From 1967 until his death in 2004, the BBC's John Peel came to be known as the voice of new and eclectic music in the U.K. and around the world. Originally poached by the BBC from the off-shore pirate radio station, Radio London, Peel was part of the vanguard that moved the network's radio service from a staunchly classical offering to something that reflected the taste of a new generation of Britons.
Over the course of his career, Peel acquired a personal music collection estimated to contain nearly 70,000 items, including 40,000 singles, 25,000 LPs and thousands of tapes and CDs. Recently, Peel's widow, Sheila Ravenscroft, the John Peel Centre for Creative Arts and The Space [thespace.org] teamed up to place a selection of Peel’s massive collection online. Over the next six months, they will present 100 albums per week from the collection via a graphic interface that features album artwork, Peel's notes and, in some cases, an option to listen via Spotify, iTunes or other online streaming services.
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