Singing jukebox blues

A youthful interest manifests itself years later with another hobby to create these astounding images of vintage jukeboxes

In there the 1940s was little and pop 1950s music to be heard on radio, and none on TV. So one of the only ways to hear the current hits was to pop your sixpence into a jukebox and select the tunes you wanted. A far cry from the instant music of today! Jukeboxes were placed in bars and cafes around the country in order to attract customers, and so they could pick the music available to play. They were designed with bright, colourful lights and chrome and made to impress. The dome-topped jukeboxes of the ’40s had bubble tubes to add to the effects, while the ’50s jukeboxes were heavily influenced by the chrome and curves of contemporary American cars of the day.

Since my early years I have been fascinated by those jukeboxes and how they magically place a record of your choice on a turntable to play your tunes, twenty years ago. I was lucky enough to purchase my own jukebox (Photo 02). Ever since then, I have been attending shows two or three times a year to see others displayed, bought and sold. At the same time I’ve always had an interest in photography, and I eventually combined the two hobbies.

The shots I take are either at the shows – the biggest one is in Rosmalen in The Netherlands every October

– or at the invitation of other jukebox collectors, or traders at their own private locations. There is a mini industry in

Europe for the restoration and sale of classic jukeboxes, with many dealers in the UK. However, The Netherlands is home to the biggest traders of this mini industry.

Taking shots at shows is challenging because they are indoors and any flash usage would wipe out the absolutely delicious jukebox colours. With no tripods possible among the crowds, I set a high ISO for a fast enough shutter speed to avoid shake, with a narrow enough aperture to ensure focus. I can usually tell an in-focus shot when I check it on my PC as I’ll be able to read the title strips of the records on the jukebox.

I need to get to the shows as soon as the doors open to avoid the crowds, and hopefully to shoot some jukeboxes before the dealers put price stickers all over them – that can lead to some painful editing afterwards. I usually give the jukeboxes a black background in post processing as the surroundings at shows are largely uninteresting.

I’ve managed to accumulate several hundred high quality jukebox images, with a few thousand others that didn’t make the grade for one reason or another. Ultimately my ambition is to produce a coffee table book of the photos for other enthusiasts to enjoy.

I can usually tell an in-focus shot when I check it on my PC as I’ll be able to read the title strips of the records