English - WebDjs Italo Disco

Eddy is the artist who had the fortune to meet good producers and work with some exciting people. I was born Edward Huntington, in the UK, but Eddy is what friends call me and is a common short version of Edward. The only difference is, in the UK it is more usual to spell it Eddie!

I had a kind of telephone and video audition with Baby records and was then played the music to USSR over the phone. I flew to Milano to record it and then everything started to happen. The record was released without a contract and so, I very quickly agreed a contract with Esquire (Baby) for further work.

Turatti and Chieregato were the producers of all of the early stuff, and I was introduced to them in the recording studio at the time of recording USSR. The lyrics of most of the songs were written by Tom Hooker, who of course was the original American in Milan. All of them are fantastic people and I still have a great deal of regard for Roberto Turatti!

The songs were recorded in Milano initially at Baby Studio, but then at Hole Studios (Turatti's own studio).

I was extremely lucky to have USSR as my first song. It was a dream come true. I loved Italo music and other Eurobeat sounds (Disco, HINRG, Modern Talking etc.). USSR was, as I explained played in demo form over the phone to me. I loved it instantly and recorded it within the week. The next I knew, it was in the Italian charts and I never even knew it had been released !!

The song is a classic piece of Italo Disco and probably the truest to this style. The money was also spent on making a video and ensuring massive promotion. I appeared on TV in Italy, Portugal, France, Spain, Belgium, Germany and on video in many others, I flowed the Festival Bar trail in Italy and toured Italy and Portugal with some shows in Germany. If anything I spent too much time on this one song and never got around to promoting UP and Down, as I was still promoting USSR.

The album was made due to pressure from the Japanese market. Meet my Friend was a big success in the far east and incidentally my only UK release. It was also a big Dance hit in the USA. Anyway the album was made with a fantastic combination of Italo and Eurobeat styles. I like both, but I know that some people prefer one style or the other. I think that all the songs had potential, but the one which I feel crosses both styles is MayDay, and proved to be the biggest allround success. The track God is Love was originally Inshallah, but it was felt that iot may offend some people, so we made it more general and open to all Gods.

My favourite changes constantly, but I have to say there are probably 3, USSR because it was and is a classic, Hey Senorita because I like singing it live and MayDay, because I remember working hard in the studio with the team on this one. A little bit more about USSR. I remember year when you released it and one very favorite German magazine published song words with your picture. We didn't have lots of chance to see photos of our dearest italo disco artists.

Bravo magazine were very kind to me at the time and we had lots of interviews and photos including a time when they came to London to photograph me at home. This was excellent because Bravo is so well distributed and allows fans allover the world to see Italo and other artists. I loved reading it too to find out about Den and all of my friends in Italy as well as some of the artists in Germany that I had worked with.

USSR was on video, but not available to buy now. I was also on a video called Highway to Freedom, by Farenheit 104. After that there was a video made for Formel Eins in Germany for UP and Down (but this was horrible) the rest are just TV appearances (including one rare one for the Italo Boot Mix with JD Jaber, Joe Yellow etc).

Working on Festival Bar brought me close to many Italo stars and I worked with Den Harrow and Tom Hooker every week. I also got to meet Tracey Spencer, Spagna, Sandy Marton, Righera, Baltimora and many many others. Most of them were really friendly and we often ate or drank together before or after the shows. I also worked with lots of Brits and German stars too who were very nice, including Erasure, Sam Fox, OFF.

I have performed in many countries and have loved nothing more than live shows. The feeling is electric. The Hague was the first for many years and I was very nervous. The crowd were fantastic and I met some great people and made some good friends. The fans of Italo are a dedicated bunch, who really know there stuff, I remain very impressed!

I have an extremely busy life, as I teach full time and DJ and perform again. They too are usually very busy. This makes it nearly impossible to maintain quality friendships, though I do still have numbers to call as and when I or they get the time.

Again I have lots. Here goes Den Harrow : Future Brain and Mad Desire (original version) Lou Sern : Swiss Boy (Tom Hooker) Ken Laszlo : Tonight JD Jaber : Don't wake me up Spagna : Easy Lady (all classics and all still very good)

I once asked Turatti to write a song like Boys Boys Boys (musically) and he was not impressed, but no I was always very happy with my production team.

Things change and evolve. I think there is a very good new crop of songs, but they will never recapture the full Italo feel because it is not the 80's and we are all a little bit older. Memories can make things even bigger and better than they were. I feel that we should be true to our ears and give these new tunes a good listen to, they still have more to offer me than the other Dance music around (Trance, Techno and worse still rap!). Keep the balance but don't shut out the new or the music may just dry up.

In the UK it is harder to hear the sounds of Italo music, but with the advent of the internet it has become possible again. I am eternally grateful and enjoy all of the Italo stuff again! The artists I work with are always charming and I love to watch them perform too !

I mustn't take full credit for this. It was friends who told me that sites existed and nagged me to make one of my own. I don't want to make a professional site as this is not personal enough and I enjoy the personal touch. The Iventi board has been a great source of fun and information and I check it regularly.

I'm pleased you said so. I agree totally and have loved both ! ZYX in particular has been a very good label for both countries and has embraced it all under the name of Italo.

As I said, I am teaching in a primary school (my class are aged 9 and 10) and I DJ in small clubs and I have taken some bookings for shows. I have made some initial contacts with producers about re recording, but will wait to see if I can find time to fit it all in. I like all of it and don't want to give any of it up !

I modelled when I was 18 and 19 and then again briefly with my son when he was born for Dad and child publicity. I am now too old and not really interested as I prefer my other hobbies.

The fans of Italo are the best. They have been and still are true to the music and feel deeply about it. I hope I have played some small part in your appreciation of it and am proud to have been a part of a great worldwide music scene. Thanks to everyone who has ever bought or listened to and enjoyed an Eddy Huntington song. I hope to be recording again soon. Keep music live and spread the word that Italo is alive and well!

Thank you for allowing me this opportunity!!

Eddy Huntington

© May 2001 Zeljko Vujkovic - All rights reserved