Tag: Gramophone

Memories on Film – Ken Scott at Abbey Road Studios

The EMI Archive Trust was delighted to sit down with the legendary Ken Scott at Abbey Road Studios. Ken Scott worked for EMI, at Abbey Road Studios where he began his time working in the tape library and worked his way up to become an incredible engineer who worked with the Beatles and on many… Read more »

Capacitance Altimeter

In early 1940, Alan Blumlein and his team at the EMI Central Research Labs began work on the technology behind the Capacitance Altimeter. This device works by measuring the differences in charge between a low lying aircraft and the charge at earth’s surface, therefore enabling aircraft and other vehicles to fly at night and in… Read more »

Memories of EMI – Tony Locantro

Tony Locantro worked for EMI for 54 years and during that time he worked with the EMI Archive Trust to curate Scott’s Music Box. This double CD compilation album showcases the music taken by Captain Scott on his fateful expedition to the South Pole. Tony was instrumental in choosing the correct pieces of music and artwork… Read more »

Memories of EMI – Ricky Ford

The Trust would like to thank Ricky Ford for sending in his memory of EMI. Ricky was an EMI recording artist as has shared a little about his time with the label. It was 1961 in Bristol a truly daring and controversial musical called A MAN DIES was produced, it was the first RocknRoll religious musical.… Read more »

The First Mini Disc

In 1924 The Gramophone Company was commissioned by the royal household on behalf of Princess Marie Louise to make a bespoke set of six miniature records and a miniature gramophone for Queen Mary’s Doll’s House. The Doll House was to be filled with an extensive collection of fully functioning miniature pieces carefully selected to showcase the… Read more »

The Grammys

A huge congratulations to all of this year’s Grammy winners! Did you know that the Grammy Award was originally called a Gramophone Award. It is given by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognise significant achievements in the music industry. The man responsible for inventing the gramophone and flat disc was Emile… Read more »

Memories on Film

We have been overwhelmed by all of the incredible stories and images sent in via our ‘Memories of EMI Campaign.’ We are now looking for your stories and memories of EMI, the Company, the music, the factories, the artists as well as the studios. We are hoping to capture your memories on film to share and keep for… Read more »

The Gramophone and Typewriter Ltd.

In December 1900 William Barry Owen (co-founder of the British Gramophone Company) gained the rights to sell and manufacture the newly developed Lambert Typewriter. The name of the company was then changed to “The Gramophone and Typewriter Ltd.” The Lambert Typewriter was initially taken on as insurance against the possible failure of the Gramophone as… Read more »

Alan Blumlein and the invention of Stereo

Alan Blumlein was a senior sound engineer at EMI’s Central Research Laboratories (CRL) on the Hayes factory site. He joined the company when Columbia and The Gramophone Company merged in 1931. Over his lifetime he was a prolific inventor, developing huge technological advances within the sound engineering field. After a night at the cinema with… Read more »

Win Scott’s Music Box double CD

When Captain Robert Falcon Scott embarked upon the Terra Nova expedition to Antarctica and the south Pole in 1910 The Gramophone Company (the original name for EMI) lent the expedition two HMV gramophones and several hundred 78 rpm shellac discs, specifically chosen to boost the team’s morale, many of which are referred to in diaries… Read more »