Scopitones were 60s-era forerunners of music videos. These little musical gems lived in specialized jukeboxes throughout Europe and the U.S. in the swinging 60s but were gone by the late 70s. So hell-bent on entertaining their audience, the singers and dancers look like they're about to pop a gasket at any moment, but that's what made the format so great. And the amount of high-grade speed available throughout the entertainment industry certainly had an aesthetic influence. No doubt.
Scopitones.com surely has all your Scopitone needs on hand.
CSS Scopitone mash-up - Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above (thanks Tuckers)
Filtered through the brain cells of Lisa McElroy
Love "Before the Rain". Who has these jukeboxes now? How were these recorded and replayed? So fascinating, never knew about this!
ReplyDeleteOh so Groovalicious!
ReplyDeleteCollectors I'm sure have snagged all the jukeboxes. Scopitones.com sells DVD collections. I've never bought one because I really like these in short doses. But if you're having a party with rear-screen projection, these might be the way to go (with sound way down).
ReplyDeleteHere's an NPR podcast about the jukeboxes. Quarter-driven with a 26-inch screen; a bitch to maintain.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5630027
They were placed in bars and taverns, hence the bikini-clad, gyrating dancer aesthetic, as seen in Bobby Vee's "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD7MHgskNwg
Another fine production: Joy Lansing's "The Web of Love"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-2I36MMm5M