Fittingly for such an iconic needle, it all started with an iconic item of Americana - the jukebox. Yes the needle you see DJs using today is the very same needle that people in many of the diners and bars across America, and beyond, would dance to, inspiring the likes of Elvis.

Once the 44-7’s suitability for the jukebox was realised, the cartridge really took off, with sales shooting up.

"If you think about what happens when people are dancing around a jukebox”, says Bill, “whether the floor’s shaking or they’re bumping into it, the needle has to stay on the seven-inch 45 and not skip. So the suspension was such that it made those play better, not to mention it sounded good.”

According to Rock-Ola jukebox expert Ross Blomgren, Rock-Ola went from a ceramic phonograph ‘pickup’, made by another American company, Astatic, to the Shure M33 around 1964 and a few years later, the M44-7. “They were used in their machines from around 1968 to 1989 when the last of the vinyl jukeboxes were made”.

He says the partnership made sense for cost and logistics (both Rock-Ola and Shure are Chicago companies) but this was not the only reason:

“That cartridge was rugged enough to handle the relatively heavy tracking of a jukebox changer while still producing excellent sound quality. The cartridge has a very long life - many from the 1960s are still in use today.”

Despite this, according to Danish jukebox historian Gert J. Almind, Shure did not have the monopoly. He says: “The Shure pickups were used in several Rock-Ola models in the 60s and 70s, but also the Astatic pickups were used. In fact, most R-O models in the 60s used the Astatic pickups. In Europe, most Rock-Olas also used Elac pickups, so it is not easy to say exactly which was or were the best.”

John Papa has been restoring classic jukeboxes for 30 years. He says that the multitude of components in a jukebox make it difficult to assess an individual cartridge: “It is a system with a cartridge, needle, amp, speakers, record, etc. When everything gets along well it sounds good. Some of my best sounding jukeboxes have had a kiddie phonograph cartridge.”

According to Wikipedia, the jukebox in the famous TV sitcom ‘Happy Days’ was the 1967 Rock-Ola 434 Concerto. Could the M44-7 have been used in this most legendary of jukeboxes?

No says Blomgren: “I think that 434 used the Shure M33”.

But according to Almind, the jukebox used in the diner in 'Happy Days', as seen in photos with the cast, was in fact a Seeburg 100G which would have used an Astatic needle.

For the record, he adds, the intro sequence shows a mix of machines - a title-board from a Seeburg 100C (pre-100G, same as used in 'MASH') and what is most probably a Rock-Ola mechanism.

So it's not beyond the realms of possibility that the needle seen today in London's superclub, Fabric, was part of the mechanism that Henry Winkler's character 'The Fonz' would jolt into action in 'Happy Days'.