Eddie Gordon

Born in Biggin Hill, Farnborough, Kent on 9th February 1959 Eddie Gordon lived in Gravesend, Kent during his school years through Cecil Road Infant and Primary, Northfleet School for Boys Secondary and Gravesend Technical College for his O and A level studies.

Starting out as a DJ and music journalist in 1982 in his hometown Gravesend, Eddie Gordon wrote a weekly column for the Gravesend and Dartford Reporter and Kent Extra before being invited to write a weekly music page for the county newspaper The Kent Messenger, a position he held for 8 years.

The mid 1980’s Eddie Gordon was regularly booked by London event promoters as the support DJ for BBC Radio 1 DJs and Capital Radio DJs working in the South East of England.

The 1980s was a rich period for Eddie Gordon's DJ career with Gravesend DJ of the Year 1984-1985, Radio Kent 1986 Club of the Year with The Slammer, Kent Evening Post 1986 Club Of The Year with The Slammer, Kent Evening Post 1987 Kent Club of The Year with The Sleeeze and in 1989 Eddie Gordon was Kent Music Man of The Year - Kent Evening Post.

Throughout the late 1980s Eddie Gordon was responsible for introducing the emerging DJ talents of Tim Westwood BBC Radio 1, Trevor Nelson MBE, Gilles Peterson BBC Radio 1, Norman Jay MBE, CJ Mackintosh and Paul Oakenfold to his Gravesend club night The Slammer.

In 1985 a local Gravesend DJ Pete Tong asked to be added to Eddie Gordon's and Steve Wolf's DJ Management/Agency roster at CAMPAR which included BBC Radio London’s Jeff Young, Radio Kent’s Rod Lucas and the UK Club DJ of the Year Colin Hudd. CAMPAR (Creative Agency Management PR and Representation) was the first Agency of it’s kind in the UK devoted to Radio DJs playing Dance music. Eddie managed Pete Tong of BBC Radio 1 from 1984 to 2004 and Jeff Young of BBC Radio 1 from 1985 to 1992.

1988 Eddie Gordon was employed by MCA Records Head of Dance A&R Adrian Sykes as MCA Record’s Club Promotion Dance A&R. Together they scored 10 UK Top 40 hit records from the R&B urban/dance division;
The Mac Band - Roses Are Red - No: 8,
Pebbles - Girlfriend - No: 8,
Rose Royce - Carwash - No: 8,
Eric B & Rakim - Follow The Leader - No: 21,
Pebbles - Mercedes Boy - No: 40,
Bobby Brown - Don't Be Cruel - No: 13,
Bobby Brown - My Prerogative - No: 6,
Bobby Brown - Every Little Step - No: 4,
Kraze - The Party - No: 29,
The Mac Band - Stalemate - No: 40,
Funky Worm - The Hustle - No: 13,
Sheena Easton - The Lover In Me - No: 15,

In September 1988 Eddie Gordon remixed Bobby Brown’s Don’t Be Cruel record with Timmy Regisford in New York for MCA Records UK, helping Bobby Brown to achieve another Top 20 UK hit record. Moving on in 1989 to BMG Eddie Gordon was employed to work as the Head of Dance Music for the labels RCA Records, Arista Records, Motown Records and Deconstruction Records. Eddie Gordon promoted 10 hit records into the UK Top 40 Hit Records Chart in this 12 month period including the record by Black Box called Ride On Time, a ground breaking No: 1 UK hit record for 6 weeks, Lisa Stansfield - All Around The World, also a No: 1 hit record and Public Enemy with Fight The Power from the Spike Lee movie Do The Right Thing.

In the studio in 1989 Eddie Gordon remixed hit records for Lisa Stansfield with This Is The Right Time and All Around The World both on Arista Records as well as hit records for The Temptations with All I Want From You, and the Gerald Alston song Activated both on Motown Records, The Blow Monkeys hit records This Is Your Life and Choice plus Alisha Warren's song Touch Me all on RCA Records. Eddie Gordon also edited the UK Radio Version of the Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston hit record It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be giving the US company Arista Records their only successful campaign outside of North America with that record.

1990 Eddie Gordon moved to Warner Brothers, Elektra, Atlantic Records and was responsible for breaking the USA act En Vogue with the record Hold On, from the million selling album Born To Sing and the Family Stand classic record Ghetto Heaven both for Atlantic Records plus having hits with the Atlantic Records House Music giants Ten City with Whatever Makes You Happy and Superficial People whilst on Eternal/Warner Brothers Eddie enjoyed successful campaigns with Ultra Nate and Its Over Now, A Way Of Life - Tripping On Your Love plus The Jungle Brothers What You Waiting For and Doing Our Own Dang. In the studio Eddie Gordon and CJ Mackintosh remixed the Dr Dre produced Portrait of A Masterpiece for The D O C.

In 1991 Eddie Gordon was made Head of The Urban Division of Polydor Records covering the labels Polydor, M&G, Slamm, Raiders and Love where he went on to help secure hit records for Tony,Toni,Tone with It Never Rains In Southern California, Cathy Dennis with Touch Me, Just A Little Time and Everybody Move on Polydor Records, Love Inc - Love Is The Message on Love Records as well as Zoé Sunshine On A Rainy Day for M&G Records plus scoring Record Mirror Club No: 1 records for D'bora Dream and The James Taylor Quartet - Love The Life You Live.

In 1992 Eddie Gordon formed a music promotion company called Song & Dance Promotions, achieving numerous No: 1 positions in the UK Club Charts for the many artistes including Whigfield, D'Mob, Lulu, Sinclair, Jon Secada, Dina Carroll, Ce Ce Peniston, Judy Cheeks, Eternal, Donna Summer, Yazz, KWS amongst others.

In 1993 Eddie Gordon was invited into the world famous recording studios known as The Hit Factory for Pete Waterman and they came out with the UK Single No: 3 hit record, West End feat. Sybil, The Love I Lost for Sanctuary Records. The song also stayed at No: 1 in the UK Club Charts for 4 weeks. Eddie also enjoyed No: 1 UK Club Chart positions with Wag Ya Tail - Xpand Ya Mind, Key West - Looks Like I'm In Love Again and Club Z - I Wanna Be Someone all on Sanctuary Records From 1992 to 1994 Eddie Gordon under the West End name remixed six records for Eternal off their debut album including the songs Stay, Crazy, Just A Step From Heaven, Sweet Funky Thing, Save Our Love and So Good all of which went to No: 1 in the UK Club Charts and helped the Eternal album sell 3 million copies. The UK music charts love affair with girl groups was created from this success. Eddie's West End also enjoyed Club Chart Number 1 success Dina Carroll - Here - Ain't No Man and Express, Donna Summer - Melody Of Love and Toni Braxton - Breathe Again.

IN 1994 Eddie Gordon introduced the concept of The Essential Mix Show for BBC Radio 1. Winner of Muzik Mag Radio Show of the year in 1997 and a Sony Silver Award in 1997 and some 14 years since it’s beginning the Essential Mix is now the longest running Radio Mix show in the world as well as being the most popular 'Listen Again Feature' on the BBC Radio 1 website.

During the 1990s Eddie Gordon introduced BBC Radio 1 to a host of new Radio DJ talent including Pete Tong, Danny Rampling, Judge Jules, Seb Fontaine, Fergie and Carl Cox.

By taking BBC Radio 1 to Ibiza in 1995, Eddie Gordon was at the forefront of the Balearic worldwide explosion. His Essential Mix radio show production work for BBC Radio 1 changed the Space Terrace Ibiza into one of the world’s most popular places for a DJ to play to an international audience.
DJ Carl Cox's first ever appearance on the infamous Terrace, produced by Eddie Gordon won two awards in 1998, BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix Show of the Year and Muzik Mag's Essential Mix Show of The Year. Now the Space Terrace, Ibiza boasts one of the best DJ boxes in the world. October 1994 Eddie Gordon Founded the Manifesto label for Mercury Records. Along with Judge Jules, their first 14 releases were all Top 40 UK hit records, and was Music Week’s Dance Label of the Year 1995, 1996 and 1997. Eddie’s signing of the Café Del Mar - Ibiza CD series for the world made Manifesto Records the UK's most financially successful dance labels of all time with sales of over 15 million albums and still selling every summer today. Another of Eddie's signings, Jose Padilla went on to be Nominated for a USA Latin Grammy with his second album Horizons.

In 1996, Manifesto Records scored nine No: 1’s in the UK Record Mirror Chart – which still to this date is an unbroken record for one label in one year. Manifesto Records had a least one record in the Top 5 of the UK Record Mirror chart for the entire year of 1996. 1998 Eddie Gordon started his own independent label, Neo Records, scoring the world's biggest selling dance 12inch vinyl record the year 2000 with "Sandstorm" by Darude, licensed for the world also hitting No:3 in the UK Singles Chart only to be improved by another Eddie signing Ann Lee's "2 Times" which scored No:2 in the UK Singles Chart. In 2000 Eddie Gordon was responsible for innovating and delivering the BBC Radio 1 Millennium Show from Sydney, Australia, South Africa, the USA the UK and Honolulu, Hawaii.

In 2000 Eddie Gordon saw the potential of broadcasting Internet and FM radio shows from the famous Café Mambo in Ibiza with live audio and Cam images being beamed around the planet on the World Wide Web. After two successful years under his own management the BBC Radio 1 took advantage of Eddie's pioneering work. In 2008 BBC Radio 1 are still celebrating their Ibiza campaigns from the same venue with Pete Tong on the internet and on FM Radio.

From 1988 – 2008, Eddie Gordon has been directly involved in over 200 Top 40 UK hit records from concept, promotion, marketing and A&R. 21st September 2002 Eddie Gordon was invited as the only European representative to co-chair a closed-room key discussion at the Billboard Magazine Summit in New York to discuss the threat of the new world technology to the traditional music business with the Head of America’s Record Labels. Eddie Gordon declared digital delivery to be THE FUTURE of the world’s music business.

June 2003 Eddie Gordon launched the world’s first online digital promotion system www.djinthemix.com with an exclusive link to the then newly formed iTunes from Apple Inc.. The following year ((DJinTheMix)) was nominated as a finalist in the Orange New Business Ventures in London and IMEA at Popkomm in Berlin, Germany. No stranger to discussion panels, Eddie Gordon has moderated The Future Of Digital Distribution at Billboard Summit in New York in 2003, attended Panels as a Speaker in 2004 and 2005 including a Keynote Speech at the Amsterdam Dance Event – MP3 the Future of Music Promotion in Holland in 03. Eddie moderated a Panel at the first Billboard Summit in Las Vegas Sep 20th 2006. By the turn of 2005 Eddie Gordon introduced a new digital marketing service to Radio Stations with Music2Mix - www.music2mix.com for the UK and in April 2008 Media2Radio - www.media2radio.com for the USA where Eddie Gordon now lives in Los Angeles, California.

Billboard Dance Music Summit 2006 - Las Vegas Wrapup Eddie Gordon (Music 2 Mix) predicted this on a DMS panel more than five years ago to an almost dismissive audience, stressing the importance of building a ... [http://dancemusic.about.com/od/conference/a/BBDMS2K6WU_2.htm]

A vision confirmed 7 months later by the unveiling of Apple’s iTunes in March 2003, which has totally re-designed the global music business becoming the largest music retailer in the USA by 2008.

4 Apr 2008 ... iTunes 'biggest US music seller' ... group Wal-Mart to become the largest music retailer in the US, an independent study has said. . [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7329886.stm]