Jukebox

The price of owning a public jukebox or vending machine in Penndel Borough just went up. Owners of the six or seven public jukeboxes in the borough will have to pay $100 annually, an increase of $40 from the current fee of $60. Council members voted, 7-0, to levy the fee at Monday's Borough Council meeting. Officials said the increase was necessary to cover a cost increase for printing stickers and administrative tasks. The vending machine fee was raised from $24 to $25 annually.

One hundred years ago last month, Louis Glass of San Francisco fitted a coin slot and an ear tube to a Thomas Edison-designed phonograph. For a nickel a listener could hear a two-minute song. The jukebox was born. In the century that has passed, the jukebox has become a part of American culture, an inexpensive form of entertainment found in bars, diners, just about anywhere people gather for a good time. And looking for great jukeboxes can be an entertaining way to spend a Saturday night.

One of the challenges of collecting as a hobby is to start collecting something that will eventually become rare - before it happens. Sales today offer two examples. At 4 p.m. at the Nazareth Auction Center north of Allentown, the Dotta Auction Co. will include a Wurlitzer jukebox among the 350 lots offered. It is not the top item in the sale. Greater interest is expected in a walnut corner cupboard, a blanket chest dating to 1772, a 52-piece set of Kirk sterling in a repousse pattern that should sell for $1,000, a pair of Tiffany & Co. opera glasses in brass and mother of pearl that should sell for $300 to $400, and a 1960 Chrysler Imperial with only 76,700 miles that will be offered about 6 p.m., said auctioneer Richard Dotta.

It's nostalgic. It's ebullient. It's the American dream, with twists. It makes you happy. And, I admit, it was a surprise to me when Jersey Boys won the Tony for best musical. Predicting who will win awards is always a crap-shoot, and you'll probably do better rolling the dice in Atlantic City than attempting to guess who'll take home Broadway's highest honors. Everything becomes clear in hindsight. Plenty of people, taken by the goofy delights of the dark-horse late-season opener called The Drowsy Chaperone - it had 13 nominations, the most of any show this season - believed it was a virtual shoo-in for best musical in Tony's 60th annual awards ceremony, aired from Radio City Music Hall on Sunday night.

It was four or five years ago that John Papa, a young glove salesman from Gloversville, N.Y., was calling on a customer, and saw one for the first time. It was standing in the man's office - a 1946 Wurlitzer 1015. It stood four- fifths the size of a man, a beautiful arch of polished wood, plastic, chrome and mirror trim, glowing in changing popsicle colors with bubbles that climbed rainbows of tubing on its left and right. Besides all that, it played music - deep-echoing 78s. It was love at first sight.

Lacking the nostalgic charm of a Wurlitzer bubble jukebox, but delivering basically the same type of entertainment, a new cable television service called The Box debuted on Suburban Cable TV in Delaware County Wednesday. The Box makes available about 300 pay-per-view music videos on Channel 67, ranging from country to rock to rap. "What makes this different than, say, MTV, is that it's truly interactive," said Suburban Cable TV regional marketing manager John Murawski. "People are choosing what they want to see rather than reacting to what's being offered by someone in New York.

The jukebox has undergone many changes since 1889, when Louis Glass fitted a coin-operating device to a Thomas Edison-designed phonograph machine. It takes a buck to do what pennies and nickels used to do, and the tunes are played off CDs instead of wax cylinders, 78s or 45s. And whether it is flashing brightly for attention in the corner of a bar or sitting quietly at the end of a booth, a good jukebox can get a joint jumpin' on a hot summer night. Once, jukeboxes were in almost every bar, restaurant and diner in the area.

Think back, young lovers - old ones, too - to those romantic days of yesteryear when a handful of nickels would get you a shake, a burger and a few starry-eyed minutes of swaying with your favorite squeeze. The shake and burger you got from the menu. The swaying you got from feeding coins to that shiny, glitzy, colorful contraption in the corner that made its musical debut in a West Coast saloon a century ago. Take note: In November 1889, the Nickel-in-the-Slot machine swallowed its first nickel in San Francisco's Palais Royale Saloon.

Typical Friday night in this shot-and-a-beer joint called Joel's Bar. A little guy is picking a fight with a 6-footer. An oldster is stumbling around drunk. And Tanya Robinson is at the jukebox, ordering up a favorite tune. "Can I have 'Freakazoid' by Midnight Star?" she asks. " 'Freakazoid'?" the jukebox replies. "Midnight Star? OK, hon. Bye. " In many taverns, it's hard to have an intelligent conversation with the person next to you, much less the record-playing equipment.

Philly is great because of its neighborhood bars - and nothing reflects the personality of a spot more than the jukebox. At best, a jukebox is not just a collection of songs, but a reflection of of the people behind the place. A few good ones.... Hank's Bar & Grill 201 Market St., Camden, 856-541-6651 A sample: "Crazy, I'm crazy for feeling so lonely / I'm crazy, crazy for feeling so blue. " - "Crazy," from Patsy Cline's 12 Greatest Hits Hidden gems: Old country crooners Cline and Gene Autry.

Jukebox the Ghost The quirky, uplifting piano-driven pop that Jukebox the Ghost released on their first album quickly earned them comparisons to artists like Ben Folds and They Might Be Giants (a subsequent tour with Folds probably cemented that comparison). Since their 2008 debut, the Brooklyn-based, D.C.-raised trio have released an additional two LPs, including this year's Safe Travels . Like its predecessors, its songs are energetic and heartfelt, with strong beats and a pop-rock sensibility.

YORK, Pa. - Imagine foosball and ping-pong tables, a jukebox, and a Golden Tee golf video game circling a craft-beer bar redolent with the aroma of pulled pork, bratwurst, and sausages. It's the ideal man cave - only public, and coming to the National House, a historic site at Market and Beaver Streets. Scheduled to open in late winter or early spring, the taproom is the brainchild of Scott Eden, 40, of Spring Garden Township, a lawyer who hopes to perpetuate the city's craft-beer movement, spurred by the recent openings of the Mudhook and Liquid Hero breweries.

POP Give up the ghost! There's no resisting the infectious melodies, playful vocals and driving rhythmic punch of Jukebox The Ghost , this piano-pop trio, composed of Philly-based Ben Thorneill (keyboards/vocals and dominant composer) and his now Brooklyn, N.Y.-based buds Tommy Siegel (guitars/vocals) and Jesse Kristin (drums). The guys are materializing anew to celebrate the release of their "Everything Under the Sun" album for YepRoc Records, from whence springs future hits like the giddy-good "Empire" and haunting "Mistletoe.

Live music and more, tonight through Thursday, compiled by Shaun Brady, Tom Di Nardo, James Johnson, Sara Sherr and Jonathan Takiff. POP . . . plus Tim Fite: With killers like "Forty Five Remedy," and the blood-strewn "Flowers Bloom," this sardonically funny, musically off kilter singer/rapper comes off like a postmodern Randy Newman. Wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley, but Fite should be OK in this stage confrontation, shared with Wailing Wall (multi-instrumentalist Jesse Rifkin)

We meet Henry Poole (Luke Wilson), unshaven and morose, as he bids on a tired tract home on a tree-lined Los Angeles block. No negotiations, he instructs the Realtor, who thinks he should offer below asking price. Henry's antsy to move in, lock the door, and wallow in his own gloom. But the neighbors keep on knocking. There's well-meaning Esperanza (Adriana Barraza), Spanish for Hope, with home-made tamales. There's the luminous Dawn (Radha Mitchell), with fresh-baked cookies.

The Eagles brought their Long Road Out of Eden tour to the Wachovia Center Monday night. The experience was like being invited over to a couple's house to enjoy a beloved old movie that you never get tired of watching. But first your hosts insist that you sit through home movies of their recent cruise ship vacation. Before the venerable pop group got to its greatest hits - the expectation of which had packed the building to the rafters - the boys insisted on playing extended selections from their turgid 2007 double album, Long Road Out of Eden.

It's nostalgic. It's ebullient. It's the American dream, with twists. It makes you happy. And, I admit, it was a surprise to me when Jersey Boys won the Tony for best musical. Predicting who will win awards is always a crap-shoot, and you'll probably do better rolling the dice in Atlantic City than attempting to guess who'll take home Broadway's highest honors. Everything becomes clear in hindsight. Plenty of people, taken by the goofy delights of the dark-horse late-season opener called The Drowsy Chaperone - it had 13 nominations, the most of any show this season - believed it was a virtual shoo-in for best musical in Tony's 60th annual awards ceremony, aired from Radio City Music Hall on Sunday night.

The story so far: Zach Porter, having smashed his car while running Christmas Eve errands, is having a cup of coffee with an odd stranger while waiting for a tow truck. The man, Gunther, has made him an even odder offer: a chance to see what difference his life has made to the world. The lone waitress working Christmas Eve at Bruno's stopped by their booth, as the nearby jukebox boomed a Christmas carol: "Glooooooo-ria in excelsis Deoooo. " Zach hadn't noticed anyone put a quarter in. "Freshen up your cups, gents?"

Philly is great because of its neighborhood bars - and nothing reflects the personality of a spot more than the jukebox. At best, a jukebox is not just a collection of songs, but a reflection of of the people behind the place. A few good ones.... Hank's Bar & Grill 201 Market St., Camden, 856-541-6651 A sample: "Crazy, I'm crazy for feeling so lonely / I'm crazy, crazy for feeling so blue. " - "Crazy," from Patsy Cline's 12 Greatest Hits Hidden gems: Old country crooners Cline and Gene Autry.

You've got a couple of hours to kill and a pocketful of quarters. The jukebox is stocked, as all jukeboxes should be, strictly with Sinatra. What more could one ask for? Well, for starters, it would be nice if the voice you heard after plunking change in the machine belonged to the Chairman of the Board. Instead, with Our Sinatra, the Prince Music Theatre tribute to Frank Sinatra that runs through July 1, we get to hear three competent cabaret performers run through the Ol' Blue Eyes catalog for a pleasantly forgettable evening.