The Original Music Videos Were Slightly NSFW
Originating in France in the early 1960s, the Scopitone was a jukebox on acid. Eachmachine held 36 reels of music videos on 16mm color film to be played on a 26-inch screen, a quarter a pop. By the mid-1960s, it was the hottest thing at the hippest nightclubs from Paris toPasadena. The Scopitone inspired off-brand machines like Cinebox and Color-Sonic, but no matter the maker, the videos adhered to the same guiding principles: sex, silliness, and shakin it.
By the end of the decade the flame burned out, thanks to questionable business practices and declining sales. Now the machines are museum pieces, literally. TheMuseum of Modern Arthas the only knownScopitoneon public display in their collection: a 1964 Scopitone ST-36. To keep this important kitsch artifact in working order, associate film curator Ron Magliozzi demonstrates itfor visitors every Friday at 5:45pm. This week, Bob Orlowsky of ScopitoneArchive.comwill join Magliozzi for the ritual firing up of the magic machine.
Thankfully, we no longer haveto finda jukebox or visit a museum to see music videos. We have YouTube for that.So here are some of the finest examples of theform.
Jody Miller ascended to the throne of country music with her 1965 answer song “Queen of the House.” In the song’s Scopitone video, Miller sings the joys of housewife-dom while scantily clad French maids dance around with feather dusters.
This video from 1963 for the Exciters’ “Tell Him” screams “We have just enough of a budget for a day at the zoo.”
Joi Lansing was a voluptuous B-movie actress whose assets and sensibilities were well-suited for the Scopitone. Her seductive and soupy “Web of Love” presages Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry.
Rat pack pal and Las Vegas lounge singerSonny King stars in one of the sleaziest Scopitones, “I Cried for You.” Sonny’s co-star is blatant sexual objectification, and the video’s climax finds him in bed with two women.
Bonus material: the subtle sexiness of Serge Gainsbourg’s “Comic Strip” starring Brigitte Bardot.
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