John Peel’s Record Collection to Become Online Museum
If you’re at all familiar with British radio, the history of the BBC or anything to do with post-punk music in the UK, you’ll know of DJ John Peel and his contributions to music. He died of a heart attack while in South America on October 25, 2004.
Peel left behind a huge record collection featuring material of outstanding historical importance. Since his death, however, this material–a rumoured 25,000 LPs, 40,000 singles and untold thousands of CDs–has been just sitting there.
However, the BBC and the Arts Council have come up with some cash to put all of Peel’s collection online in an interactive museum. The goal is to digitally recreate the entire collection and make it accessible to the public.
Obviously, this is a hugely complex undertaking. But at least it’s underway.