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. All of this is well described in the Hoy-Hoy
website edited by Morgan Wright. The rhythm-'n'-blues was forever changed, and
during the period 1949-1951 the black artists in
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 neighborhoods. 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
could celebrate its 50 Years Anniversary in 2001, the first year of the new millenium. 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, 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
Gert J. Almind