ARTIST....: Pete Tong
TITLE.....: Pool Party Miami Beach Florida (WMC)-SAT-03-23
GENRE.....: House
SOURCE....: Radio
RELDATE...: Mar-23-2007
AiRDATE...: Mar-23-2007
TRACKS....: 01
LENGTH....: 127:19 min
SIZE......: 156,7 MB
QUALITY...: VBRkbps
NR. NAME. TiME:
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01. Pool_Party_Miami_Beach_Florida_(WMC)-SAT-03-23 127:19
TOTAL: 127:1t
RELNOTES..:
Name: Pete Tong
Music Style: House, Progressive
Website: http://www.trustthedj.com/PeteTong/
Amazon: Find "Pete Tong" at Amazon
Outlar-Listed Events: 22 (Rank #24)
Outlar Cross-references: Deep Dish, Carl Cox, Steve Lawler, Danny Howells,
Laurent Garnier, Jeff Mills, Judge Jules, Danny Rampling, Chemical Brothers,
Nation, Yousef, Eddie Halliwell, Jon Carter, DJ Yoda, Axwell, Gabriel & Dresden,
Plump DJs, Brendan Long, Wandy, MYNC Project, Inbetween DJs, Lee Coombs, Meat
Katie, Anthony Probyn, Paul Woolford, Nic Fanciulli, Rowan Blades, Drumattic
Twins, Jo Mills, King Unique, Mutiny, Rogue Element, X-Press 2, Pete Gooding,
H-Foundation, Kingpin, Paul Harris, Mark Knight, Rebekah, Smokin Jo, Tom Noone,
Matthew Dekay, Tania Vulcano, D Ramirez, Sonique, Lisa Loud, Lo-Fidelity
Allstars, Simon Baker, Guy Gerber, James Mowbray, Warbgasm, James Talk, Crazy P,
Cajuan, Wally Lopez
Pete Tong Intro: ''For Pete Tong, whose consummate involvement in all areas of
dance music has made him a genuine household name in the UK, these are exciting
times: every aspect of his considerably varied career is currently undergoing
either consolidation, change, or creation anew.
As a DJ, not only is Tong is enjoying increasing international popularity,
especially in the USA, plus Australia and the Far East as part of a new
worldwide tour, he is also returning to Pure Pacha in Ibiza this summer for his
residency. As a broadcaster who brought dance to the masses via his Essential
Selection show at Radio One - he continues to have one of the most listened to
shows at Radio 1 both live and on-line with millions of listeners weekly not
just in the UK but worldwide too. As a producer, Tong is set to release some new
material in various guises plus some film soundtracks in the not too distant
future. As an innovator, Tong has just completed the worldÆs very first
collection of TV-style music shows, aired weekly direct to mobile phones. And as
an icon, Tong has been the inspiration behind a new feature film ôItÆs All Gone
Pete Tongö.
Such a range of high-profile activities seems a long way removed from Tong's
beginnings as a mobile DJ in Kent during his teens. But for all his current fame
and acclaim, you'd be hard put to find someone whose progression has been more
organic. In fact, in many ways, Pete's story runs parallel to the growth of
dance music in the UK.
When he was at school, hard rock ruled the roost, and Pete tried playing in
bands, but after seeing a DJ playing actual records at a school disco and
deciding ôthat looked like much more fun," he never looked back. "DJing just
seemed to be my vocation." Initially, Pete followed that vocation to Soul
Weekenders in otherwise quiet sea-side towns like Caister and Prestatyn, where
he ôwas always the youngsterö who ran with a crowd of old-school DJs known as
the Soul Funk Mafia.
His involvement in that scene landed him a day job at Blues & Soul magazine
where he soon became features editor and began making appearances on the pirates
and BBC's Radio London. Out in clubland, meanwhile, he quickly learned a maxim
that still holds true today: "the only way to do it is to run your own club,
create your own scene." So Tong DJÆd a club in Baker Street called [Family]
Function, and simultaneously booked bands for a weekend alternative night: the
first one he hired was the then-unknown Culture Club.
An ability to explain what was then considered a fringe genre found him
presenting a dance music segment on Radio 1Æs Peter Powell show. But noticing
that daytime DJs had no control over the music they played, Tong eschewed
national radio opportunities, launching a soul show on Kent's newly-launched
Invicta station instead. By this time, his growing reputation for recognising
new talent saw him leave Blues and Soul for an A&R position at London Records, a
job he has held, in one manner or another, for almost twenty years.
In the mid-eighties, the old guard was swept away, as first the hip-hop and
electro sounds from New York, and then house music from Chicago, techno from
Detroit and the æBalearic BeatÆ in Ibiza, were embraced by a new set of young
London promoters and DJs. Pete Tong and his friend Nicky Holloway DJÆd in Ibiza
for the first time in 1986. The following year Holloway went with Oakenfold and
Danny Rampling, and upon return to London, succeeded in emulating the Ibiza
experience across clubland. The house generation was born.
Tong, in the thick of it all, was hired by Capital Radio to broadcast to the new
clubbers, which helped give him the clout to start a ælabel within a labelÆ at
London. Ffrr Records was born in 1988: hitting the charts immediately with Salt
n Pepa's 'Push It', Tong and ffrr became famous for conducting lightning raids
on the latest underground hits and propelling them up the charts. "I've been
lucky," says Tong. "I grew up at a time when the whole scene exploded, and I
worked with a bunch of people for a long period of time who empowered me to be
able to change things.''
The biggest change came in 1991, when Radio One recognised that it needed to
cater for the new, and permanent, youth culture. Pete was hired away from
Capital to host a brand new Friday evening show, the Essential Selection, which
gave him one of the most influential jobs in the business - broadcasting to the
Nation's record buying, club-going youth and, unlike his daytime predecessors,
choosing the music too.
Tong's success as a broadcaster, clubland DJ and music industry taste-maker has
been predicated on a precarious but successful balance between credibility - "I
look for originality and records with a lot of spirit and soul," - and
commerciality. "You can have good taste in your own world and be very obscure,"
he says of those DJs who ignore the crowd. This means that heÆs not afraid to
drop the hits onto the decks. "People forget it's entertainment," Tong explains.
"You've got these DJs coming on, and they'll inflict two or three hours of music
on the audience, and sometimes it's torture because it's all unknown. It doesn't
really work, and the music they're picking isn't really that good anyway. I
wouldnÆt be doing this if I couldnÆt champion new music, but a mix is the key.
And it's supposed to be fun.''
This readiness to entertain, tempered by a constant search for the next big
thing, enabled Tong to thrive throughout the 1990s. Ffrr grew from a
singles-based label to an album artist's breeding ground. The Essential
Selection spun off a show called the Essential Mix, enabling DJs worldwide to
showcase their mixing talents on national radio, and together these led to the
Essential compilations, with Tong producing several best-sellers himself. In the
mid-nineties, Radio 1 sought TongÆs advice on revamping their roster, and with
the arrival of Westwood, Judge Jules, Danny Rampling and co. to the national
airwaves, the revolution was complete.
Success, though, can bring complacency, something Tong is adamant to avoid.
"When you're on the radio for so long your audience stays the same age but you
get older. The new people come in and think of you as a radio DJ and not a club
DJ." With that in mind, Tong keeps his DJ schedule ever more packed as summer
approaches, spending time on the road, searching out new music as he plays
across the globe, broadcasting from select cities en route.
The Essential Mix series was launched in the States in 2000; Tong's debut
American mix CD was released not long after and was backed by extensive touring.
In March 2002, the Essential Selection was first broadcast from dance musicÆs
annual Winter Music Conference in Miami, which Tong says "...was a significant
moment for Radio 1, as major as when we did the first broadcast from Ibiza in
95." Just a month later, Tong was back in the States as opening act for the
Chemical Brothers, broadcasting from a tour stop in San Francisco before DJing
at the highly respected Coachella Festival. At every American stop, heÆs found
audiences fully familiar with his name, for which he partly credits the BBCÆs
strong online presence. ôAmerica's a very online savvy market, particularly with
dance music,ö he says. ôSo the awareness of me was much higher than I expected."
With the imminent ability to stream the Essential Selection for a full week
after broadcast at www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/, his worldwide audience will only
continue to grow.
Pete is particularly excited about this coming summerÆs residency at Ibiza,
playing FridayÆs from 11th June to 1st October at Pure Pacha, "the sexiest club
on earthö. Pure Pacha will be the first opening party on the island and it is
sure to be something special. Guests during the season include Carl Cox, Danny
Howells, Deep Dish, Jeff Mills, Laurent Garnier, Steve Lawler & Satoshie Tomiie
to name just a few.
That the dance market has plateau'd after more than ten years solid growth
should be seized upon as a good thing, Tong believes. "It sorts out the men from
the boys. A few labels go down, a few shit records go down, but people still
want to go out and have a good time. People love music, make no mistake about
that, whether and how they buy it right now is one thing but people still want
to partyàitÆs our job to come up with new parties, new nights, new venues, new
themes to keep the scene fresh and exciting."
Pete has also returned to the studio soon himself. Following his successes with
the Twisted Beats compilation, his triple mix CD Tune In, Turn On and Crash Out,
his acclaimed work assembling the music for the movies The Beach, Human Traffic
and 24 Hour Party People; his increased involvement in soundtracks has
encouraged him to produce some of his own music. In the past, making and
producing music seemed like one thing too many, besides, "When I was running a
label I would ask myself where I would find the time in my life to do it. Now,
having left the record label, I have made a space where I can write and create
if for no other reason than to please myself!ö
In the meantime, the ever-active Pete still sees his vocation as he did when he
started out, playing other peopleÆs records to get an audience dancing. ôWe need
to constantly remember why people want to come to clubs - which is simply to
have a great time and feel the music.ö With Tong behind the decks, thereÆs
little worry of failure on that score.''
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