By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
Music fans who love the retro sound of vinyl records, may want to look at the ultimate in music nostalgia from Wurlitzer.
The venerable music company has partnered with Sound Leisure to bring jukeboxes back in a move that combines the timeless design from one, with the advanced engineering of the other.
“Our shared passion for music and commitment to quality craftsmanship have brought us together with Wurlitzer to elevate the jukebox experience,” said Sound Leisure owner Alan Black. “We look forward to introducing Wurlitzer jukeboxes that not only pay homage to the past but also set the standard for the future of music enjoyment and entertainment.”
Wurlitzer is, of course, the legendary company that produced the finest jukeboxes in the world starting in the 1940s. In fact, the 1942 Wurlitzer 950 remains as perhaps the most craved jukebox in the world today, with only 75 to 90 remaining, and valued at $35,000 apiece.
But jukeboxes, of course, have in general fallen out of the marketplace, replaced over the decades by modern stereo sound systems and smartphones that play thousands of song.
The result is that the pioneering Wurlitzer company has teamed up with Sound Leisure, which is currently one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high quality jukeboxes and entertainment systems, to produce a line of Wurlitzer branded jukeboxes.
The new line of jukeboxes are designed to not only capture the nostalgia of the past through Wurlitzer’s classic designs, but also offer contemporary features and connectivity options. The line will launch with a reproduction modelled on the 1946 Wurlitzer Model 1015, called the “1015 bubbler.” More than 56,000 were sold in less than two years, and the machine became a pop culture icon of the era.
“We are thrilled to partner with Sound Leisure to create this new line of Wurlitzer jukeboxes,” said Wurlitzer president Gudrun Wurlitzer. “Wurlitzer’s original brand mission was to bring people together through the joy of music, and we look forward to seeing how this line of jukeboxes delight and inspire music lovers in new ways.
“The partnership between Wurlitzer and Sound Leisure combines decades of expertise, innovation, and a passion for music that both of our families have dedicated our lives to, aiming to deliver customers an unmatched level of quality, style, and functionality to the jukebox experience.”
In terms of history, Wurlitzer is the older company, having been founded in 1853 in America by German immigrant Franz Rudolph Wurlitzer, who imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments from Germany.
By 1880, the company began manufacturing pianos and quickly expanded to make band organs, orchestrions, and player pianos and the famous “The Mighty Wurlitzer” organs. In the 1940s the company began making jukeboxes that were considered the epitome of the technology.
Sound Leisure was founded in 1978 by Alan Black, a British company that designed commercially viable jukeboxes in the 1970s, and went on to pioneer the early development of digitized music platforms in the 1980’s and were responsible for the reintroduction of vinyl jukeboxes in 2016. Today only Sound Leisure is one of only two companies to produce classic jukeboxes, the other being Rock-ola.
The new line from this partnership, which was brokered by Wurlitzer’s global brand licensing agency LMCA, will see the Wurlitzer jukeboxes set to hit market in the first quarter of 2024.
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