Pete Tong

Pete Tong

Pete Tong is a DJ, broadcaster and A&R figure from Dartford, United Kingdom, born in 1960. He works in electronic, electronica and house music, and is associated with BBC Radio 1, Essential Recordings, FFRR and Places & Spaces. He is also linked with Lingua Franca and Tong & Spoon.

Early career

Tong grows up in Dartford and is educated in Rochester. In his teens, he is inspired by the underground soul scene of the late 1970s, alongside artists including Funkadelic, James Brown and Evelyn "Champagne" King. His first DJ job is at a wedding when he is 15. He then promotes local bands, books gigs in a town hall near Kent and, as part of the Kent "Soul Mafia", plays black soul and dance music in clubs.

After leaving school, he buys a Transit van and sets up his own sound system. In 1979 he becomes a journalist for Blues & Soul, becoming features editor the following year and holding that role until 1983. He also presents on local radio stations including BBC Radio Medway and BBC Radio London.

Radio work

Tong gets his first Radio 1 break presenting a regular 15-minute dance music feature on Peter Powell’s show. He later joins Invicta, a newly launched Kent station, where he presents a soul show for three years before briefly returning to Radio London. He then moves to Capital Radio, where his weekly dance programme becomes popular with London clubbers.

In 1991 he begins presenting Essential Selection on Radio 1 every Friday evening. The show focuses mainly on house, while also including techno, jungle, hip hop, funk and soul from Britain and abroad. It becomes a major gateway for dance music on UK radio and is later described as Radio 1’s most popular dance music show.

Tong also plays a role in the reshaping of BBC Radio 1 in the mid-1990s, with his ideas helping bring DJs including Tim Westwood, Danny Rampling, Judge Jules, Carl Cox, Fabio and Grooverider onto the station. His work contributes to the station’s daytime playlist reflecting the influence of modern electronic music.

Record label and A&R work

In 1983 Tong becomes A&R manager at London Records. He continues in that area while developing his radio career and works on pop acts including Bananarama. In 1988, after the rise of acid house, he launches FFRR through London Records to release electronic music from the United States and black dance artists. Early releases include "Baby Wants To Ride" by Chicago, Simon Harris’s "Bass (How Low Can You Go?)" and Salt-N-Pepa’s "Push It".

FFRR goes on to release records by Steve "Silk" Hurley, D Mob, Smith & Mighty, Cookie Crew, Lil' Louis, The Brand New Heavies, Orbital and Goldie. Tong also remains active in A&R for London Records and is involved in signing All Saints. He A&Rs Shakespeare Sister’s "Stay", which reaches number one and remains at the top of the chart for six weeks.

Other work

Tong is a director of Wise Buddah, a production company associated with radio programmes presented by Danny Rampling, Seb Fontiane and Judge Jules. He is musical director on the films Human Traffic and The Beach. He also makes his first television appearance in 1998 with Clublife, a 90-minute BBC documentary based on Mixmag’s annual dance awards.

Live work and wider profile

Tong tours the United States for the first time in 2000, also performing in Cape Town and Johannesburg, playing on the terrace at Space in Ibiza, and hosting a float at Radio 1’s Love Parade event. He continues to play club dates and festival appearances, including Tribal Sessions at Sankey Soap in Manchester, Code in Birmingham, T in the Park, Creamfields and Homelands.

His Essential Selection compilation series, released by FFRR, sells widely, and one edition includes a Madonna-approved appearance of "Drowned World" on a dance mix compilation.