The members of The Buggles may have been convinced at the time that video killed the radio star, but the truth is that the history of “seeing music” goes a bit further back than the birth of MTV. While jukeboxes (or “gramolas,” as many prefer) had their formidable period of popularity, there was a variant called the Scopitone, capable of playing special 16mm films. The presentations of different artists through these devices have turned the Scopitone into the direct ancestor of music videos.
On August 12, 1981 at 12:01 am, MTV changed our lives forever by formalizing the marriage between music and video, but the relationship between the two dates back several years. Live performances by popular bands and artists were the most anticipated moments in some classic television shows. For example, nothing better than recalling the Beatles' appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show and the frenzy it caused, something that program had already achieved with the presentation of another music star like Elvis Presley. But at that time there was another way to access certain artists. We are not talking about concerts or live shows, nor about jukebox-gramolas or special meetings at music stores.
Scopitone: The Direct Ancestor of Music Videos
The device was known as Scopitone, and although it is often classified as a kind of jukebox, the fact that it was capable of playing a 16mm film places it in a special category. The Scopitone was based on technology developed during World War II, although its predecessor is recognized as a device called “Panoram,” created in 1939.
The first Scopitones were manufactured in France, using leftover material from the military effort, and it was not until the late ’50s that the first units refined enough to be exposed to the public appeared. In the early ’60s, market tests were conducted in the United States, and the initial popularity of the Scopitone was so great that by 1964 there were about five hundred machines installed.
Quite a few artists created material for the Scopitones, while promises were made of a greater number of customers and greater consumption on their part if a merchant made the investment in a Scopitone to install it in their establishment. Unfortunately, in 1967 the Scopitone bubble burst, and after some investigations it was proven that the Scopitone was not a profitable business.
Before the decade ended, the Scopitone had vanished into thin air, but its legacy remained through all the recordings that were made, the artists (such as Neil Sedaka, the performer and writer of the famous song “Oh! Carol”), and of course, both the films and the machines that still endure. The Scopitone had the potential to become one of the most popular music platforms, although it is considered that the most serious error in its commercialization was leaving aside the teenage audience.
On the other hand, if the Beatles were to sound on a Scopitone, it would most likely have been that a horde of schoolgirls would have reduced the device to shreds after a “hormonal attack.” Even today there are sites dedicated to converting Scopitone films to DVD, and of course, you can find several examples posted on YouTube, like the one that follows. Enjoy!
https://old.neoteo.com/los-juegos-antes-de-los-videojuegos-15636/
