Photo Special: The HMV Story
HMV stands for His Master’s Voice, a painting by Francis Barraud, A.R.A. of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone. In the original painting, the dog was listening to a cylinder phonograph and was seated atop a coffin (suggesting that his master is in it).
The image was acquired by the newly-formed Gramophone Company in 1899, and the design was used on its record labels from 1909.
The Gramophone Company’s first record shop opened on July 20 1921 at 363 Oxford Street in London.
The Gramophone Company became identitified by the ‘His Master’s Voice’ trademark. Owned by EMI, the term was later formally transferred from the record label to the retail chain.
HMV’s flagship Oxford Street store is probably the only record shop in the world to have sold every music format since the invention of recorded music.
HMV pioneered in-store celebrity appearances, and each year host 200 such events. Over the years guests at the Oxford St store have included Sir Cliff Richard, Take That, Dolly Parton, Tina Turner and the Spice Girls.
At the close of the century HMV was the UK’s leading music retailer and in the year 2000 Sir George Martin unveiled a commemorative plaque 363 Oxford Street, celebrating the company’s history.
The Beatles, their manager Brian Epstein and producer George Martin posed in front of the original Nipper oil painting while in April 2007 Gromit stood in for Nipper during a three month advertising campaign.
Posted on September 4, 2009 | Filed Under Music
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