Soundies

Back in 1941 before modern day television such as MTV there were Soundies these were a hit for around 5 years and slowly became unknown after 1946. They were produced in New york, Chicago and Hollywood. These were three minute black-and-white musical films featuring artists from the era of Big Band, Jazz and Swing introducing famous Musicians such as Count Basie, Louis Jordan, Les Paul and Calloway, and they often included short dance sequences. It helped create careers for Doris Day + Nat King Cole among many other. It would cost a dime to view these Soundies through a movie jukebox called a Panoram they were located in night clubs, bars, restaurants, factory lounges, amusement centers and other public places. They were especially popular for spreading performances of African-American artists who were blocked from performing in other public formats. Soundies relate to today’s music videos as they started to join music and image lasting today’s average time of a music video which is 3 minutes. These classic short films remain as time capsules of music, social history, popular culture, and tell the story of a crossroad in our country, when the uncertainties of war, race relations, and emerging technologies combined to write one of the most influential chapters in our history. Soundies were produced by various companies such as Minoco and RCM Productions, headed by FDR's son James Roosevelt, Sam Coslow a song writer and Herbert Mills, a pioneer in the development of arcade music machines. Soundies covered all genres of music, from classical to big-band swing, and from hillbilly novelties to patriotic songs.