N001 is back home! We joined in the delight of receiving a new Jukebox last week, however ours was just shy of 40 years old! N001 was originally manufactured in 1985 and was the very first Classic Jukebox to leave our factory. At this time our main sales were only to pubs and the companies that operated in them. In the early 1980’s, our founder Alan Black thought that the vibrant Wurlitzer 1015 from the 1940’s would make a big impact in the UK pubs, something much more attractive than the wooden cabinets that had become the norm in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Alan was aware of a company called Sonata in Mexico that had purchased the liquidated stock when Wurlitzer unfortunately ceased trading and thought that this would be a good test for the market. Alan contacted Sonata to see if they were prepared to sell their cabinets to Sound Leisure with the intention of installing SL’s electronics and player mechanisms into them. Sonata agreed and 3 months later 69 cabinets arrived in containers. The Jukeboxes proved to be a real hit on location which led to a little issue – we couldn’t purchase any more cabinets and as such the journey began to create our own cabinets. Something that obviously laid the foundations for our company and the range of machines that we manufacture today. Nostalgia 1050 – N001 was rather unique at the time, as rather than being sent to a commercial venue it was purchased by Mr S Littlewood who was in the music business. Of the 69 that were manufactured this was the only machine that was sold directly to a private individual from the factory. During the past 39 years N001 has been into our factory 3 times for servicing and remains as good as new. In October Stuart called us and advised that he was now double the age of N001 and getting up and down to select the records, turn the volume up and down etc was becoming a pain! As such he would like to order a new vinyl SL45 that had all the modern features including an infra-red control so he could select songs, adjust the volume and access all the other features from the comfort of his chair. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to sell N001 and considered installing it into his business premises but would think about it. The following month we announced the agreement with Wurlitzer and Stuart called us back – “Am I hearing correctly that you and Wurlitzer have got together? How the hell have you done that – That is like me signing Take That J “ he said. We explained what we had done and Stuart asked if he could swap the SL45 that we were manufacturing for one of the new Wurlitzer vinyl 1015’s. Obviously we agreed and pressed him to sell us back N001 in exchange. Stuart finally agreed with the proviso that it was not to be sold and it was for display at the factory. We have 100% no intention of selling N001 and it now has pride of place in our reception area for all to see. We really appreciate the opportunity that Stuart has given us to purchase back our first Classic Jukebox and for the condition that it has been maintained in. It is amazing that almost 40 years ago and against all of the odds that N001 didn’t end up in a pub and that it went into a family home that cherished it. The memories that both of our families have of this machine are fantastic and the legacy will continue for many years to come. We hope that Stuart has a much fun with his new Wurlitzer as he has had with his original 1050.