When Pete Tong joined BBC Radio 1 from Capital in 1991 he was about to spark broadcasting revolution. Tong took over Friday night’s primetime Big Beat dance slot from the retiring Jeff Young and was soon being listened to in terms of what future direction he felt the national station should take.
The year was 1993 and Matthew Bannister had been newly installed as Radio 1 Controller. Bannister was keen to speak to his ‘on trend’ newcomer about overhauling things. In a 2005 interview with The Observer Tong explained: “I was perhaps a little naïve. I was new and I came from the club scene and they thought I was cool. So they asked my opinion of what to do and then went ahead and did it.”
Station old-timers Simon Bates and Steve Wright went and edgy young-bloods like Tim Westwood (recommended by Tong, with whom he’d worked at Capital) arrived. Tong had already revamped the Big Beat show into an engaging new format, The Essential Selection, and offered a powerful glimpse of Radio 1’s future. Flanked by other new and relevant programming, Tong’s Essential dance slot had all the momentum it needed to make a lasting impact.
Indeed, The Essential Selection has done more than simply help Radio 1 revitalise its fortunes; in the long-term, it has patiently supported electronic dance music’s remarkable rise to the top. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Tong’s Essential Selection has accelerated the acceptance and understanding of clubland by a society reliant, up to now, on older, often fiercely conservative musical ideas.
Andy Parfitt, Radio 1’s current controller, once commented how impressed he was by Tong’s management of the Essential ‘brand’ in the early days. “I was always struck by his level of strategic thinking; unlike some of the other DJs he always had an eye on the longer-term.”
The Essential Selection has endured a number of scheduling changes over the years but always aired for at least two hours each weekend (it is currently Fridays between 9-11pm). Such consistency within a radio industry whose other music stations regularly (and radically) swap slots around in order to better connect with their younger, more fragmented and increasingly demanding audiences, is commendable. It is part of the reason the show has been able to so successfully define the sonic world around it.
But content is also key, and Tong’s long-term vehicle has always worked hard to marry exclusive guest interviews with cutting-edge mixes and an extended rundown of new tracks, as varied as they are engaging. That rundown includes, of course, Tong’s Essential New Tune – a feature which has taken on a life of its own and, today, is highly regarded as taste-making barometer for the wider dance scene; more than that, the making (or maintaining) of careers.
There have been some fairly major ‘New Tunes’ across a wide range of dancefloor styles not least house – everything from Alison Limerick’s Where Love Lives to Sasha’s Xpander via Basement Jaxx’s Fly Life, Laurent Garnier’s Man With The Red Face, Daft Punk’s Da Funk and Mr Oizo’s deliciously grimy, downbeat banger Flat Beat.
“We wanted to give a real sense of the buzz of the dance scene, particularly in the build up to the weekend” Huw Owen confirms, producer of the Essential Selection between 1999 and 2002, and current producer of the Essential Mix. “We were pioneers in terms of mixing live and pre-planned content; we grabbed phone messages from DJs each week, exclusive guest mixes and interviews, the best new music… it wasn’t just a bunch of dance tracks, it was the club scene speaking to its people, and so it really stood out and still does.”
Some fairly serious careers have been made too – British house producer Simon Neale, better known by his studio pseudonym Dave Spoon, is perhaps best placed to agree. Spoon developed his love of electronic dance music through near obsessive listening to The Essential Selection every week. He was too young to go to clubs, so the Selection became something of an education.
“I remember when Pete was introduced on the old Radio 1 Roadshow as the new boy” he recalls. “I was just 13 and already obsessed with dance music but I didn’t know how much of an influence his shows would have on me, let alone the world. Like most, I’d quite simply not be doing my thing without Pete and all things ‘Essential’.”
Spoon’s star was born when Mark Knight opened an Essential Selection guest mix in 2004 with his debut cut 21st Century. The intense exposure led to huge follow-up hit At Night (in turn, reworked by a major label for release by So Solid Crew’s Lisa Maffia) and lucrative remix work for Dizzee Rascal, Paul Van Dyk and Robyn (a revamp of Every Heartbeat alongside Tong). Following that he’d land a role with Radio 1 as one of its In New DJs We Trust collective, not to mention compilation work with Ministry Of Sound and regular releases through Knight’s Toolroom stable.
Underworld perform live at Maida Vale Studios
The Essential Selection show, these days entitled simply ‘Pete Tong’, continues to attract a major worldwide audience of well over one million. Edits of the show are routinely exported aboard, special live broadcasts regularly take place in clubland capitals Miami and Ibiza, and, periodically, branded compilations gain release. All that considered alongside the advent of broadband internet it’s no surprise that Essential’s global reach has rocketed.
“Pete Tong and his Essential shows have been great supporters of the techno scene over the years” Plus 8 and Minus man Marco Carola suggests (…from over in Berlin). “The Essential Mix, in particular, has done so much to bring great techno artists to a huge audience. I worked really hard to make sure my own mix late last year was something I’d be proud of – it was important to make it a good entry.”
The Essential Mix, broadcast in the early hours of Saturday mornings and also hosted by Tong, has dovetailed perfectly with Radio 1’s main Friday night show ever since its October 1993 inception. Taking its queue from those legendary guest mix radio shows of late 1980s New York (featuring Tony Humphries and Frankie Knuckles), The Essential Mix was an uninterrupted two-hour ‘journey’ designed to effectively promote emerging jocks alongside international superstars. Participants had the freedom to play what they wanted; in turn, the show’s guest-list grew and grew, and the Essential name gained further prestige within the dance music community.
“The Essential shows summed up the era that they were broadcast in, particularly The Essential Mix because dance music works better in that context” DJHistory.com’s Bill Brewster remarks. “There were some classic mixes in there… Francois K’s last one [2006], Joey Negro in 96, Carl Craig in 95.”
Carl Craig
Not forgetting, surely, both Daft Punk and a Northern Soul’d David Holmes in 97, and Ashley Beedle’s monumental reggae effort from 98?
“Big name DJs drop everything when we invite them to do a mix” Owen comments. “They know it’s a really big deal and that’s testament to its reputation for breadth, depth and quality. The Essential Mix isn’t just about keeping the original fans happy, but bringing on new ones too. We like to mix things up a lot; which is the same for Radio 1’s wider dance schedule.”
Radio 1 is celebrating 20 years of The Essential Selection with a 12-hour ‘takeover’ on April 8. As well as overseeing a special live Maida Vale concert with Groove Armada and Chase & Status, and counting down the top 20 dance tunes of the past two decades (as voted for by listeners), Tong will drop his first Essential Mix in 16 years and provide the focal point for a one-off show by Rob Da Bank.
Has 20 years sunk in at all; does Tong realise what he’s achieved by spiritedly waving the Essential banner? “It’s a privilege and an honour to have been presenting my shows on BBC Radio 1 for the past 20 years. What started out as a passionate hobby turned into an amazing career” he reflects. “The station’s commitment to electronic dance music and culture has been absolutely fundamental to the scene’s growth and development not only in the UK but around the world and I am proud to be part of that story.”
So where does that story go next? “A lot of stations copy the Essential shows today but I think because they were so original when they launched, they’ve been able to build this enduring, iconic status” Owen concludes. “The competition, particularly from digital, has increased over the past five years and we’re acutely aware of that but we’re holding our own; people still want to start their weekend with us. You should check Twitter on Fridays or the banter when we’re in Ibiza each summer… amazing.”
Essential through and through...
Words: Ben Lovett
Pete Tong & Riva Starr - Future Underground is out April 11th - listen & pre-order
A Celebration of Pete Tong airs on BBC Radio 1 this week Friday from 7pm. Visit www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/petetong for more details.
