Running time 2 hours | ||
Home station Digitally imported/radio syndication Starring Pete Tong & various artists | ||
The Essential Selection is a radio show on Friday evenings on BBC Radio 1, originally conceived by producer Eddie Gordon and hosted by Pete Tong.
Contents
History
The show was originally conceived by Radio1 producer Eddie Gordon, who had been receiving weekly two-hour-long mixes on cassette from DJ's Tony Humphries on New York's Hot 96, and Frankie Knuckles at KISS 100. Gordon pitched the idea of a UK based Dance music show, with an emphasis on house, that show-cased different DJs and styles of music and offer an outlet for UK dance music.
To be fronted by Gordon's protege Tong, the first show was broadcast in 1991, produced by Gordon and airing from 7.30pm to 10.00pm. The show was subject to scheduling adjustments over the subsequent fifteen years, varying in duration from 2 hours to 3.5 hours, broadcast within the time frame from 6.00pm to 10.00pm. The show was the first BBC production to broadcast live from Ibiza, Spain. Gordon left the show in 2003, when it changed to a three-hour length. In addition, a one-hour Sunday edition of the programme was broadcast at 7.00pm from April 1992 to April 1993, called "The Essential Selection - Part 2".
Since 29 September 2006, the show has been entitled simply, "Pete Tong" (although the feature "Essential New Tune" remains), and is currently broadcast from 10.00pm to 1.00am. The 500th show was broadcast on 23/24 April 2010, featuring Tong on the Friday night, and Tong plus DJ's Sasha and Richie Hawtin live from Circus nightclub in Liverpool.
Format
A regular feature of the show is Tong's designation of one track as the Essential New Tune of the week. Often, the track in question may be only available in white label releases at the time. This is a significant accolade within the dance music community, and a number of Essential New Tunes have gone on to become classics in terms of club play
International versions
Versions of the show are exported outside of the UK. In Vancouver, Canada, the show, under its original name it aired Saturday evenings from 8:00pm–10:00pm on The Beat 94.5FM, but was taken off air from Summer of 2008. In China, the show is aired Saturday evenings from 10:00pm–12:00pm (2:00pm - 4:00pm UTC) on CRI Hit FM under its original name from 5 May 2012. So it can be listened at Beijing (FM 88.7MHz) and Shanghai (FM 87.9MHz)
Discography
List of Essential Selection albums, the chart numbers written next to the titles are their entry in the UK Compilation Chart The limited editions of the albums had to chart separately from the standard editions due to chart regulations. The limited editions are distinguished from the standard editions by a different cover and a third disc (standard editions have two discs).