"The Essential Mix programme was originally produced by Radio 1 producer Eddie Gordon, who held the post from 1993 to 2001. After receiving weekly mix shows from DJs Tony Humphries and Frankie Knuckles on two-hour cassettes from New York'sHot 97 and KISS 100 respectively in the early Nineties Eddie felt that a Radio 1 weekly show with DJs of different styles of music would offer more variety and the chance for the ever burgeoning UK dance music scene to flourish."
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. The first show, fronted by Gordon's protege Tong, was broadcast on 11 January 1991, produced by Gordon and aired 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". From 29 September 2006 to at least 2013, the show has been entitled simply, "Pete Tong", 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. In 2014, the show times changed from 9:00pm to 11:00pm, and it’s still live every Friday night.
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 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 on CRI Hit FM under its original name from 5 May 2012. So it can be listened to at Beijing and ShanghaiEvolution with Pete Tong on Evolution was distributed by Premiere Networks in a 2 hour format, from June 2013 to December 2016.
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.
