Before music videos on MTV, even before Scopitones (previously on MeFi 1, 2, 3), there were Soundies. In a brief period during the early 40s, patrons of bars, diners and bus stations could slip a dime into a Panoram jukebox and see a three-minute 16mm video clip projected inside the machine. Soundies featured popular musicians of the era including Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Nat King Cole, and Louis Armstrong. You can also find Soundies at Archive.org, including a great one from Reg Kehoe and his Marimba Queens.
posted on Dec 1, 2006 - View this thread

The Scopitone was a French video jukebox that made its debut in 1960 and was imported into the US in 1964. Although they usually featured high production values, catchy melodies, and lots of gratuitous cheesecake, the singers were often relative unknowns and the music was square even by the standards of the day. Consequently, they never caught on in a big way outside of Europe, and many of the original Scopitone jukeboxes and films were destroyed. Fortunately for us, a few Scopitone enthusiasts have catalogued the songs, scanned the advertisements, and even preserved a few Quicktime clips of the original French and American Scopitone films.
posted on May 4, 2003 - View this thread

Friday Fun! Excellent Scopitone from Sharpeworld, the B3ta orange kitten is back, this time playing the xylophone, and a dark but clever cartoon.
posted on Oct 11, 2002 - View this thread