Re: HMV fax/phone numbers ...

[Justin Bur <justin@iro.umontreal.ca>]

> From: derek%sunstroke@sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford)

> HMV stands for "His Master's Voice".  The company symbol is referred
> to in the States as the RCA dog (Jack Russel terrier looking into the
> cone of an antique phonograph). I am not sure if there is any
> connection between the companies.  HMV does not have a record label or
> publishing company of their own like RCA.  They are one of the UK's
> big record chains along with Virgin Records and W.H Smith

The history of the big record companies and their trademarks is
something like the history of a large, unruly, and incestuous
family.  In the world outside the USA and Canada, the RCA dog
belongs to EMI - in fact, HMV is EMI's classical music label as
well as their record retailing chain.  EMI and RCA were closely
associated until the 1950s, when the agreement ended and EMI set
up Capitol Records.  (Columbia is another name split among companies:
CBS (Sony) owns it in Canada and the USA, EMI owns it in Europe.
Deutsche Grammophon was EMI's German subsidiary until it was
confiscated during one of the world wars!  More of this trivia
in all its confusion in The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular
Music, ed. Donald Clarke (1989; Viking hardcover 0 670 80349 9;
seen at Wordsworth (Cambridge MA) and Virgin Megastore (London)).)

HMV opened a bunch of not very useful shopping mall stores in Canada
(with an empty grey space where the dog symbol belongs) a year
or two ago, followed by a decent large one in downtown Montreal
last fall; the Toronto store is now under construction at Yonge &
Dundas.  The Montreal store has an import section, and maybe
they'll even get the box - I don't know if they take special
orders, though, and it's surely safer and possibly cheaper to
order from HMV in London.

As for W H Smith, they also operate in Britain as Our Price Records
and Paperchase (stationery), and in Canada as Classic Bookshops and
Celebration (greeting cards), and perhaps a few other names too...

justin