‘The EMI Home Guardian’ is a little known newspaper created for and by C-Coy. 17th Btn. (Home Guard) based on the EMI Factory site, Hayes, Middlesex throughout WWII. This extract, written 80 years ago, marks the D-Day Landings, 6th June 1944, one of the most remarkable Allied wartime operations. ‘The EMI Home Guardian’ Since my… Read more »
Featured photo LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 04: Roger Taylor unveils Westminster Council’s commemorative plaque on December 04, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Dave J Hogan for Universal Music) LONDON: December 4, 2019 — Britain’s rich music heritage was celebrated yesterday with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque on the site of Europe’s first recording… Read more »
Nipper and His Master’s Voice – a little history By David Hughes MBE – Trustee of EMI Archive Trust. Dear old Nipper! His importance and significance to the music business has inevitably faded in recent years but his was the face that launched a million records. Not only that, the name of the painting gave… Read more »
‘Nipper Runs Amok’ By David Hughes MBE – Trustee of EMI Archive Trust. Archives and secrets go together, and the EMI archive is no exception. Archives are not visitor attractions; they are not laid out beautifully in lovely display cabinets. The key words are preservation and safety. Initially, presumably, for good business practice, The Gramophone… Read more »
LONDON, February 8, 2018 – Universal Music is proud to announce that pioneering EMI engineer Alan Dower Blumlein’s ground-breaking invention of stereo sound is being celebrated as part of a major campaign launched by the UK government, marking the 400th anniversary of the grant of British patent number one. The campaign, titled ‘GREAT for Imagination’,… Read more »
My Grandfather, the genius electronics engineer and inventor Alan Dower Blumlein was born on this day, June 29th, 1903. Employed by EMI at the Hayes R&D facility for most of his working life, he filed 128 patents in the field of telecommunications, stereo sound, television and H2S airborne radar. Sadly, his life was cut tragically… Read more »
Jersey Post has released a new King George VI ‘Miniature Sheet’, featuring a photograph of the King making a radio broadcast to the nation after the outbreak of World War II. In addition, the sheet also features an image of the King’s beautifully crafted, EMI commissioned ‘H.M. King George VI Microphone’. This microphone was specially… Read more »
Pioneering British Engineer and Inventor of Stereo, Alan Dower Blumlein to be Posthumously Honoured with the Recording Academy® Technical Grammy® Award The ground-breaking work of British engineer Alan Dower Blumlein, inventor of stereo sound recording, is to be posthumously honoured by The Recording Academy® with the Technical Grammy® award at a special ceremony to be held… Read more »
The EMI memorial, Cherry Lane Cemetery, which is both a grave marker and commemorative stone for 37 workers from The Gramophone Company, Blyth Road, Hayes killed when a V1 flying-bomb hit a factory surface air-raid shelter on 7 July 1944. Restored by EMI Archive Trust in 1994 by and again in 2009.
EMI are inviting former employees at the Old Vinyl Factory in Hayes, to come back and share their memories of the iconic site. The factory was a major employer for the town and produced records by some of the world’s best-known artists, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Cliff Richard. The reunion will take… Read more »