Pete Tong

Born in Kent in 1960, Tong took to Djing from an early age and played his first public gig at 15. Never sticking to just one thing though, Tong took on many roles while he was coming of age. He and school friends used to promote local bands for extra cash, he booked for a local alternative night and even became held the ‘features editor’ position at ‘Blues & Soul’ magazine. He left this role to become an A&R for London Records and this is when he was first introduced to the new sounds of Chicago House.

Tong fell in love immediately and arranged a compilation album ‘The House Sound of Chicago, Vol. 1’ , a first for the relatively new genre in the UK.

Tong helped to further popularize the genre when he took the helm at a new Electronic Music radio show the BBC were launching and in 1993, alongside producer Eddie Gordon, the ‘Essential Mix’ was launched. The show gained popularity among the booming House music crowd both in the UK and internationally and before long, Pete Tong was an in demand DJ.

He has had residencies in Ibiza, been appointed MBE for his services towards Broadcasting and Music and was behind a number of popular compilations that were all over the charts in the late 90s.

The man might have begun DJing in the late seventies but his beginnings in the music industry proper were behind the scenes. His first major break was his job as an A&R man for Champion Records, a London based record label known for its soul and dance music.

He scouted his adopted home town of New York City, USA for talent and, unarguably, he found it. He didn’t just sign Salt-N-Pepa to the label; he also signed a little known duo called DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince. Yes, technically speaking we have this man to thank for Will Smith’s film career.

This would make a career in its own right but Oakenfold wasn’t done yet. In 1987 the success of a birthday party of his in Ibiza led him to create one of the first major acid house club nights in the UK, this was the time that he started being recognized for his ability as a DJ and in his downtime from the night, started putting together music of his own.

That spark of creativity became a fire in the late 80s and all of the 90s, where he was pretty much the UK’s biggest name in electronic music. His remixes for Happy Mondays were top five singles, he was invited to DJ at The Stone Roses’ legendary Spike Island concert and in 1990, he won a Brit award for his production on the Happy Mondays album “Pills ‘n’ Thrills ‘n’ Bellyaches”.

As the 90s continued, he played to 90’000 people at the 1995 Glastonbury Festival and his remix of the U2 song “Even Better Than The Real Thing” charted higher than the original in the UK, such was his popularity. Unlike many musicians popular in the 1990’s, however, he didn’t implode by the end of the decade.

2002 saw the release of his debut album “Bunkka”, it went on to sell one million copies world-wide and truly cemented him at the top of his game. Since then he’s done official remixes for everyone from Radiohead to Madonna, even stopping off in between to record his own version of the James Bond theme in 2002.

Oakenfold might just be the man who legitimised electronic music to the mainstream music world. And for that, he deserves the respect of any and every true music fan. He’s a legend, and he will be for a very long time.

Raised on a diet of electronic music and melodic classical composers including Jean Michel Jarre, Bracegirdle learned to play both the piano an guitar before he reached his teens. By the age of 12, determined to pursue melodic electronic dance music, the musician was crafting demos in recording studios to subsequently send to labels. Initially garnering attention under the moniker Disco Citizens in 1995, Bracegirdle released the Top 40 hit “Right Here Right Now”. In 1996 the name was changed to Chicane and the musician issued the four-track EP “Cyanide Music Volume One”, drawing influence from Deep house, new disco and Big Beat. A year later the EP “Offshore” was released catapulting Bracegirdle to notoriety and spawning the Top 20 UK single of the same name. The single “Offshore” also charted well across Europe, at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music Charts, and featured on a number of club-themed compilation albums.

Bracegirdle’s subsequent single “Sunstroke” also proved a popular release, after which Chicane issued his debut full-length “Far from the Maddening Crowds” in September 1997. Considered a highly influential album in the Trance music community, the record charted at No. 47 on the UK Albums Chart and spawned a number of dance hits. The producer subsequently issued the single “Saltwater” featuring Clannad’s vocalist Máire Brennan, which marked his highest charting single to date at No. 6 on the UK pop charts. A radio friendly remix of Bryan Adams’ “Cloud No. 9” was subsequently released after which Adams contributed heavily vocoded vocals to Bracegirdle’s next single “Don’t Give Up”. Debuting at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart as well as the Australian and Russian Singles Chart, the single represented his biggest hit to date.

The full-length “Behind the Sun” arrived in March 2000 led by the singles “Saltwater”, “Don’t Give Up”, “No Ordinary Morning” and “Autumn Tactics”. The record charted well in the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, however was unable to match the success of its predecessor. Following a lawsuit with label Xtravaganza from 2002 to 2004, Bracegirdle left the label and moved to WEA in an attempt to release his third full-length “Easy to Assemble”, which was ultimately leaked online.

After signing with Universal Music Group, Chicane issued the single “Stoned in Love” featuring singer Tom Jones. Ahead of his third studio album, Bracegirdle promoted “Stoned in Love” with appearances on "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross", "Top of the Pops", "The New Paul O’Grady Show". The full-length “Somersault” was released in July 2007 on Chicane’s own Modena label. Earning mixed reviews the album featured the singles “Stoned in Love” and “Come Tomorrow”. The EP “Re-Work” appeared in the summer of 2009, after which Bracegirdle issued his fourth studio album “Giants”, dubbed as a return to form for the artist. The record was succeeded by “Thousand Mile Stare” in 2012, and “The Sum of Its Parts” in 2015.