In collaboration with The Space, the John Peel Archive is exploring the cultural context of what lies on the shelves, as we delve deeper into John’s treasure trove with the help of key figures involved with the music. The “Record Box" format allows their musical selections to be heard and stories told – like a kind of super mixtape with the curator’s scribbles splashed around the casing of our virtual D90s.
These Record Boxes form the foundation of our vision to create thousands of interrelated Record Boxes – openly compilable by anyone – spanning the knowledge and everyday experiences of the diverse musical history that has come to define a nation’s counter-cultural identity.
The first of the six Record Boxes commissioned by The Space has been compiled by Joe Boyd, legendary producer and founder of the UFO club in the 1960s; discoverer of Pink Floyd among others and producer of many seminal records from Fairport Convention to Nick Drake.