In 1980, he received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to produce recordings by visual artists, and in 1981 released Laurie Anderson’s first single "O Superman".
The initial donation of 47,000 discs that began ARC's collection came from George himself, who accumulated them in the interval between moving to New York and publishing the International Discography, noted below.
From 1982 to 1985, he produced an occasional survey of new American pop and experimental music for the BBC that was broadcast as part of The John Peel Show in the UK.
He has consulted on many film projects including Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ and Goodfellas, Tom Hanks' That Thing You Do, and Jonathan Demme’s Something Wild, Beloved and The Manchurian Candidate.
In early 2009 the ARChive partnered with Columbia University to create innovative academic initiatives and online content to help with the study, understanding and enjoyment of popular music from around the world.