Scopitone

Scopitone was a trendy invention of the 1960s, a jukebox with a 16mm film component, the forgotten forerunner of music video. Procol Harum made a Scopitone of "A Whiter Shade Of Pale". Scopitone was a draw in selected upscale bars and pubs. Dionne Warwick lay on a white shag rug with an offstage fan blowing to sing "Walk On By."

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The color 16mm film clips with a magnetic soundtrack were designed to be shown on a Scopitone film jukebox. The first Scopitones were made in France around 1960: Johnny Hallyday covered Los Bravos' "Black is Black" (as "Noir c'est noir") and the "Hully Gully" was danced round the edge of a French swimming pool. The Scopitone fad spread to West Germany, where the Kessler Sisters burst out of twin steamer trunks to sing "Quando Quando" on the dim screen that surmounted the jukebox. Then England succumbed. Scopitone appeared in a few New York bars in the summer of 1964. But by the end of the 1960s, Scopitone was just a memory.

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Jukebox: For the computer storage device see Optical Jukebox...

Music video: A music video (also video clip, promo) is a short film or video meant to present a visual representation of a popular music song. The American cable television channel MTV ("Music Television" launched in 1981), originated the format of end-to-end music video programming without any conventional prog...

Procol Harum: Procol Harum is a British progressive rock band, formed in the early 1960s. They are best known for their #1 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", though they have had a devoted cult following throughout their career....