I first discovered John Peel, the legendary BBC DJ, in the music library of my college radio station. I found that most seminal bands from the 70s, 80s, and 90s had a “Peel Sessions” album in their oeuvre, a collection of live recordings broadcasted from Peel’s BBC studio. I was fascinated with these alternate versions of some of my favorite bands’ songs. Peel had a knack for finding new sound in the familiar.
Check out this delicate version of Jesus and Mary Chain’s Some Candy Talking:
Peel was known for his eclectic and adventurous taste, and it is not surprising that he amassed an extensive record collection over his lifetime, nearing 526,000 albums. Thanks to the efforts of a British arts organization, you can see his record library here. Some albums are available for streaming, but just as interesting as the music itself is the album artwork and Peel’s personal touches. (He included a notecard with each record on which he typed the name of the artist and tracklistings).
It looks like his collection has only been digitized through the N’s so far and includes only the first 100 albums for each letter, but there’s no shortage of diversity (the H’s alone include selections as disparate as Merle Haggard, Hall and Oates, and the Halo Benders). The interactive interface approximates the visceral experience of thumbing through records. You can almost smell the dusty cardboard.
See also:
Top 125 Peel Sessions of All Time
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