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‘We’ve all gone nostalgia crazy’: The company bringing jukeboxes to a new generation

Jukeboxes used to be all the rage in the 1950s and 1960s, but in the last few months, filled with a sense of apocalypse and a longing for the past, jukeboxes are back again, writes Andy Martin. And it’s Chris Black that’s bringing them back

Friday 28 August 2020 15:29 BST
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Chris Black with his beloved jukeboxes
Chris Black with his beloved jukeboxes

If you’re in the market for a 1950s petrol pump straight out of an Edward Hopper painting, or a fridge in the shape of a Coca-Cola bottle, or speakers that resemble the gas tank of a Harley Davidson, or a picture of the Beatles made out of vinyl records, look no further: you will find them alongside the glorious retro jukeboxes at the Sound Leisure showroom in Leeds. It’s an Aladdin’s Cave of design nostalgia.

There are the iconic “Wurlitzer” machines with the domed top from the Forties, the square ones from the Fifties and Sixties. Or their latest, a collaboration with Marshall, paying homage to their amplifiers, combining vinyl with bluetooth. It’s like a walk through history. “We don’t manufacture jukeboxes,” says CEO Chris Black, “we make memories.”

Satisfied customers send him pictures of everyone gathered around the jukebox. “It becomes like part of the family,” says Black. I can believe it. These machines are battleship build quality, designed to last to the next generation. They are effectively unbreakable. The protective plastic panels are made out of the same material as riot shields. “Some people ask us, ‘How long will it last?’ I tell them, we don’t know – we’ve only been building them for 43 years.”

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