Early Rock-'n'-Roll and Jukeboxes
One
might consider it a coincidence that the development of 100 selection 45rpm
mechanisms for the jukeboxes occurred at the same time as the new music style, known
today as the rock-'n'-roll, was heard on 'race recordings' for the first time.
There may have been connections between the development of the new black
powerful beat of the music, the record ban of 1948, and the jukebox industry's
development of new mechanisms for the vinyl records, but who knows for sure.
The
new 100 selection Select-O-Matic mechanism
made by The Seeburg Corporation had been on the way
for seven years (developed by Edward F. Andrews in 1941) before it was reliable
for use in the Seeburg M100A
introduced late in 1948. The mechanism was at first used for 78rpm, but later
most of the M100A models were converted to play 45rpm. The interesting
fact in this connection is, that there was a record
ban for the whole of 1948. During that year there were no new 78rpm records
pressed by the record companies, and most of the rocking blues recordings that
came after Wynonie Harris' "Good Rocking
Tonight" were released early in 1949 although they were master taped late
1947 or during the ban in 1948. The tune "Good Rocking Tonight" on DeLuxe label had been released as a parody on gospel by Roy
Brown early in 1947 (real blues), but along came Wynonie
Harris, who changed the rhythm to a gospel rhythm of rocking on the 2nd and 4th
beat of the 4/4 measure, and that recording of the tune released on King label
might be the one that really started the development of the rock'n'roll
music. The rhythm-'n'-blues was forever changed, and during the period
1949-1951 the black artists in America tried to out-rock each other. Today the
first recording that started the rock'n'roll era,
which means having the perfect, powerful new beat, is said to be the
"Rocket 88" released early in 1951 on Chess label by Jackie Brenston (1930-1979) & His Delta Cats (with Izear Luster Turner (alias Ike Turner (1931-2007) on piano). Later that year Bill
Haley (William John Clifton Haley, 1925-1981) also recorded the tune on Essex
label, and became the first white artist to play the new rock'n'roll
music.
The
jukebox industry, however, had a big problem with the record ban of 1948. The
industry did not know for sure if it was going to be a total change for 33
1/3rpm, and that no 78rpm shellac records would be pressed in the years to
come. As a consequence, it was considered a good idea by the manufacturers to
try to make mechanisms for the smaller 45rpm vinyl records developed by RCA.
The Seeburg Corporation was the first to meet the
challenge due to the invention by Edward F. Andrews used
in the new model M100A of 1948, and the firm could therefore take over
the leading role in the industry until The Wurlitzer Company, due to its size
and long-time strength on the music market, was able again to compete for the leading role in 1954. During
that year the new Wurlitzer 1700AF with vertical carousel
record changer system was released by The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, and The Seeburg Corporation had to answer back with the first
American 200 selection mechanism used in the V200 introduced late
summer 1955.
Going
back to the new music style of the late forties, it is interesting to note that
the new music style was in place but it had no official name. The name for the
music came, when the noted disc jockey Alan Freed (Albert
James Freed, 1921-1965) went on the air again on the 11th July, 1951, with his
first Rock and Roll Party in which he actually programmed black music for a
white audience. Alan Freed had been talked into returning to radio by Leo Mintz, a record store owner in Cleveland, after a position
as disc jockey at a television station, and Leo Mintz
even suggested that Alan Freed should try to play the rocking tunes known as
'race records', that were so popular and bought in large numbers by the jukebox
operators in the Negro neighbourhoods. Alan Freed is said to have coined the
new phrase from the lyrics of the 1947 rhythm-'n'-blues hit "We're Gonna Rock (We're Gonna
Roll)" released on Apollo label by Wild Bill Moore (William M. Moore,
1918-1983), but Wild Bill Moore also recorded the tune "Rock and
Roll" on Modern label in 1949. The same tune had in fact been released on
Manor label by Paul Bascomb in 1947 before the record
ban, so it might have been that tune instead that gave Alan Freed the new
phrase. After Alan Freed had used the new phrase in his radio shows other disc
jockeys at big radio stations all over
Thus, it is a fact that the rock-'n'-roll term was official in 1951, and
that it will celebrate its 75 Years Anniversary in July 2026. It is also a fact
that the jukebox industry that accounted for a large proportion of total record
sales and played a major role in its ultimate success did right, when it adopted the vinyl
record so quickly and threw its weight behind RCA's product. The general sales
manager at The Seeburg Corporation, Carl T. McKelvy
(1894-1961), had been aware right away that the vinyl record was ideally suited
for the jukebox operators because it was light, small, and unbreakable. The Seeburg Corporation came out with model M100B in
1950, the first exclusively 45rpm jukebox. The other record companies including
Columbia gradually moved over to 45rpm for their popular recordings (including
rock-'n'-roll) instead of 33 1/3rpm EP's. The other major jukebox
manufacturers, The Rock-Ola Corporation, AMI (Automatic Musical Instruments),
and of course The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, were reluctantly compelled to
follow in Seeburg's footsteps and made the decision to
go full steam into 45's in 1953 with the exclusively 45rpm models Rock-Ola
1438 Comet-Fireball, AMI E-80, and Wurlitzer 1650. John Wolcott Haddock
(1904-1998), president of AMI, predicted in April 1952 a total switchover from
78's to 45's in only a few
years according to figures from the Music Performance Trust Fund. He stated
that in 1949 the 78rpm records accounted for 94% of 188 million, and in 1950
only 79% of a total of 184 million put on the market. The jukebox operation of
45's accounted for
about 20% of the total sales in the popular music field at the time. Therefore,
the jukebox industry and the record companies went hand
in hand on this, and in the early fifties about 60 million 78rpm and 45rpm
records were used annually by jukeboxes operators. In 1954 a total of not less
than 200 million 45's were sold in America.
Gert J. Almind