they had in the center of the place.

[@BloodRedFox2008]

I've seen the Nostalgia Gold 2 before, I remember my local Pizza Hut used to have one. I think they got rid of it sometime around the late 00s, which is also when they decided to get rid of the two arcade cabinets they had (one of which having Capcom arcade games like Mega Man: The Power Battle). I guess I get why as around the late 00s they had less people dining in at the location and far more people just getting take out or delivery, but still as someone who liked going to that Pizza Hut on my birthday back in my middle school years (early 00s) it sucked to see.

[@TackyRackyComixNEO]

This must be a common theme for Pizza Huts, since my childhood one (which I would eventually end up working at) had a jukebox like this, a Capcom machine (Marvel vs. Capcom 2 specifically), and another arcade machine as well (one with 3 Neo Geo games on it). I wonder if Pizza Hut made a licensing deal with the jukebox company and with Capcom to place these in a bunch of their stores. I was upset when all of those were unceremoniously chucked too. Heck, I was working there the day the Capcom machine was taken away. Real shame.

[@janlinders7790]

A couple of years ago a British company, Sound Leisure, manufactured a Marshall Jukebox. Marshall famous of their speakers.

[@davidward9487]

This has such a longer and deeper history. The 1015 was only produced in 1946 until 1986 when antique aparatus got the rights to reproduce the iconic box .. they used the ROWE operating system.....a few years later rowe branded the boxes with their logo and then started using their cd100 operating system since 45s were becoming obsolete. The design has changed hands over the years going to nsm, then rockola and now crosley who has changed the operating system.... there was also a digital bubbler made by chicago coin which had no mechinism at all and was not usable for commercial use. The reason the 1015 is associated with the 50s is because the newer units were placed in the high profit venues. And cycled to the least profitable before they were destroyed. Diners or soda shops were the last profitable for the operators so the 1015 didn't make it to the diners till 53 to 57. Wurlitzer offered conversion kits to make them play 45s. Or the operators could still get popular songs in the 78 format into the mid 60s. Most cd jukeboxes have been converted into internet jukeboxes.. maximizing profits while minimizing the need for service due to breakdowns. I own a rowe cd bubbler....... What an amazing machine! It's sad to see these that are not taken care of.

[@pauljames5914]

I remember at the Boston store early 70s there was a Rock ola tempo 2 juke in the teen clothing department. So cool!

[@_The_Worst_]

Back in the day my local Pizza🍕Hut use to have a🎶jukebox🎶and I use to love picking out songs to play while waiting on the pizza to get done...👌🏼💯✔

[@HappyJigg]

It seems to me like that jack hanging out the back isn't for Ethernet. My guess would be for an external console mentioned earlier, or maybe some kind of analog output.

[@pferreira1983]

Working at the BBC we had one. Played CDs but really cool. 😊

[@rexoliver7780]

And-don’t forget the ability of smart phone owners storing their favorite songs in the phone. A “jukebox:” you carry in your pocket! And it’s a phone as well as a computer.

[@kompaktkat]

Man, you went above and beyond with this!

[@charlessmith263]

I think the juke boxes keep track of how much money you put into it, and when that happens, you are allowed to make a song selection or selections. Once you make your selections, a needle or a laser is activated on a vinyl record or a CD, using a moving lever arm that goes to the right selection of the song or songs you picked, and then, the vinyl record or CD is finally played, and you hear the song or songs you have chosen as output. Once the songs are finished, the juke is done and no more music is played unless you put in more money to make more music selections so you can play them. That is how a juke works basically.

[@cheeseburgah563]

7:21 kinda sucks that happen but at least we still got a really great video about jukeboxes.

[@memyopinionsche6610]

I know they now have a streaming jukebox. Not 100% sure which music streaming service is on it. But you can get any album and song that you can think of and play it on the jukebox.

[@Howtragicforyou]

The town I used to live in had two retro places a diner and an old school diner/fast food joint. The former was relatively new and has a cd juke with wall mounted at table controls. Which I'm sure wasn't cheap

[@RoweReviews]

For well over 10 years I always thought it was pronounced juTebox. I never saw it in print and nobody ever pronounced the K all that much. I was in shock when I found out how it’s actually spelled.

[@audvidgeek]

I own the "guts" to this NSM jukebox...just the CD changer. That jack that's in the back is not an ethernet jack, but an RS232 serial jack to go to optional tabletop consoles. The tabletop consoles communicated back to the main jukebox to play the music. The front panel where you enter the info is actually identical to the panel on a remote console The CD changer, like I have merely has that control panel, and it simply plugs into that jack on the rear of the CD player

[@KillThad]

Excellent video as always, Frame!

[@MERCHIODOS]

I remember in early 2000's going to a Hungry Jack (Burger King) in Australia and the interior was modeled after a 1950's dinner and they had juke boxes and it'll play music (manily top 40's)

[@levimcglinchey5843]

Some of your vids are reeeeally underviewed man

[@charlessmith263]

The Rowe-AMI brands of jukes were popular in the 1970s. Heard the power of it when I saw one of their jukes at The Barn in downtown Oakland when I went there on a trip in 1979. I think it had a lot of speaker power.

[@pauljames5914]

The 70s solid state AMIs had a 60 watt per channel amp in them with a couple 12" jensen woofers!

[@mntlmentos]

I honestly think that the Ethernet port is used for telling what song is being played.

[@VoyageOne1]

HANDS DOWN the best juke to own if you're looking for an older CD playing machine without spending an arm and a leg is the Rowe CD100 series

[@stephenbarrs2318]

Sound leisure in GB still make juke boxes.

[@botolshampo8956]

Underated documentation

[@ramblingsadrift6477]

Some noteworthy additions. AMI, the Automatic Music Instrument Company,,a jukebox manufacturer, was the first, in 1927 to introduce a major concept to the industry. It's called an amplifier. Built into their jukes, it is one of most significant developments. The nickelondian days of individual horns placed at the ear were over. The sound quality was VASTLY improved and the level of amplifcation filled entire areas with...music. The term "Jute", a bleed off material from cotton, as a part of the rural south's cotton industry and the term "juke" are still debated as to the orgins of the actual term --and it's application the the coin operated multi selection phonograph. Over the decades the jukebox and the automobile have shared numerous themes. One, the mech of jukes, the actual working innards, are the same as an automobiles engine. The same basic designs in both elements were used for many years in succession. Secondly, during the 50's, nearly all jukebox manufactures mirrored the design themes rolling off Detroit's assembly lines. Glass...lots of glass...panoramic windows. Chrome,,brushed aluminum, post war bomber themes and rocketship inspired ornamentation. It was 1949 when RCA introduce the 45 rpm record. They and Columbia had a fierce battle over record size and speed, while Columbia had the 45 speed first, it was on a 10"disc. RCA's 7" 45 won out. Obviously the jukebox industry had to adapt. Seeburg jukebox company had designed a mech that held the 45s in a horizontal rack. To prove its reliability the company made a mech that held 500 records--an absurd promotional glitch. All major cities had one maybe three--at the most- suppliers of records, known as "One Stops." Every record-- everywhere in that particular city-- came from the one stop. Many of them also supplied jukeboxes and parts to service them. Operators,,, as they were called, owned, serviced and supplied the metros with candy cigarette and soda machines--as well as the pinball games, bowlers, shuffle alleys and of course the jukeboxes. Their existed well into the 70's an unwritten law among competing "operators." It was that they "honored territorial rights" as to placement of equipment. NEVER....never.. did any of them even consider placing one of their units outside their own boundaries. It was NEVER done. Period. Call it sort of "respect" to each "family." Income from the jukes were mostly a 50/50 split between operators and the venue. The amount of intake from the jukeboxes alone was enormous, from their era, . Now-- actual income -reported to the IRS...well.......?? The demise of the jukebox is attributed to many factors. Far beyond Sony's Walkman and present day on demand streaming....Micky Ds garf down your burger and get out....social patterns...I don't recall a tiny lunch counter at any Walgreens...the corner tavern,pretty much extinct...various modern day distractions and time allotment in each day of our lives. However,, much like the vintage automotive sector, the jukebox and it's committed admirer's is very strong. Just like the cars, there are many gurus that totally restore boxes. Many of those boxes are stripped down to their bare cabinet. All the solenoids, micro switches, relays, contact points,, cams, shafts and levers all dismantled lubed and repaired. Some of the more popular trim items and gears are reproduce. To replace the front door on a Wurlitzer 1015..the one featured here in this video..was patterned after.... to do a entire door on an original 1015-- plastics, bubble tubes ,chrome insignias etc..can be done. at about $3000.00. There's an annual convention in the fall held in Chicago where coin op collectors and buyers meet. It's like the superbowl for vintage coin op..fanatics ---jukeboxes being very popular. Again, just like a "barn find" of an old car..the old jukes are still out there decomposing in damp cellars,,,homes to mice and other creatures. Many desired 30s and 50s models are becoming rare as the European market has taken to yet another vintage by product of American production. So for those here under 30..just ask your grandma if shes ever danced to a jukebox. And think of THIS. It is very probable that a twinkle in a couple's eye ....>>>responsable for one's being

[@gordonteats298]

The digital jukeboxes we have today are the best

[@MousePounder]

top notch video as always dude!

[@TackyRackyComixNEO]

Almost feels like I accidentally put on an Oddity Archive episode here instead of a Framerater video haha. I'd definitely be down for seeing more videos like this if you have the ability and resources to do so.

[@akalyx]

great editing

[@kylehazachode]

I wish they made a minidisc jukebox

[@BesideTheVoid]

14:56 ...but your phone can't change the music in the diner/bar (yet...). I literally had someone lower-age Gen-Y not know you could change the music in a diner with the little flippy thing with buttons (He asked what the point of it was): 14:17

[@LSCrazyCabCo]

world need more jukeboxxes

[@oddioblinker]

That was awesome thanks man

[@GoldenPickaxe]

woah was that sidwiz to make your voice on the bouncing line bit

[@tracy11282]

0:24 Aja is amazing

[@thepickles8833]

I’ve always wanted a bubbler jukebox. They are such beautiful pieces, but I’m left with the pros and cons of vintage versus replicas. The replicas use modern means of playing CDs, Bluetooth, Cassettes, as well as vinyl, but the cheap plastic look just devalues the new jukeboxes as toys. Vintage were made with high quality wood, metal, glass, and mechanisms to make the bubbles. Vintage models are also very heavy and cumbersome, plus repair work would be inevitable. These machines are so beyond my time, yet they are these iconic entities of multiple eras. I have a multi-disc CD player, Bluetooth radio, two subwoofer speaker systems for the pc and the CD player, headphones and of course, my car can play music. So why do I want one of these things so badly? I don’t Need one for any means, but still wish I had one. Why?

[@danielmkubacki]

A great video!

[@mgabrysSF]

Jukeboxes still remain an anchor in a fave scene from the last episode of the 1960s series 'The Prisoner' : kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y6Wmp5JuibWVhKc Also at 10:18 that's a Superman pinball machine from Atari - the last one they made - which was designed by Eugine Jarvis of Defender / Robotron fame.

[@breth8159]

Spent my life in the Jukebox business I think it's a good video so much information packed in such a short time. oh and by-the-way rock-ola is in business today and makes beautiful reliable jukeboxes in the United States .

[@smartfkr]

You should keep researching on these “glorified CD players”. And I hope you post a new video soon!!!! I’m almost 30 and this stuff “tech” is on my mind right now. The truth is in the price… it’s a staple. I hope you get more views!!!! This video rocks:)

[@gordonteats298]

The play tape players were cool

[@metalman4141]

They haven’t all disappeared I own four 😂

[@DjMjk]

Now the jukebox are Digital

[@Cheen03]

WHERE IS THE SOUP ASMR VIDEO

[@GrumpyIan]

My mom has my grandma's 78 records. Let me tell you how hard it is to find a record that'll play them.

[@dancingnature]

My mom had I an old 78 called my cousin louella which I used to not like but it’s the only one of her 78s that I remember the title of. I found it on the net . Of course Ella Fitzgerald’s old hit stone cold dead in the market got renewed on a video game . My mom also had the original 78

[@DjMjk]

I got this digital plyer zyzy 12:53

[@glenpitts6813]

What happened to jukeboxes? The internet! The music industry gained total contril of music play and royalties. Thete's no music in a jukebox. It's all in a library.

[@hylianbran7273]

too bad Dante keeps messing up his jukebox, he could sell it for so much bank

[@Titan990]

They failed because someone put in 21 “what’s new pussy cats” and 1 “it’s not unusual” in the middle some where

[@CajunReaper95]

So as old as I am.

[@otaking3582]

You need *money* to use a jukebox?! I just thought you had to hit the side of it with your elbow!

[@Don0rom]

Notification team!

[@theTemplar08]

I disagree with your whole perspective. CDs might be out of date but it’s not like this particular jukebox is running eight track tapes or something that is an obsolete format. In addition, you can still buy brand new. Jukeboxes including ones that play digital format, music!

[@FrameRater]

What did we disagree with?

[@mikebrickwork2407]

we have , a 1957 wurlizer all so coin op pined music box,s , large 26 in disk , player , phonograth,s gramerphones grand player pianos and up right , playes music box clocks revox reels , 2 track and 4 lots of B and 0 from 1960 to 1990 ,, and msn wall box , , steam engin,s old cars jag s and rolls royce,s been a life times work and still going

[@nesbistrampol]

me: sees that video is poted 1 minute ago and has no views also me: see the it ahas 5 likes, what the hell youtube

[@Isaacfess]

*Channel and Patreon supporters also*

[@SuperBiboy17]

edison always steals somebody’s idea and invention and makes it his for his own personal benefit

[@hillert1967]

YEP THAT IS WHAT HE DID WITH TESLA. USED TO WORK FOR EDISON. STOLE HIS IDEAS TOO! LOOK IT UP.