"Cuk-Cuk Walzer" (The Cuckoo Waltz) Joe Rinaudo at the American Fotoplayer 

That's quite a musical insrument!

I am a theatre organ guy. Theatre organs were a outgrowth of the photo player. Joe is every bit as passionate about his photo player as I am about my little 5 ranks. Thanks Joe for saving this piece of Americana.

I've been a musician all my life and never even HEARD of this thing! Fabulous, just fabulous.

Never knew that an instrument like this exists, im completely baffled

Thanks for posting this song. I had no idea this was a REAL song. And there's a story about that..... Back in the '80s, my mom had a little green digital alarm clock. It looked like a green ball, and was battery powered. She gave it to me when I went on a summer camp to Virginia on year (I live in Utah). Each crisp morning, I would wake up to this melody, but played only the way a small digital alarm clock could. It wasn't terribly annoying, but the song stuck with me, and I've found myself humming it from time to time over the years. NOW, I know where that song comes from! THANKS A BUNCH!

I sure hope Joe has made it a purpose in his life to find a protege. I imagine there are only a few people in the world that can play a Fotoplayer proficiently.

If I had this incredible machine in my living room l would never go out again,fabulous.

Our car had a backup horn that played this. I didn't know the title at the time, but the box said Polish Folk Song . . .

A precious moment

Mind bogling... Most unique American cultural heritage. Please please preserve this for future generations.

After seeing a few of your videos, I am now completely in love with the American fotoplayer.

This tune was composed in 1918 by the a Swedish musician Jonasson (1886-1956). It is together with "How great thou art" probably the most spread Swedish melody,

Wow what a machine

Joe, this is wonderful.

Leuk om te horen en te zien. Fijn dat er mensen zijn die dit bewaren en bespelen. Zo kunnen latere generatie's er ook nog van genieten.

In an age where I'm not impressed with anything. I'm bowled over - THANK YOU !!!

My Favorite song to listen to

Thanks for the Cuckoo Waltz. I remember that one from some of the silent Laurel and Hardy videos I have. I would just like to point out that the large percentage of the music you hear in the L&H shorts (as Our Gang, etc.) was actually composed by LeRoy Shield. Hatley did write music for Roach, and was especially busy when it came to Laurel and Hardy's late features with Roach (a couple of Oscar nominations!) but Shield write most of the happy little ditties we love from those 1931-35 shorts.

What a beautiful story...so glad I found your channel here.

My wife's boyfriend's favorite song.

we need this guy in a club one day

Thanks, amazing. Amazing that you keep this musical history alive, and all the intricate bits moving and rolling................WOW!

GREAT FANTASTIC

Lovely video, love the story and the fotoplayer. There used to be a romantic comedy tv show in the UK during the mid 1970s called 'the cuckoo waltz' starring Lewis Collins. The writer must have been inspired by the music, wherever it originated from.

Bravo! Joe. That's was superb. Enjoyed it immensely.

haha TRUE DJ! this is amazing!

Man the roller coaster tycoon soundtracks sound fantastic

Hit it Joe!

Oh wow I really was suprised, in the Netherlands there is this theme park that has this old steam carousel and it plays this song Lovely

I wonder if Joe ever considered teaching someone else. These type of instruments are on the verge of disappearing, and it would be cool to try to bring it back in a small way. Also, is it possible to make something like this? A modern day photo player in the the vain of this one, so maybe others could learn to play it.

wow.....what an amazing gadget/instrument......never seen/heard anything like it.....thanks for sharing.....woo hoo !!

Very cool! I appreciate that this instrument means a lot to so many people. Keep the spirit alive!

Thank you so much for sharing! :)

I love this one too. Good stuf

Wow...that was truly amazing, THANK YOU

Great!

GREAT. You certainly know what you're doing. You seem to have a "perfect ear".

its a classic DJ machine

AMAZING I LOVE IT, I COULD LISTEN ALL DAY TO THIS .THANK YOU SO MUCH

I was recommended by a dictator mechanic, that if I would like to brush up my music, I should watch these. Thanks EEDDY1

My grandma has an old Glockenspiel music box type of clock that plays this.

LOVE IT. LOVE IT. LOVE IT.

The composer of the cuckoo waltz is Jonason from Sweden.

MARAVILLOSO!!

This was really the precursor of the cinema organ which of course came much later which effectively put the photoplayer out of business. The rest is history! There is no doubt Hope Jones was inspired by this among other things.

what a bloke!

Awesome!

Beautifully engineered !

this was 10 years ago. i wonder if joe is with us or has he crossed over the rainbow bridge . if so, i am looking at a lovely ghost.

I love Old timer ...

Well Joe you are pretty much an expert when playing the American Fotoplayer and I hope you get the chance to travel to The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany to hear the many Draaiorgels still plying the streets with their wonderful music, many of which are still hand cranked.

WAW GENIAL

Nice man, with a nice story!

Could you please make a video about what all the cords do and all the other buttons.

Mr. Joe thanks so much for sharing your beautiful instrument with us - do you know how many are left?

Epic

I wonder now, if the fotoplayer is where casino got the idea for the demo feature on some synthesizer keyboards of the early nineties where you just press a button and it runs through several different songs like a player piano did. I really do wonder now.

I’m sure he would be so happy

Very nice!

sounds wonderful! Screw sound movies, bring this stuff BACK!!!!

The e sharp roll

They're called "Player Pianos" generically. There are several systems for encoding the music to be played; including the paper scroll (Scroll Piano) and metal Disk (Pianola, I think) formats. These instruments were quite popular, if a bit pricey, until the late 1940s in many places across the world.

Music Happens At 3:04

Superbe!

Empire Cinema, which was in widnes, when my mother was young the cinema allawys played this before a film, she hated it and still does

3:05 the thing u wait for

This looks like an instrument dr suess would make

Looks like two standard player actions stacked with a few linkages and tubing to the other parts of the instrument

Damn

Valsa do Cuco,cool!

Music begins at 3:00.

Krasser Scheiß! Und geiles Lied! 😍

The 'W' in Walzer is pronounced as a 'V' in German (valzer) that's weird right ? I had a neighbor that came from Germany she always pronounced Vokswagon , Woksvogan.

Мне нужен этот инструмент ! 😻

You couldn't hear me but I was applauding. Watching these videos is the next best thing to having one of my very own. Is it possible to play this with all the bells and whistles manually (without a roll?)

I wonder if you are able to get new paper reels for the machines?

is this guy the OG disc jockey?

AWESOME!! LOVE IT!! and No Electronic... :)

Ferry Nice

From Finland Kaki Valsi

First DJ in History?

Who is Marvin Hatley? I've never even heard of him. Anyway he's definitely not the composer of this song. That was Johan Emanuel Jonasson, born 23 February 1886 in Stockholm and died 19 October 1956 ibidem. The original title is Gökvalsen. It became immensely popular in Holland and Belgium (as De Koekoekswals) and in the German speaking countries (as Der Kuckuckswalzer). Cuk-Cuk is neither Swedish nor Dutch nor German. The German word Kuckuck is pronounced 'kʊkʊk, not ‘kʌkʌk as Cuk-Cuk is in this video. I've seen any number of mechanical music players, but never this one, an evenly distributed mix of a mechanically and a manually operated instrument. It is, in this sense, a precursor of the keyboard. Fascinating! Thank you for sharing.

POV: you walk into a shop in a zelda game

Leave it to beaver! I thought it was familiar lol.

Begin at 3:04

Isnt this Screwy squirles theme or another song similar

super!!!!! DÍKY*

Thanks that was fantastic, brilliant. I have a youtube channel where I put only waltzes on under the name IGOREVE OZKARSKI. This one is going straight there. Any chance of you doing "OVER THE WAVES" on that thing for me ?

3:03 START

Shalom 🎵 cuk🙃cuk

I wonder if someone has tried to write lyrics for this music.

Joe - you are nuts! Intended in the best of ways. How the Efff did you come upon this machine? How much would you sell it for?

They couldn't record sound on a magnetic tape, but they could build this...

In the Netherlands it's named “koekoekswals“ witch is much better as a dutchie.

When they say America has no culture...

Was the mispronunciation of cuk-cuk intentional? The correct pronunciation would sound much like we say Cuckoo.

I thought this piece was composed by Johan Emanuel Jonasson?

What is the instrument ?

딸꾹질왈츠당!

whats the song at start?