A few years ago, I had the great pleasure of interviewing Tony Orlando (Knock Three Times, Tie a Yellow Ribbon, Bless You, Candida to name a few) He gave Cashbox Canada a beautiful quote: “Cashbox Magazine was the tree – the rest of the publications were the leaves that came from that tree.” – Legendary Artist Tony Orlando
Back in the day when the music industry relied on the trades, music magazines were the professionals’ music bibles. We had Radio and Records, Billboard, Cashbox and in Canada we had RPM Magazine and The Record.
Cashbox Magazine was launched before Billboard and the name was derived from the actual jukebox plays, when someone put the money in, it went to a box with a letter and a number. This was calculated by the spins the jukebox played. This way the jukebox companies could report the plays a song was getting in diners, clubs and more. Hence the ‘Cashbox’. The first charts were born and expressions like “Bubbling Under” and on the Charts “With a Bullet” were all part of the Cashbox legacy.