HMV- an Epitaph
I was saddened to read a news
that HMV, the iconic symbol of gramophone records of my time, is closing down.
It felt as if one old link with my past was snapped. The symbol of a dog
listening to “his master’s voice” had become a part and parcel of my psyche.
This took me back
to my first encounter with the good old gramophone, a purely mechanical device.
It was in fifties during our summer sojourn in my grandfather’s expansive
bungalow in Durgigudi Extension, Shimoga, Karnataka. The gramophone had a place
in the first floor of the house which was nothing but a huge (everything
appeared huge as a child) hall and nothing else. We cousins used to congregate
from Bareilly, Delhi with those in-house and have a field day in that hall,
away from the prying eyes of our parents and grandparents. Our favourite N mama
(the youngest of Mamas) who was our hero, friend and guide would be part of it.
Sometimes our other J mama would also join us.
For playing on it, if I remember, there were only
a few vinyl records. We would cajole mama to play it for us. It was a ritual.
The gramophone, a prized possession, would be placed on a table or on the floor.
We cousins, 6 to 8 of us, would surround it with heightened expectations. N
mama would open a box of needles, select one and fit it to the arm containing
stylus. The small compartment holding the needle was itself a mechanical
amplifier. He would pick up one of the records (It hardly mattered to us which
one-we were thrilled just to listen to the sound emanating from it) and play
it. We were just ecstatic, just listening to it.
There were associated thrills. If and when the winding power
came down, the record rotating speed would fall down from standard 78 rpm to
60..70....50..And the female voice would morph to mail voice (may be Kanan devi
would sound like KL Saigal).N mama would promptly wind it back so it would be
back to Kanan Devi. We did our own adventure—by holding the needle in our hand and
touching it directly to the record (I think we were not supposed to do so), we
could hear a shrill and feeble sound, which made our day and maybe damaged the
record a little!
The thrill of
listening to the music from gramophone would remain with me forever, so many
present day gadgets notwithstanding.
One of the frequently played record was this ‘Dunia ye dunia
toofan mail’...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQl82p4JZh0
And other I think was this (travels and travails of a super
fat Bhabhi)....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mElK5HiocQ
HMV may not have survived but its memory would stay forever in the mind of at least my generation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mElK5HiocQ
HMV may not have survived but its memory would stay forever in the mind of at least my generation.
I first bought a music system with a turntable in 1982 after coming to England. It was a luxury we could never afford before that.
ReplyDeleteBut HMV may have gone victim as much to new technology as the changes ion the way music is recorded and marketed using social media and the web, but vinyl records are very much alive as indeed is the equipment to play them. See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8000618.stm. But gramophones are now a niche product affordable only by the seriously rich with a passion for music. For the rest of us its MP3 tracks.
I can imagine the kind of thrill you must have felt as kids to be around the only object that actually produces real music... or can I?!
ReplyDeleteNice trip down memory lane.. though for me it was the good old tape recorder with audio and then the video tapes. I did handle and see a lot of vinyl records at my friends' places though and agree with you that it is indeed the passing of an era.
ReplyDeleteGreat memories. HMV was indeed an iconic company. So was another company named Polydor. I don't know if this record company survived the change of technology. Unless the companies too move with the times (as with people), the companies barely survive. The case in point is Nokia. Still struggling to survive.
ReplyDelete