Record Collection

"'I have bought far, far too many records, even having two rather artfully chosen collections stolen in their entirety, and still spend between £25 and £30 a week on the blamed things. Much of this money is squandered in minuscule specialist shops physically and spiritually at several light years removed from the glossy houses where cowed customers line up to buy whatever is currently the subject of extensive television advertising.' (Record Shops, Punch, 1980-01-16, reprinted in Olivetti Chronicles, Corgi edition, p. 343.)"

Peel was a self-confessed vinyl junkie who filled Peel Acres with all manner of obscure and one-off recordings. His preferred format was vinyl: he was never a fan of compact discs, and would only purchase a CD of an album if there was no vinyl equivalent. He once incurred the wrath of his family and show staff by spending hours in Gronigen searching for a record shop that turned out to be directly opposite the hotel where he was staying. He would frequently beseech listeners to send him copies of records he did not have and beg friends and acquaintances going on holiday to exotic parts of the world to bring him back recordings from those places. He was loath to part with any of them, instituted a card index system in 1969 to catalogue them, and even had a shed built at his home to accommodate part of the groaning mountain of ephemera.

According to The John Peel Centre For Creative Arts (JPCCA), the collection comprises over 26,000 LPs, 40,000 singles and thousands of CDs.

The Space
In 2012, an online virtual museum (The Space) was created with the purpose (in part) of outlining Peel's collection. It has been organised and funded by the Arts Council and the BBC: the driving force behind the project were Sheila, Eye Film And Television and the JPCCA. Copyright difficulties preclude direct access to the music: instead, at the rate of 100 LPs a month, chosen alphabetically, will be highlighted by specially filmed video interviews with the artists concerned and a limited online listening facility is to be provided. In addition, previously unseen Peel footage, including home movies, will be provided to view. Charlie Gauvain, production partner for the JPCCA, mentions it will take the form of two virtual rooms, one of which is Peel's studio.

This project is scheduled to continue for 26 weeks until the initial grant ceases ceases, after which further funding will be sought to continue it. It can be found at The Space.

Links
8Can It Really Be Happening?: JPCCA introductory article
 * EADT24 article
 * John Peel Archive on Twitter
 * Guardian feature
 * The Independent article


 * Footnotes