Blog Post 1: JUKEBOX BABY

“I listen for the machine—in this case, the record, the phonograph, and especially, the jukebox—to reconsider the relationship of black performers and audiences to the blues by way of its mediating technologies. The jukebox is not merely a vehicle. Rather, it transforms  the  soundscape  of  the  juke  joint itself,  playing  records  made  elsewhere in time and space in the here-and-now of the bar. As the jukebox amplifies sound through electricity, it reflects changes in recording technology, making new sounds not only possible but desirable, a source of pleasure; audiences  hear  the  music  differently,  musicians  hear  themselves  differently,  and they change their styles and repertoires accordingly. (Sonnet Retman Memphis Minnie's "Scientific Sound": Afro-Sonic Modernity and the Jukebox Era of the Blues” American Quarterly, Volume 72, Number 1, March 2020, p 4. (Article)

Historical Period: State of Washington, Seattle, Blanchet High School District Red lined

    1954 Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka

    1954 Joseph McCarthy Hearings

    1955 Jukebox in Cafeteria, Blanchet High School

    1955 Jukebox in my family home ‘rec room’ which played 45’s

 

    1956 Senator Sam Erwin of North Carolina created the “Southern               Manifesto, to keep Jim Crow Alive.     1957 American Bandstand, Perry Como Show, Leave it to Beaver             Transmitted: Black & White TV, Radio, Jukeboxes                       

Perry Como 1956  
1959 Graduated Blanchet High School Seattle

During the 1950’s the media projected solidarity within my family structure located in the red lined area of Blue Ridge, Seattle. White solidarity was reflected in shows such as Perry Como, Leave it to Beaver and Philadelphia's segregated Dick Clark's “American Bandstand”.  As a teenager I watched  Bandstand’s white kids dancing to the music of black and white artists such as R&B’s The Platters, Pretenders, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dion, Buddy Holly, Shirelles, Mary Wells, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles;  James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin who all offered a mixture of gospel and sensuality. For me, it was R&B’s Richard Berry’s “Louie Louie” that revved up my teen hormones.  “Louie Louie" was banned from Blanchet’s jukebox so after school my friend and I would go down to the schools off limits “Kit Cat”, drink cokes, smoke our first pack of cigarettes and sing "Louie Louie" along with the jukebox. The censoring of the song suggests segregation in full swing. My parents opposed rock due sexual nature of rock In' roll lyrics and dancing. They assumed Jerry Lee Lewis’s "Great Balls of Fire" would inspire the destruction of our families religious values. They feared that the music itself would entice my sexual urges. My parents, along with religious organizations, the news media, and government, opposed rock 'n' roll music as well as the diverse culture that it brought with it. There would be no 'mixing of blood" under their watch. Nevertheless, with my allowance I purchased Elvis's "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Hound Dog" along with The Platters, "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes". With teenage angst I would play them over and over on our home jukebox. And now, working through my pandemic death angst, I drink "Irish Death Beer" with Whisky and Rye while singing along to Apple Streaming "Jukebox Babe"

Alan Vega - Jukebox Babe