peel

John Peel's record collection starts to hit the web Tuesday

John Peel

Starting on Tuesday, the John Peel Centre for Creative Arts will begin uploading details of the late DJ’s cherished vinyl, unveiling 2,600 albums over the next six months.

Every week, the Centre will expand the scope of its virtual museum, adding another 100 records, covering everything from Appalachian mountain music to zouk. “It’s a very personal look at John’s collection,” producer Charlie Gauvain said. According to Sheila Ravenscroft, Peel’s widow, curators will highlight one artist from each batch, picking through more than 65,000 items in his archive. Peel kept meticulous files about his records: each sleeve was given a typed filing card, with all sorts of information.

“There’ll be information about the record sleeve, front and back, all the information about the record itself, as well as whether John rated the album or not,” Ravenscroft explained. Although copyright prevents the centre from streaming the records, links will be included, when available, to purchase or stream the music on Spotify and iTunes. “I think people are going to be very interested as to what’s in the collection,” Ravenscroft said. “They will be amused and intrigued by it.” -[The Guardian]

We’ll see how much of John Peel’s collection — sure to be full of obscure 7”s and cassettes and other rarities — will actually be available digitally, but look for Peel’s collection to start hitting the web in less than 24 hours

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