His Master's Voice was a British
subsidiary label, founded in 1909.
It was originally a sub-label of the
Gramophone Company
The Gramophone Company Limited (The Gramophone Co. Ltd.), based in the United Kingdom and founded by Emil Berliner, was one of the early recording companies, the parent organisation for the '' His Master's Voice (HMV)'' label, and the Europe ...
releasing
classical music. From 1952 to 1967 it also released
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describ ...
and signed American talent for British distribution. From 1967 to 1973, it reverted to being a classical music sub-label again. In 2003 EMI divested the "His Master's Voice" intellectual property to a separate retail business.
History
HMV was founded as a classical label.
From December 1899, the predecessor to EMI, the
Gramophone Company
The Gramophone Company Limited (The Gramophone Co. Ltd.), based in the United Kingdom and founded by Emil Berliner, was one of the early recording companies, the parent organisation for the '' His Master's Voice (HMV)'' label, and the Europe ...
, had purchased the ''
His Master's Voice
His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...
'' painting from
Francis Barraud
Francis James Barraud (16 June 1856 – 29 August 1924) was an English painter. He is best known for his work ''His Master's Voice'', one of the most famous commercial logos in the world, having inspired a music industry trademark used by corpor ...
, and, from 1909, began using the phrase "His Master's Voice" and likeness of
Nipper
Nipper (1884 – September 1895) was a dog from Bristol, England, who served as the model for an 1898 painting by Francis Barraud titled '' His Master's Voice''. This image became one of the world's best known trademarks, the famous dog-and- ...
on its releases. In 1921, the Gramophone Company established His Master's Voice as a
music retail chain. In 1931, the Gramophone Company merged with
Columbia Graphophone Company
Columbia Graphophone Co. Ltd. was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom.
Founded in 1917 as an offshoot of the American Columbia Phonograph Company, it became an independent British-owned company in 1922 in a managem ...
to form
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 2012, ...
, with Gramophone Company continuing as a label, and His Master's Voice continuing as a sub-label, under EMI.
In 1952 the label entered the
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describ ...
genre, and used a POP number prefix. It also signed American talent such as
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
for British distribution. This continued until 1967, when its domestic pop artists moved to either
Columbia Graphophone
Columbia Graphophone Co. Ltd. was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom.
Founded in 1917 as an offshoot of the American Columbia Phonograph Company, it became an independent British-owned company in 1922 in a managem ...
or
Parlophone
Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 19 ...
, and American performers were moved to
Stateside Records
Stateside Records, styled as $tateside Records, is a British record label, owned by Warner Music Group and operates through its Parlophone and Warner Records imprints. Upon creation, it initially released licensed American recordings and is no ...
, reserving HMV for classical recordings.
In July 1973, the Gramophone Company became
EMI Records
EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...
, with His Master's Voice continuing as a sub-label. In 1990, His Master's Voice was replaced for
EMI Classics
EMI Classics was a record label founded by Thorn EMI in 1990 to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogues for internationally distributed European classical music, classical music releases. After Thorn EMI demerged ...
. "His Master's Voice" would still be used on occasion releases after this period, but as a throwback as opposed to being a dedicated record label.
In 1998 EMI spun off its retail business, becoming its own entity, and in 2003 divested the "His Master's Voice" intellectual property to the retail business.
His Master's Voice POP artist list (1952 to 1967)
*
The Ames Brothers
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...
*
Louis Armstrong
*
Eddy Arnold
Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the '' Billboard'' c ...
*
Frankie Avalon
Francis Thomas Avallone (born September 18, 1940), better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American actor, singer, and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. ''Billboard'' singles from 1958 to late 1962, including number one hits, "Venus" a ...
*
The Blue-Belles
*
Bernard Bresslaw
Bernard Bresslaw (25 February 193411 June 1993) was a British actor. He is best known as a member of the '' Carry On'' film franchise. Bresslaw also worked on television and stage, did recordings and wrote a series of poetry.
Biography
Bernard ...
*
Al Caiola
Alexander Emil Caiola (September 7, 1920 – November 9, 2016) was an American guitarist, composer and arranger, who spanned a variety of music genres including jazz, country, rock, and pop. He recorded over fifty albums and worked with some of ...
*
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
*
Alma Cogan
Alma Angela Cohen Cogan (19 May 1932 – 26 October 1966) was an English singer of traditional pop in the 1950s and early 1960s. Dubbed the "Girl with the Giggle in Her Voice", she was the highest paid British female entertainer of her era.
C ...
*
Jerry Colonna
*
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signi ...
*
Danny and the Juniors
Danny & the Juniors are an American doo-wop and rock and roll vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania originally consisting of Danny Rapp, David White (musician), Dave White, Frank Maffei and Joe Terranova. Formed in 1955, they are most wid ...
*
Dion
Dion may refer to:
People
Ancient
*Dion (mythology), a king in Laconia and husband of Iphitea, the daughter of Prognaus
*Dion of Syracuse (408–354 BC), ancient Greek politician
*Dio of Alexandria, first century BC, ancient Greek philosoph ...
*
Fabian
Fabian may refer to:
People
* Fabian (name), including a list of people with the given name or surname
* Pope Fabian (died 250), Catholic saint
* Fabian Forte (born 1943), 1950s American teen idol, singer and actor, known by the mononym Fabian
* ...
*
Ferrante and Teicher
Ferrante & Teicher were a duo of American pianists, known for their light arrangements of familiar classical pieces, movie soundtracks, and show tunes as well as their signature style of florid, intricate, and fast-paced piano playing performances ...
*
Eddie Fisher
Edwin Jack Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American singer and actor. He was one of the most popular artists during the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show, ''The Eddie Fisher Show''. Actress Eli ...
*
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, i ...
*
Eydie Gorme Eydie may refer to:
* Eydie Gormé (1928–2013), American singer.
* Steve and Eydie, an American pop vocal duet,
* Eydie Whittington, a Democratic politician in Washington, D.C.
* The World Of Steve & Eydie, a 1972 album released by Steve Lawr ...
*
The Highwaymen
*
The Impressions
The Impressions were an American music group originally formed in 1958. Their repertoire includes gospel, doo-wop, R&B, and soul.
The group was founded as the Roosters by Chattanooga, Tennessee natives Sam Gooden, Richard Brooks and Arthur B ...
*
Spike Jones
Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gun ...
*
Johnny Kidd and the Pirates
*
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of " C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song " Santa ...
*
Julius LaRosa
Julius La Rosa (January 2, 1930 – May 12, 2016) was an American traditional popular music singer, who worked in both radio and television beginning in the 1950s.
Early years
La Rosa was born of Italian-immigrant parents in the Brooklyn borough ...
*
Steve Lawrence
Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Liebowitz; July 8, 1935) is an American singer, comedian and actor, best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as " Steve and Eydie", and for his performance as Maury Sline, the manager and fri ...
*
John Leyton
John Dudley Leyton (born 17 February 1936) is an English actor and singer. As a singer he is best known for his hit song " Johnny Remember Me" (written by Geoff Goddard and produced by Joe Meek), which reached number one in the UK Singles Cha ...
*
Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two diffe ...
*
Johnny Mathis
John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...
*
Mickey & Sylvia
Mickey & Sylvia was an American R&B duo composed of Mickey Baker and Sylvia Vanderpool, who later became Sylvia Robinson. They are best known for their number-one R&B single " Love Is Strange" in 1957.
Baker and Vanterpool began recording tog ...
*
Jaye P. Morgan
Jaye P. Morgan (born Mary Margaret Morgan) is a retired American popular music singer, actress, and game show panelist.
Early life
Morgan was born in Mancos in Montezuma County in far southwestern Colorado. Her family moved to California by ...
*
The Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
*
Gene Pitney
Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician.
Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, inclu ...
*
The Poni-Tails
The Poni-Tails were an American musical trio formed in Lyndhurst, Ohio. They are known for their 1958 major hit " Born Too Late".
History
Formed in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, the Poni-Tails – Toni Cistone, Karen Topinka and Patti McCabe ...
*
Perez Prado
*
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
*
Lloyd Price
Lloyd Price (March 9, 1933May 3, 2021) was an American singer-songwriter, record executive and bandleader, known as "Mr. Personality", after his 1959 million-selling hit, "Personality". His first recording, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", was a hit for S ...
*
Tommy Roe
Thomas David "Tommy" Roe (born May 9, 1942) is a retired American rock and pop singer-songwriter.
Best-remembered for his hits " Sheila" (1962) and "Dizzy" (1969), Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the lat ...
*
Soupy Sales
Milton Supman (January 8, 1926 – October 22, 2009), known professionally as Soupy Sales, was an American comedian, actor, radio-television personality, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children's television seri ...
*
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...
*
Jimmy Smith
*
Kay Starr
Katherine Laverne Starks (July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016), known professionally as Kay Starr, was an American singer who enjoyed considerable success in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was of Iroquois and Irish heritage. Starr performed multip ...
*
The Swinging Blue Jeans
The Swinging Blue Jeans are a four-piece 1960s British Merseybeat band, best known for their hit singles with the HMV label: " Hippy Hippy Shake", " Good Golly Miss Molly", and " You're No Good", issued in 1964. Subsequent singles released t ...
*
Philip Upchurch Combo
*
Danny Williams
*
Hugo Winterhalter
Hugo Winterhalter (August 15, 1909 – September 17, 1973) was an American easy listening arranger and composer, best known for his arrangements and recordings for RCA Victor.
Biography
Hugo Ferdinand Winterhalter was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsy ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
HMV singles discography including POP seriesHMV POP 45worlds.com
1909 establishments in the United Kingdom
1990 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Classical music record labels
EMI
Pop record labels