Salford's Peter Hook is one of an array of stars who have donated words and music for Challenge 81, an online fundraiser this Sunday 30th August, to help community owned arts venue, the John Peel Centre.
The centre is based in Stowmarket, Suffolk, near the former Peel Acres home of the most legendary DJ of them all, and it aims to 'foster the creative energy of local people and enable wider enjoyment of the arts in the area...'.
Tomorrow would have been John Peel's 81st birthday and, to celebrate, the centre is hosting a series of challenges throughout the day, culminating in 81 Minutes of Music, which will be broadcast free via YouTube.*
Amongst those donating tracks and memories, apart from Peter Hook, are The Wedding Present, Billy Bragg, Tim Burgess, Fairport Convention, Badly Drawn Boy, Pip Blom, Zion Train, Richard Dawson, Clint Boon, Jesca Hoop, Jeffrey Lewis, Tony Walsh and Pete Wylie. Award-winning cartoonist, Tony Husband, has also created a unique cartoon for the event (see photo).
The White Stripes, who appeared on many of the famous John Peel sessions, have also chosen the John Peel Centre as one of the three charities to benefit from an online auction organised by Nashville's Third Man Records featuring guitars, amplifiers, personal items, notes, stage equipment, and other one-of-a-kind items from the label's archives and owner, Jack White and The White Stripes' musical career and collection.**
To kick-start 81 Minutes of Music, John's wife, Sheila Ravenscroft - who is also a patron of the John Peel centre - will be playing tracks from his unique catalogued record collection at 6.30pm on the day...
"I'm very much looking forward to being part of this special event by playing some tunes from John's collection of 26,000 records" she says "I'll be playing tracks 8 and 1 from record numbers 8100, 8181 and 0839 - all the numbers being associated with John's date of birth.
"Challenge 81 will be an opportunity for people all over the world to watch online and hear a diverse selection of artists who have never been part of the same line-up before" she adds "Not only will it be a unique fundraising event for a venue that is very special to us, we hope it will inspire other struggling venues up and down the country who have been affected by the pandemic. We'd love Challenge 81 to become an annual event, but hopefully in better times when we can all experience live music again!"
* Challenge 81 and 81 Minutes of Music takes place tomorrow Sunday 30th August on the John Peel Centre You Tube Channel click here
Sheila's record spinning takes place from 6:30pm
81 Minutes of Music starts at 7:30pm
To donate to the John Peel Centre and for more details of the day's challenges and programme click here
See also the Facebook event page - click here
** The online auction from Nashville ends on August 30th click here to see and bid for items.
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