Another week, another chance to delve into John Peel’s record collection. Up today - the letter ‘C’…
Here are another 100 records from John Peel’s collection. This week, it’s all about the letter ‘B’. Belching Penguin, J.S. Bach, Bad Brains…
And so it begins… John Peel’s record collection goes online. Check out the first uploads here.
John Peel’s Record Collection Will Appear Online
A large proportion of John Peel’s record collection is to be put online at The Space. The BBC reports that visitors will be able to peruse some of the late, great broadcaster’s 25,000 vinyl albums (Peel’s 40,000 vinyl singles and CDs will have to wait to a later date). It’s understood that the abiltity to listen to the records will depend on copyright issues, although all original artwork, Peel’s personal notes and video interviews are to be included.
Peel’s widow, Sheila Ravenscroft said: “We’re very happy that we’ve finally found a way to make John’s amazing collection available to his fans, as he would have wanted.”
Director of the John Peel Centre, Tom Barker added: “What we’re hoping to do is create an online interactive museum which which answers the question ‘what is in John Peel’s record collection?’ but also provides the audience with a visualisation of it. We hope that giving them access to a particular band or their first album or listening to his show will inspire people to tell us their stories. This is the first step in the journey of making one of the most important archives in modern music history available completely.”
The project is set to begin in May. 100 albums are expected to appear each week.
In the meantime, here’s the 2005 documentary, John Peel’s Record Box:
The MOJO Weird Record Club #8:
John Peel’s BBC Archive Things (BBC, 1970)
What’s this?: This record came about as a result of John Peel’s post-Perfumed Garden show on a fledgling BBC Radio One simply called Night Ride. Beamed out every Wednesday between midnight and 1am, the show’s musical policy was “whatever fits”. An average broadcast might include avant-pop, spoken word, harsh modern classical compositions and some electronics. It was decided to put the audience favourites onto BBC vinyl. Most of the artists were unknown.
MOJO says: “This challenging LP was a milestone in broadcasting and a wild, free-form approach to playlisting and compiling. With dark children’s nursery rhymes, Wellington boot dances performed by Zulus in South Africa and a unusual Austrian chap who imitates a brass band among the tracks, it showcases Peel’s eclectic taste and has to be one of the strangest listens you could ever wish to endure.”
Where can I get it?: Vinyl copies occasionally appear via auction sites.
The MOJO Weird Record Club appears every month in MOJO magazine and is curated and written by Jonny Trunk.
Pete Townshend delivers the inaugural John Peel Lecture (Lowry Theatre, Salford, October 31, 2011)
From BBC6music:
“Pete examines the current state of music media and asks the question: Can John Peelism survive the Internet? In an age of free downloads and a disposable attitude to music, can creative people earn a living, and without radio how can the ‘unpolished’ music that John Peel championed find an audience?”
Watch the lecture in full here.
Read MOJO’s exclusive interview with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey in the Who-tastic new issue of MOJO - on sale now.
