As a DJ with a passion for new music, John Peel looms large as an influence. He is a frequent, if tacit, point of reference for MMMT. And now we can all rummage through his record collection.

For those of you who have never heard of him, these quotes should give you some idea:

John’s favourite single

“John Peel was the most important figure in British music since the birth of rock’n'roll. Full stop.”
Andy Kershaw

“John Peel’s the most important DJ of all time, I think.”
Jack White

“Perhaps it’s possible that John can form some kind of nightmarish career out of his enthusiasm for unlistenable records and his delight in writing long and facetious essays.”
From one of John’s school reports.

PLAY ‘Teenage kicks’

At any rate, although he remains stubbornly dead (since 2004), The John Peel Centre for Creative Arts is in the process of making public his record collection. Even if his name was new to you at the top of this page, you’ll gather that I think this is a big deal. It’s also very nicely presented. Where possible, there are links to the audio on Spotify. Find it here.

There’s lots more about John here. I’ll not discuss him further, except to direct you to his Desert Island Disc choices. If they are unrepresentative, as some would doubtless say, that is probably unavoidable.

P.S. The titular quote? It’s from remarks John made about his enthusiasm for new music.
P.P.S. In contrast to John Peel’s collection, hip-hop producer J Dilla’s record collection contained ”nothing… that you wouldn’t find in any flea market or garage sale”.