Video Jukebox

THE VIDEO JUKEBOXES

The first music videos? No, but it is the first commercial use of video tape recordings in a coin operated jukebox. Back in the eighties Rowe international produced several generations of "Video Jukeboxes". These would be located in places where musical entertainment was commonly found such as restaurants, bars, arcades and others. For a little extra money you could watch the artist(s) perform while the music that was playing. The video didn't match or sync up with the song but it did feature the group or singer. For viewing, a big screen television was usually mounted on a wall above the crowd, like in the picture above. (During this time in history the jukebox is such a common fixture in American culture that it was even awarded its own US Postage stamp.) To accomplish the synchronized video playback Rowe engineers took advantage of the fact that Beta VCRs kept the tape threaded inside during rewind and fast forward, something VHS couldn't do. This feature meant that by using special software blank passages between the individually recorded video selections could be counted in hours, minutes and seconds. The regular audio track on the tape wasn't played but it could be used to locate tones that marked selected passages. Click through the pictures and examine the various Beta recorders and how they were altered to carry out the commands of the software. The next picture shows an SL-2005 with a warning on top for service people to not mess with the VCR. The next picture shows how the front buttons were blocked to avoid tampering which might confuse the software. The next picture shows some of the alterations made to the motor control board. The next picture is of a Toshiba V-X34 that was also used in some units. Next is an SL-HF450. Clicking on the picture again shows the labels that were on the VCR. The next picture shows the interface for this design that provided operation and outputs. The next picture is of another Beta model that was used. This one is the SL-HFR70. The next and last picture shows the interface used for it. The Video Jukebox faded away but not too long after this they did reappeared later in England, but of coarse they used a different video technology.