Peter "Pete" Tong (born July 30, 1960) is an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
DJA disc jockey is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, dis
k referred to phonograph records, while dis
c referred to the Compact Disc, and has become the more common spelling...
who works for
BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the BBC which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock or interviews. It is aimed...
. He is known worldwide by fans of
electronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
for hosting programmes such as
Essential MixThe Essential Mix is a weekly radio show broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and features all styles of electronic dance music. Originally the brainchild of Eddie Gordon, the producer of the show from the very first broadcast in 1993 to 2001...
and
Essential SelectionThe Essential Selection was a radio show on Friday evenings 6:00pm-9:00pm on BBC Radio One, hosted by Pete Tong. It started in early 1991 and showcased the latest electronic dance music, with an emphasis on house...
on the radio service, which can be heard through
Internet radioInternet radio is an audio broadcasting service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted broadly through wireless means...
streams, for his record label
FFRR RecordsFFRR Records is a subsidiary of London Records, founded and run by English DJ Pete Tong. FFRR has also two subsidiaries: Double F Double R records and Ffrreedom Records.The label's "ear" logo was copied from the original ffrr logo source....
, and for his own performances at
nightclubA nightclub is a drinking, dancing and entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. People who frequent nightclubs are known as clubbers...
s across the globe. Tong has also worked as a
record producerIn the music industry, a record producer has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes...
and is known by the nickname of Lord of the Dance.
The phrase
"It's all gone a bit Pete Tong", where the name is used as
cockney rhyming slangRhyming slang is a form of slang in which a word is replaced by a rhyming word, typically the second word of a two-word phrase . The second word is then often dropped entirely , meaning that the association of the original word to the rhyming phrase is not obvious to the uninitiated...
for
"wrong", was reputedly first coined by
Mark RadcliffeMark Radcliffe is an English broadcaster who has worked in various roles for the BBC since the 1980s and remains one of Britain's most recognised DJs...
.
Peter "Pete" Tong (born July 30, 1960) is an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
DJA disc jockey is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, dis
k referred to phonograph records, while dis
c referred to the Compact Disc, and has become the more common spelling...
who works for
BBC Radio 1BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the BBC which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock or interviews. It is aimed...
. He is known worldwide by fans of
electronic musicElectronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
for hosting programmes such as
Essential MixThe Essential Mix is a weekly radio show broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and features all styles of electronic dance music. Originally the brainchild of Eddie Gordon, the producer of the show from the very first broadcast in 1993 to 2001...
and
Essential SelectionThe Essential Selection was a radio show on Friday evenings 6:00pm-9:00pm on BBC Radio One, hosted by Pete Tong. It started in early 1991 and showcased the latest electronic dance music, with an emphasis on house...
on the radio service, which can be heard through
Internet radioInternet radio is an audio broadcasting service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted broadly through wireless means...
streams, for his record label
FFRR RecordsFFRR Records is a subsidiary of London Records, founded and run by English DJ Pete Tong. FFRR has also two subsidiaries: Double F Double R records and Ffrreedom Records.The label's "ear" logo was copied from the original ffrr logo source....
, and for his own performances at
nightclubA nightclub is a drinking, dancing and entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. People who frequent nightclubs are known as clubbers...
s across the globe. Tong has also worked as a
record producerIn the music industry, a record producer has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes...
and is known by the nickname of Lord of the Dance.
The phrase
"It's all gone a bit Pete Tong", where the name is used as
cockney rhyming slangRhyming slang is a form of slang in which a word is replaced by a rhyming word, typically the second word of a two-word phrase . The second word is then often dropped entirely , meaning that the association of the original word to the rhyming phrase is not obvious to the uninitiated...
for
"wrong", was reputedly first coined by
Mark RadcliffeMark Radcliffe is an English broadcaster who has worked in various roles for the BBC since the 1980s and remains one of Britain's most recognised DJs...
. However, on his show of 28 November 2005, Mark Radcliffe credited his erstwhile sidekick
Marc "Lard" RileyMarc Riley is a British musician, alternative rock critic and radio DJ on BBC 6 Music. Formerly a member of The Fall, he had his own record label, In-Tape, and also worked as a record plugger. Marc has worked in radio since about 1990 and for 14 years of that he worked with Mark Radcliffe on BBC...
with inventing the term.
It's All Gone Pete TongIt's All Gone Pete Tong is a 2004 Canadian fictional independent mockumentary about Frankie Wilde , a DJ who goes completely deaf. The title is a reference to a rhyming slang phrase used in Britain in the 2000s, referring to the BBC Radio 1 DJ Pete Tong, standing for "it's all gone wrong"...
is also the title of a 2004 film which portrays a DJ's experiences as he realizes he is becoming deaf. Tong appears briefly in the film as himself.
In 2008 he was involved with the founding of the
International music summitInternational Music Summit is a 3-day dance music conference that takes place in Ibiza. It is described by founder Pete Tong as "an intense networking environment with the glamour and glitz of my favorite party island of Ibiza, but with a Back to Business ethos and leading into the official Ibiza...
in
IbizaIbiza is an island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Iberian Peninsula Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses...
.
Early years
Pete Tong was born in
Hartley, KentThis article is about the village in North Kent, England. For the South Kent village see Hartley. For other uses, see Hartley ....
in July 1960 and was educated at King's School, Rochester, Kent.
Tong's original musical interest was in drumming, but he soon moved on to DJing. He played his first public gig at a friend's wedding aged 15. While at school he and a couple of mates earned some extra money by promoting a couple of local bands, booking halls for gigs etc. He also worked as part of the Kent "Soul Mafia" bringing soul weekenders to seaside towns like
Caister-on-SeaCaister-on-Sea is a seaside resort and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the coast, some north of Great Yarmouth.The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 8,756 in 3,970 households...
and
PrestatynPrestatyn is a seaside resort in Denbighshire, North Wales. It is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. At the 2001 Census, Prestatyn had a population of 18,496.-Prehistory:...
.
Initially after leaving school he set up a mobile disco based in a transit van, but he soon started his own club in Baker Street called
Family Function. He also booked bands for an alternative night, the first of which was the then unknown
Culture ClubCulture Club were a British pop group that formed in the early 1980s. The band consisted of Boy George , Andy Woodard , Roy Hay , and Jon Moss...
.
In 1979, he became a staff writer for
Blues & Soul Magazine. After a year he was promoted to features editor, a position he would hold until 1983. He left Blues & Soul to join
London RecordsLondon Records is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 through 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label.-History:...
as an
A&RArtists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
manager.
Through his connections in London Records Tong was exposed to the newly emerging
house musicHouse is a style of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American and Latino American communities, first in Chicago, then in New York City, New Jersey, Detroit and Miami...
sound from
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
. In 1986, Tong organised a compilation album,
The House Sound of Chicago, Vol. 1, the first British release to gather and expose this genre.
Radio career
Tong's first appearance on radio was in the late 1970s on Radio Invicta 92.4fm, Europe's first soul station. He joined a rotation of nightclub djs including Steve Walsh, Chris Hill, Chris Brown and others to present monthly guest shows. Later he appeared on local radio station
BBC Radio MedwayBBC Radio Kent is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Kent. Launched in 1970 as BBC Radio Medway, originally serving the Medway Towns from Chatham...
in the 'Soul Mafia' and doing occasional mixes for
Radio LondonBBC London 94.9 is London's BBC Local Radio station, and part of BBC London. Broadcasting across Greater London and beyond on 94.9 FM, DAB, Virgin Media Channel 930, Sky Digital Channel 0152 and also online. Previously known as BBC London Live, GLR and Radio London...
. In 1981 he made his first appearance on Radio 1 hosting a 15 minute feature on
Peter PowellPeter Powell was a popular BBC Radio 1 disc jockey in the late 1970s and 1980s.-Early career:...
's show, playing the new tracks and covering the latest gossip and news from the dance world.
When Invicta Radio started up in Kent in 1984, Tong joined them to host a regular soul show, where assisted by local Kent journalist Eddie Gordon of the
Kent MessengerThis article is about the weekly paper for the Maidstone region. For the Kent Messenger Group, see KM Group.The Kent Messenger is a weekly newspaper serving the town of Maidstone, and the surrounding areas, in Kent...
he built up a big county profile.
Tong stayed at Invicta until 1987. He was then hired by
Capital Radio95.8 Capital FM is a popular London local radio station owned by the Global Radio group.-Early years:This local radio station for London, which was based on the first two floors of the Euston Tower, was originally named Capital Radio, and was launched by then-chairman Richard Attenborough at 5:00...
in 1988 at the suggestion of DJ Jeff Young to present a weekly dance programme. DJ Jeff Young having initially been offered the slot by Capital went to BBC Radio 1 to broadcast a weekly Friday night show called
The Big Beat"The Big Beat" is a song from the musical Over Here!, which opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre on March 6, 1974. The song was written by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman. It is the final "up-tempo" song of the second act, prior to the bitter-sweet finale number.-External...
.
In 1991 Tong returned to national radio after his manager Eddie Gordon talked the then departing DJ Jeff Young into suggesting him to BBC Radio 1 as the ideal replacement for the "hot" Friday night slot. Tong began his long stint as the host of the
Essential Selection.
The
Essential SelectionThe Essential Selection was a radio show on Friday evenings 6:00pm-9:00pm on BBC Radio One, hosted by Pete Tong. It started in early 1991 and showcased the latest electronic dance music, with an emphasis on house...
was a BBC Radio 1 show that aired on Friday nights from 6-9pm between 1991 and 2006. From 29th September 2006 the show lost the name of Essential Selection and was referred to as simply "Pete Tong", and now aired 7-9pm until 11th September 2009. The programme showcased the latest dance & electronic music,and informed listeners what club nights were on around the United Kingdom that weekend. It was endorsed by Radio 1 as the official start to the weekend, and attracted one of the highest audiences for a dance radio show in the UK.
On 25 September 2009 Pete Tong began in a new slot 9pm-11pm GMT, every Friday evening.
DJing
Tong is one of the world's most recognised DJs. He drew people from all over the world to the famous
Pure Pacha nights held at the
PachaPacha is a clubbing franchise with headquarters in Ibiza. The first Pacha club was opened in Sitges outside Barcelona in 1967. The Ibiza club, however, is the most well-known and prestigious venue today and is one of two of the island's top clubs located in Ibiza Town, the other being El Divino...
nightclub in
IbizaIbiza is an island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Iberian Peninsula Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses...
. Tong was Pure Pacha resident from 2003 to 2007.
In 2008 Tong left Pacha and signed up for
EdenEden may refer to:*Garden of Eden, a place described in the biblical book of Genesis-People:*Eden , a family name and a given name *Eden Baronets, two English baronetcy families- Film and television :...
in
Sant Antoni de PortmanySant Antoni de Portmany is a town on the western coast of Ibiza. It was called San Antonio Abad in Spanish until 1986, when its Catalan official name was restored. However, most English-speakers still refer to it as San Antonio. It is the second-largest town and municipality in Ibiza; an island...
, to host his own night "Wonderland". 2008 Tong played at the central station "Deák Ferenc Square" of the
Budapest MetroThe Budapest Metro is the metro system in the Hungarian capital Budapest. It is the third-oldest underground metro system in the world, after the London Underground of 1863 and the Mersey Railway of 1886...
(Hungary) specially equipped for only one night. The audience (ca. 2000) was recruited with a free online registration.
External links