This 100-Year-Old Street Organ Playlists Everything From Sousa to Cher

Imagine rolling a giant, brightly decorated 1920s mechanical organ down the street and belting out Cher’s "Believe" or Daft Punk’s "Get Lucky." That isn't a bizarre fever dream—it's just a regular afternoon for James Dundon and his beloved Dutch street organ, named Blauwtje.

A Century on the Cobblestones

Blauwtje first hit the streets as a working busking instrument in Holland back in the 1920s. After decades of making noise and charming pedestrians, the vintage mechanical wonder received a full restoration in the 1980s courtesy of Belgian organ builder Johan Verbeeck.

Fast forward to 2011: British music enthusiast James Dundon purchased the instrument, brought it over to the UK, and eventually founded Mechanical Music Radio to share his passion for automated instruments with a broader audience.

Punching Holes in Pop History

How do you get a century-old street organ to tackle modern bangers? Mechanical street organs operate using physical sheets of punched card music. By arranging and punching new cards, Dundon turned Blauwtje into an absolute genre-bending jukebox.

One moment the organ is powering through Oasis’s "Wonderwall" or Cher’s iconic late-90s hit "Believe," and the next, it’s delivering a spirited rendition of John Philip Sousa’s famous 1896 march, "Stars and Stripes Forever."

Dundon actually programmed the famous march—which shared its name with a 1952 musical biopic about Sousa—as a cheerful, non-partisan musical gesture following US elections. Because if there is one thing capable of lightening the mood, it might just be vintage pipes whistling out a brisk parade tune.

The Otterly Interesting Part

There is something wonderfully delightful about modern dance tracks being rendered through wooden pipes and air bellows. Daft Punk spent years utilizing cutting-edge synthesizers and futuristic production to create "Get Lucky," only for a 100-year-old street organ to prove the song sounds just as infectious when cranked out by acoustic mechanical valves.

Keeping the Bellows Moving

In a world where most of our music streams invisibly into tiny earbuds, seeing a massive piece of 1920s craftsmanship pump out recognizable anthems is a fun reminder of mechanical ingenuity. Whether playing 19th-century marches or pop tunes, Blauwtje proves great melodies are timeless—they just occasionally need a fresh set of punch cards.

What modern hit would you love to hear played on a 1920s street organ?

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