Postmodern Jukebox (PMJ), also known as Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox, is a rotating musical collective founded by New York based pianist Scott Bradlee in 2011. Postmodern Jukebox is known for reworking popular modern music into different vintage genres, especially early 20th century forms such as swing and jazz. They have toured North America, Europe, and Australia; often simultaneously due to the extensive discography and the numerous artists and performers involved in the project. Postmodern Jukebox has amassed over 1.9 billion YouTube views and 5.8 million YouTube subscribers since its introduction in 2011.[1]
Each week, Postmodern Jukebox releases a new video on YouTube. Although originally most were filmed casually in Bradlee's apartment living room, sets became more elaborate over time. The band has covered songs by artists ranging from Lady Gaga and the Strokes to Katy Perry and the White Stripes. Since their beginnings as a small group of friends making music in a basement in Queens, New York, Postmodern Jukebox has gone on to feature 70 different performers and tour six continents.[2]
Historyedit
Originedit
Postmodern Jukebox originated when Scott Bradlee began shooting videos with friends from college in his basement apartment in Astoria.[3][4] This group included bassist Chris Anderson, saxophonist Ben Golder-Novick, harpist Brandee Younger, and vocalist Emma Walker.
Bradlee struggled for years as a jazz musician in New York City before one of his videos ("a medley of '80s songs done ragtime style")[5] became popular in 2009. He received a message on Twitter from author Neil Gaiman.[4] Two years later his video for "A Motown Tribute to Nickelback"[6] included Drue Davis (emcee), Steve Ujfalussy (saxophone, EWI) Adam Kubota (bass), Allan Mednard (drums), and Tim Kubart (tambourine).
In late 2013, Postmodern Jukebox was invited to the New York City offices of Cosmopolitan to film a year-end tribute to 2013, covering the year's hit songs with arrangements from different genres and times.[15] The "Just Another Day at the Office" mashup included Robyn Adele Anderson singing "Blurred Lines", Cristina Gatti singing "Holy Grail", Anderson and the Tee Tones singing "We Can't Stop", Karen Marie singing "Roar", Ashley Stroud singing "Royals", and Andromeda Turre singing "What Does the Fox Say?".[16][17] The production was completed in a single take,[18] and a companion behind-the-scenes video was also produced.[19]
In 2014, Kate Davis performed a cover version of Meghan Trainor's song "All About That Bass" (2014) in Scott Bradlee's living room after three hours of practice. Davis sang and played double bass; her rendition gathered 8 million views in three months.[20] "I knew the song, probably could have done it on the fly. Maybe that's why it's so funny. I remember thinking it was so funny at the time I was going to crack up, maybe five times."[21] The 1940s arrangement and piano accompaniment is by Bradlee with Dave Tedeschi on drums. The single was a success, catching the attention of Time,[22]Billboard,[23]The Huffington Post,[24] and PBS NewsHour.[20]
BuzzFeed featured a doo-wop cover of "Timber," with Robyn Adele Anderson and the Tee Tones fronting, in February 2014.[25] The group's cover of Radiohead's seminal 1990s hit "Creep," performed by Haley Reinhart, was called a "stunning listen" by the Los Angeles Times in April 2015.[26] As of April 2022, the video had over 105 million views and was their most viewed video.[27]
Around the same time, PMJ started Reboxed, consisting of new versions of songs that had already been covered. The first Reboxed song was by Niemietz and the Sole Sisters singing "Bad Romance", which had been sung by Ariana Savalas with Sarah Reich tap dancing.[41]Adweek named Bradlee one of "20 Content Creators Who Are Setting the Bar for Creativity in 2016".[42]
In 2016 they acquired PMJ Manor in Los Angeles.[43][44] In late May 2018, PMJ surpassed the one billion view mark on YouTube. Bradlee, members of the band, and guests hosted their first live stream event from the PMJ Manor to celebrate.
On June 12, 2018, Scott Bradlee released his first book, a memoir entitled Outside the Jukebox: How I Turned My Vintage Music Obsession into My Dream Gig.[44] The book received positive reviews from Publishers Weekly,[45]The Weekly Standard,[46] and Billboard.[47]
In 2014, PMJ started the first annual #PMJSearch contest to discover musical talent. The month-long competition asks fans to submit videos of themselves performing versions of PMJ songs for a chance to perform on an upcoming official video. Out of the many videos that are submitted each year, the winner is selected by Scott Bradlee. Past winners include Holly Campbell-Smith (2015), Devi Ananda (2016), Olivia Kuper Harris (2017), and Cortnie Frazier (2019) all of whom went on to be featured in PMJ videos, as well as on tour with the band. Harris' feature on "Last Friday Night" caught the attention of the song's original singer, Katy Perry, during an online feature for Glamour.[48]
The 2017 tour included concurrent dates in Europe and the US, with two separate "casts" of musicians.[53][54]
PMJ made its first visit of South America in August 2017, with four dates in Brazil and one in Argentina.
In April 2018, PMJ made their debut in Africa, performing in Tunisia at the Jazz a Carthage Festival[55] and Morocco at the Jazzablanca Festival,[56] marking the sixth continent on which they've performed.
Xavier Woods appeared in the cover of "What Is Love", with his trombone "Francesca" and later recorded a video that was released on his channel (UpUpDownDown), in which they cover the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song.[66]
^Andrew Travers (18 December 2015). "Vintage sounds, modern hits: Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox plays Aspen". The Aspen Times. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
^Rob Bailey (27 October 2015). "Viral video sensation Postmodern Jukebox: Live on Staten Island". SILive. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
^ abcdefghij"Vintage gone viral: Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox takes music back in time". NJ.com. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
^Silver, Marc (2015-01-15). "Postmodern Jukebox turns back the clock on present-day pop hits at the Birchmere". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
^Johnston, Maura (29 November 2011). "Q&A: Scott Bradlee On Revamping Nickelback, Taste Hierarchies, and Screaming Words". Village Voice. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
^Justin Colletti (8 January 2015). "Postmodern Jukebox: The Making of a Multi-Million View YouTube Music Channel". SonicScoop. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
^"GUNS N' ROSES' 'Sweet Child O' Mine' Like You've Never Heard It Before". Blabbermouth.net. 14 February 2014. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2016. Postmodern Jukebox actually originated as a musical concept created by our bandleader/pianist Scott Bradlee", lead singer Robyn Adele Anderson told Pipe Dream last year. "He came up with the term some years ago when he first started covering songs in different genres. I loved the idea but didn't get involved until February of [2013] when Scott first asked me to be in a video (our vintage 'Thrift Shop' cover) and we've continued to make videos together ever since.
^Kristen Grennan (19 May 2013). "Exclusive Interview with Postmodern Jukebox's Robyn Adele Anderson". Sensible Reason. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
^Chris Baker (23 May 2013). "Postmodern Jukebox goes viral with jazzy YouTube cover of "Thrift Shop"". Syracuse Media Group. Retrieved 7 April 2016. Robyn Adele Anderson is the group's charismatic lead singer. An upstate native, she moved to New York City two years ago, hoping to start a career in music. "I wasn't sure I would ever end up singing in the real world", she said. "But now we've got millions of people watching us on YouTube." Anderson grew up in Delmar, N.Y., just outside of Albany. She studied political science at SUNY Binghamton and moved to New York City after graduating in 2011.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw"Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox". Billboard. 2013-05-25. Archived from the original on 2020-09-18. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
^ abcEric Felten (23 May 2013). "A Jazz Band Has the Pop Scene Covered". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
^Kevin Fallon (11 September 2013). "Doo-Wop 'We Can't Stop': Behind the Ridiculously Good Miley Cyrus Cover". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 7 April 2016. Robyn's actually my girlfriend. We dated for about a year before I put her in one of the videos, too. "Thrift Shop" I wasn't even familiar with at the top, and she was one day just sort of singing it in jazz style. I thought, We should do video of this. And we did and posted it. It was her first video singing in public. And that has over 2 million views now.
^"A Vintage Filter On Today's Top 40". NPR.org. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
^Ingber, David (20 December 2013). "The Most Unbelievable 2013 Pop Music Re-Mix You'll Hear". Cosmopolitan. Cosmopolitan. Archived from the original on 2014-08-15. Retrieved 2014-01-16.
^Bryn Becker (1 January 2014). "Postmodern Jukebox wraps up 2013 in style with their mashup Year in Review". ThePickup. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
^"Postmodern Jukebox One Take 2013 Mashup: Just Another Day at the Office". YouTube. PostmonderJukebox. 3 January 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
^"Postmodern Jukebox One Take 2013 Mashup: Just Another Day at the Office". OutBuzz. 19 January 2014. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
^"Postmodern Jukebox | Behind the Scenes |Cosmopolitan". YouTube.com. Cosmopolitan. 3 January 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
^ abcMin, Ariel (December 10, 2014). "YouTube crooner all about that upright bass and then some". PBS NewsHour. NewsHour Productions. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
^John Orr (20 January 2016). "Kate Davis to sing with iSing". Mercury News. Retrieved 21 February 2016. The idea was to take Meghan Trainor's hit song, which preaches self-acceptance, and jazz it up in the Postmodern Jukebox style. "But I'm here to tell you," the song says, "Every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top."
^ abSamantha Grossman (9 September 2014). "Here's 'All About That Bass' Played on an Actual Upright Bass". Time. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
^ abLeight, Elias (November 17, 2014). "Scott Bradlee & Postmodern Jukebox Premiere New Orleans-Style Sam Smith Cover". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
^Barness, Sarah (September 10, 2014). "'All About That (Upright) Bass' Gives A Jazzy Twist To A Great Message". The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
^"This Is How Ke$ha's "Timber" Would've Sounded If It Were A 1950s Doo Wop Song". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
^ abGerrick D. Kennedy (8 April 2015). "Haley Reinhart's 'Creep' cover with Postmodern Jukebox is worth a listen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
^"Creep – Vintage Postmodern Jukebox Radiohead Cover ft. Haley Reinhart". YouTube. 7 April 2015.
^ abJuan-Jose Gonzalez (14 April 2016). "BWW Interview: Shoshana Bean – on PMJukebox, Wicked, Hairspray and more!". Broadway World. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
^ abMichael Lawrence Quintos (30 January 2015). "BWW Reviews: Postmodern Jukebox Entertains in their O.C. Debut Concer". Broadway World. Retrieved 21 February 2016. As for Bean—good lawd, this gal can saaaang. Already one of the musical theater world's favorite "Elphabas" (from Wicked, of course), this flawless-sounding, remarkable soul diva feels right at home with PMJ's vintage sounds. Along with her slinky soul viral hit cover of Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way," (which she thankfully recreated for the concert), she also blessed the audience with outstanding, jaw-dropping covers of Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" and Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off."
^ abMichele Amabile Angermiller (19 February 2016). "Broadway star Shoshana Bean takes on the Biebs in a new PMJ arrangement". Billboard. Archived from the original on 21 February 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
^Bershad, Brad. ""This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)" – Postmodern Jukebox ft Sara Niemietz (Talking Heads Cover)". Zumic. Archived from the original on 22 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
^ abMcCall, Malorie (24 September 2015). "Postmodern Jukebox & Sara Niemietz Put a Retro Spin on Outkast's 'Hey Ya!". Billboard. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
^Grossman, Samantha (3 October 2015). "Listen to Outkast's 'Hey Ya!' as a '60s Soul Song". Time. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
^Samantha Grossman (29 January 2016). "Listen to Justin Bieber's 'Love Yourself' as a 1920s Jazz Number". Time. Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
^"Love Yourself – Vintage 1920s Postmodern Jukebox Justin Bieber Cover ft. Sara Niemietz". YouTube.com. Postmodern Jukebox. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
^Mike Fahey (11 November 2015). "Pokémon Theme Becomes Late Night Drinking Companion". kotaku.com.au. Australia: Allure Media. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
^Stephen K. Peeples (4 February 2016). "Santa Clarita Valley Entertainment Report: February 04, 2016". KHTS. Retrieved 5 February 2016. The YouTube superstar is just about to hit the road on her first tour of Great Britain, Scandinavia and Europe as lead singer of the group Postmodern Jukebox.
^Mike Pell (12 April 2016). "This Cover Version Of Elle King's 'Ex's & Oh's' Will Blow You Away". United Kingdom: MTV. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
^"Nicole Atkins & Postmodern Jukebox Honor David Bowie, World Cancer Day With 'Heroes' Cover". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
^"Heineken When you drive, never drink Commercial Song by Postmodern Jukebox". tvadvertsongs.com. 4 September 2016.
^Grossman, Samantha. "Hear Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance' as a Brassy Swing Song". TIME.com. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
^"20 Content Creators Who Are Setting the Bar for Creativity in 2016". Retrieved 2017-06-21.
^Condran, Ed (2018-02-18). "Postmodern Jukebox gives Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus and even Nirvana a very vintage twist". Raleigh News & Observer.
^ abBradlee, Scott (2018). Outside the Jukebox: How I Turned My Vintage Music Obsession into My Dream Gig. Hachette. ISBN 9780316415729.
^"Outside the Jukebox". www.publishersweekly.com. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
^Check, John (15 June 2018). "Ragtime to Riches". The Weekly Standard. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
^"Scott Bradlee Shares How Postmodern Jukebox Got Him Fired From Walmart: Exclusive 'Outside the Jukebox' Book Excerpt". Billboard. June 7, 2018.
^"Katy Perry Watches Fan Covers On YouTube". Glamour Videos. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
^Rob Garratt (20 October 2015). "Dubai Jazz Festival 2016 first acts revealed — Toto to headline opening night". The National. Retrieved 2016-05-07.
^Daniella Bassett (15 March 2016). "Redbrick meets… Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox". Redbrick. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-07.
^"Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox Unveils Australian Tour". theMusic.
^"Postmodern Jukebox Will Kick Off 45-City National Tour in Providence". Broadway World. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-07.
^Rachel Weingarten (15 May 2015). "Postmodern Jukebox: Behind the Retro-Pop YouTube Sensation". Parade. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
^Nick McCabe (10 April 2018). "Postmodern Jukebox Throws Party at Silver Legacy". This Is Reno. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
^Web Behrens (9 September 2015). "Adored yet anonymous, Tambourine Guy comes into his own". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
^ abNicole Gallucci (April 1, 2016). "Postmodern Jukebox delights by performing the Internet's favorite prank song". Mashable. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
^ abMichele Amabile Angermiller (1 December 2016). "Watch 'American Idol' Alum Jax and Postmodern Jukebox Cover Wheatus". Billboard. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
^ abNick Roman (March 4, 2016). "American Idol Star Brielle Von Hugel Teams With Postmodern Jukebox on 'Same Old Love'". Rickey.org. Retrieved April 3, 2016.[permanent dead link]
^Patrick O'Heffernan (2 November 2014). "Aubrey Logan: Jazz, Pop, Rock, Hip Hop, or Trombone". Hollywood Progressive. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
^ abBrian Truitt (24 December 2015). "Wham! Have yourself a retro Postmodern Jukebox 'Last Christmas'". USA Today. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
^HANNAH ORENSTEIN (31 July 2015). "You Have to Hear How Amazing Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" Would've Sounded in the 1940s". Seventeen. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
^Michele Amabile Angermiller (4 March 2016). "Postmodern Jukebox & an 'American Idol' Alum Cover Selena Gomez's 'Same Old Love'". Billboard. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
^Shayani Mukherjee (23 April 2016). "Stunning: Watch This 14-Year-Old Sing Cyndi Lauper". Australia Network. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016. Caroline Baran, who is just 14 years old, is blessed with an incredible voice. The PMJ team was so impressed with the voice of this little girl during their #PMJ search contest that they immediately booked her and her mother's ticket to Los Angeles so that she could record a PMJ video with them.
^ abMichele Amabile Angermiller (16 March 2016). "Watch Casey Abrams & Postmodern Jukebox Cover Guns N' Roses' 'Sweet Child o' Mine '". Billboard. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016. The cover is part of a series of videos called Postmodern Jukebox: Reboxed. The group originally recorded the song with Motown vocalist Miche Braden. In the video, Sarah Reich joins Abrams for a tap dance.
^"Catie Turner Takes On Billie Eilish". postmodernjukebox.com. Postmodern Jukebox. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
^Prewitt, Spencer (2017-09-05). "An Interview with Chloe Feoranzo". International Clarinet Association. Archived from the original on 2017-09-22. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
^Michele Amabile Angermiller (8 March 2016). "'American Idol' Alum Haley Reinhart Signs Deal With ICM Partners". Billboard. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016. Haley Reinhart from Scott Bradlee and Postmodern Jukebox performs at L'Alhambra on March 12, 2015 in Paris, France.
^Lindsey Robertson (19 June 2015). "Sultry, soulful cover of 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' is even moodier than Green Day's original". Mashable. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
^Trent Fitzgerald (29 May 2016). "Watch a Jazzy Remake of Notorious B.I.G.'s Classic Song 'Juicy'". The Boombox. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
^Joe Reinartz (16 January 2015). "Hunting Down An Interview With Morgan James". Pollstar. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
^"Remember "Last Friday Night" '40s Swing Style with #PMJSearch2017 Winner Olivia Kuper Harris". November 9, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
^"Watch Haley Reinhart & Puddles Pity Party Ponder a 'Mad World' in New Video". Billboard. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
^Ilana Rapp (28 April 2016). "Musician Sara Niemietz Talks the Grand Ole Opry and Being On Tour With Postmodern Jukebox". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
^Sharan Shetty (29 December 2015). "The Tap Awakens in This Terrific Dance Cover of the Star Wars Soundtrack". Slate. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016. The folks at Postmodern Jukebox have a new video out, but this time around there's no old-timey cover of a new-fangled tune. Instead, we get a dance—specifically, a tap dance, one that sees renowned tapper Sarah Reich shuffle and shimmy her way through the Star Wars soundtrack
^Alex Heigl (20 July 2015). "Tap Dance and Star Wars Combine with 'The Tap Awakens' from Postmodern Jukebox". People. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016. Was there a Darth Bojangles?
^"A Special Halloween Remake of "Thriller" with Special Guest Wayne Brady". October 31, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
^Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox discography at AllMusic