Pete Tong

No sarcasm from me. His R1 show was my lifeline in the early years when there was nothing else. I also met some good people through his forum who became real life pals. if nothing else I owe him that. However, obviously totally irrelevant to the music world I've been immersed in for the last 15-20 years. ps/ has he learnt how to beatmatch yet?
 
Strangely, DJs mixing skills have improved vastly since the Pioneer Nexus appeared... Jules/Healy/Rampling etc etc etc :D
 
Strangely, DJs mixing skills have improved vastly since the Pioneer Nexus appeared... Jules/Healy/Rampling etc etc etc :D

don’t make much difference surely - CDJ bpm readers have been pretty accurate since the mk2/mk3. Tong also used Ableton for a bit didn’t he
 
Stu Allans Hardcore half hour would have been interesting to hear on R1 ?
Seems that Patrick Topping is trying to cultivate the Makina style so there's always a chance (risk!) it will return..
 
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My introduction to dance music was via the Pat & Mick Friday Night Hot Mix on Capital FM. Was actually pretty good!

I'd say 2004 was when I finally gave up on Radio 1. Tong still occasionally played the odd decent tune but I was going deeper whereas he was championing Chris Lake or Angello or Toolroom stuff or even worse. You kind of sensed the game was up and I'd probably stuck around too long. it was at that point when I suddenly realised that I had got older and he hadn't even though he was 15 years older than me. which was weird. a bit like your dad saying get lost I've got new kids now. I think that probably coincided with the internet entering the second phase, the chaotic post-napster years when the internet was just a free for all and new channels, blogs were popping up everywhere. I think a lot of people clung on to the BBC out of habit but the truth is they have played catch up with the cool kids ever since. I tried with BBC 6 I really did, as you're supposed to after 40 but I just found them all so smug, so I eventually gave up on the radio altogether
 
I think my main issue with PT is he's just too smooth, too money-driven (see also Oakenfold and co). There's no real love for the records, just business opportunities whereas the people I really respect, the weatheralls, the peels, the harveys, the larry heards are primarily in it for the love of the music, which is why their fans worship them to the grave. There's nothing inherently wrong with being professional and championing stuff you think will be successful but equally it makes you very hard to warm to.
 
I think my main issue with PT is he's just too smooth, too money-driven (see also Oakenfold and co). There's no real love for the records, just business opportunities whereas the people I really respect, the weatheralls, the peels, the harveys, the larry heards are primarily in it for the love of the music, which is why their fans worship them to the grave. There's nothing inherently wrong with being professional and championing stuff you think will be successful but equally it makes you very hard to warm to.
I think you have said it before, he’s a businessman
 
Happy birthday Tongy! A true legend that has had a big part to play in UK and global club culture. He very much plays to the crowd in front of him rather than the self indulgence of many djs that have no concept of the club they’re in. He knows the job of a DJ is to entertain and that’s why over the years he’s had bookings from Gatecrasher to Fabric.

Fave Tong nights in no particular order-
1. Homelands with Digweed 2002/3 (?)
2. Zero Gravity, Dubai NYE 2015 - typical Dubai new year’s but Tongy actually managed to get the VIP sections interested.
3. Slinky - strange booking at the time but he played what would probably be prog trance (if that genre even exists) 1999
 
Pete Tong has always been an electronic music mainstay. He was at the forefront of the global club culture when my partying days were in their infancy 20 years ago. With the everchanging shape and sound of electronic beats & music (with of course the exception of a steady 'four on the floor' beat) it isn't difficult for even the most musically inept to be imaginative about the difficulty in standing apart, sounding good, and doing it with some class. I think Pete Tong has succeeded at that. His sound is appealing, & among a chorus of similar artists he stands strong.

Congratulations and best wishes to one of the world's greatest DJs... Many more to come! :)
 
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