美国国家公共电台 NPR After The Vinyl Revival, The Vinyl-Playing Jukebox Is Back

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

There's no better way to hear your favorite done-me-wrong song then on scratchy vinyl coming out of an old jukebox. Those classic Seeburgs and Wurlitzers have mostly vanished from bars and restaurants. But there's one guy who makes a living keeping the last surviving jukeboxes whirring and clicking and dropping 45s. And as Allyson McCabe reports, these days he's got his hands full.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK")

BILL HALEY: (Singing) One, two, 3 o'clock, 4 o'clock rock. Fix, six...

ALLYSON MCCABE, BYLINE¹: Rock 'n' roll fans in the 1950s often listened to their favorite songs on machines with such names as Seeburg Select-O-Matic, Rock-Ola or Wurlitzer. At the height of their popularity, there were about 750,000 jukeboxes in malt shops and bars across the country. But as discos replaced diners, jukeboxes became rare collectibles. Perry Rosen is one of the country's last full-time² jukebox repairmen.

PERRY ROSEN: Well, ever since I was a little kid, I always had an interest in jukeboxes. My head would always be looking through the cracks in the front door or through the dome³ glass, trying to see the mechanics of how the machine worked.

MCCABE: Rosen began fixing jukeboxes when he was 16. Four decades later, he's still at it. And he's still fascinated by their complexity⁴.

ROSEN: With the electrical contacts, with the gears and also the levers and parts that transfer the record in and out, I would say there absolutely has to be over a thousand parts in a jukebox.

MCCABE: Rosen says business is booming. He says these old machines aren't just repositories for his customers' old 45 rpm singles, but also their memories.

ROSEN: Most of my customers have older machines from the '50s, '60s and '70s. And they're using it to play their collection of records that they had when - they grew up with when they were teenagers. They kind of try to recreate, you know, the days when they went to a candy store or went to a bar.

(SOUNDBITE OF JUKEBOX WHIRRING, MUSIC)

ROSEN: They remember the jukebox playing because there's always, like, a specific song where they met, you know, a girl or a guy and it kind of brings back memories.

MCCABE: But Rosen says he's seeing more and more old jukeboxes stocked with records that weren't pop hits.

ROSEN: And they've been putting in a lot of rare what they call garage music, which, you know, are 45s that lesser-known groups made up and kind of rare records. They weren't widely distributed. And they're used in jukeboxes in bars and houses. And I've been seeing more and more of that lately.

MCCABE: When Paul Vivari opened the Showtime Lounge in Washington, D.C., five years ago, he didn't want the standard digital entertainment system most bars and restaurants use. He wanted his bar to have a jukebox. And he wanted it stocked with the vintage soul and R&B songs he loves.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AIN'T NO LOVE IN THE HEART OF THE CITY")

BOBBY BLAND⁵: (Singing) Ain't no love in the heart of the city. Ain't no love in the heart of the city.

PAUL VIVARI: When we first opened, a lot of - you know, the people who had been here a long time would come in here and were really into the jukebox, you know, remembered a lot of the songs, whereas, you know, the younger people don't really know a whole lot about a lot of the artists on there. They just like the way it sounds, you know, and would like to know more about it. It becomes kind of like a little educational device as well as entertainment.

MCCABE: The appeal may be reaching a tipping point beyond hipster bars and mom and pop pizza joints⁶. Major retailers⁷, including Pottery⁸ Barn and Bed Bath and Beyond, are offering new jukeboxes with built-in radios that also play CDs and stream music. And turntable giant Crosley is teaming up with the U.K.-based manufacturer Sound Leisure to release new full-size, Bluetooth-enabled models that also play vinyl. The initial production run has been modest, says Scott Bingaman, president of Crosley's exclusive U.S. distributor Deer Park.

SCOTT BINGAMAN: A few hundred were made.

MCCABE: But they're built by hand and individually numbered, and sell for about the same price as fully⁹ restored vintage models - that's about $13,000. So start saving your quarters. For NPR News, I'm Allyson McCabe.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I LOVE ROCK 'N' ROLL")

JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS: (Singing) I saw him dancing there by the record machine. I knew he must've been about 17.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

3 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

4 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

5 bland   

adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的

参考例句：

• He eats bland food because of his stomach trouble.他因胃病而吃清淡的食物。
• This soup is too bland for me.这汤我喝起来偏淡。

6 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

7 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

8 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。