Eddy Wally
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Eduard Van De Walle (12 July 1932 – 6 February 2016), known by his stage name Eddy Wally, was a Belgian schlager singer and actor from Zelzate,
East Flanders East Flanders ( ; ; ; ) is a Provinces of Belgium, province of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the North) the Netherlands, Dutch province of Zeeland and the Belgian provinces of Antwerp (province), Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut (provinc ...
, and the once self-proclaimed "Voice of Europe". As a crooner and showman, Eddy Wally toured worldwide, including China, Australia, all of Europe, the United States, and the
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. As Eddy Wally was short, he tended to use outside chairs in his act. Eddy Wally was best known for his song "Chérie" which became a double-platinum hit. Wally was also known for "Ik spring uit een vliegmachien" ("I'll jump out of an aeroplane"), and "Dans Mi Amor".


Attire and cultural iconography

On and off stage, Wally usually wore flashy, shiny, expensive outfits, characterized by a camp and
kitsch ''Kitsch'' ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as Naivety, naïve imitation, overly eccentric, gratuitous or of banal Taste (sociology), taste. The modern avant-garde traditionally opposed kitsch ...
style reminiscent of Liberace. In 2004, Eddy Wally's wardrobe was acquired by the Stedelijk Modemuseum van
Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...
, and was displayed under the title ''"Eddy Wally's Geweldige Garderobe"''. The exhibition comprised 115 custom made outfits, valued at up to $5,300 apiece. In October 2009, famed Belgian artist Kamagurka proclaimed: It's still discussed whether or not Eddy Wally was a stereotype. Jan Van Rompaey, a former host of many human interest programs and talkshows on Belgian television, interviewed Wally many times. According to him, Wally had a limited vocabulary and was not a stereotype, although he exaggerated his
eccentricity Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry * Eccentricity (g ...
. Kamagurka reached a similar conclusion and insinuated Wally acted strange "because people expected this from a famous person". Kamagurka also revealed Wally had some kind of
dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...
and wrote all of his lyrics in his own
phonetic transcription Phonetic transcription (also known as Phonetic script or Phonetic notation) is the visual representation of speech sounds (or ''phonetics'') by means of symbols. The most common type of phonetic transcription uses a phonetic alphabet, such as the ...
language. Wally also had trouble learning scripted lines, even the most simple ones. Wally was also known for a
video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...
posted on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
in 2007 by a person from the community of him exclaiming "Wow" and winking. This had gained worldwide recognition and had become a
meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...
, which many other YouTube users began to use in their videos for
comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
. At some point in time, the novelist Deborah Bishop was writing a biography of Wally, entitled ''Wow!''.


Background

Eddy Wally's first job was a market trader selling handbags. In the 1960s, he became popular after his association with Dutch producer Johnny Hoes. He even had his own disco "Chérie-Paris Las Vegas", first known as "Eddy Wally's Texas Bar". Eddy Wally used to be a regular feature on the UK television programme '' Eurotrash'', where he was renowned for his eccentric dress sense.


Honours

* A main-belt
asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...
is named after Eddy Wally ( 9205 Eddywally). It is in orbit around the Sun between
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
and
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
. * Knight of the Order of Leopold, by Royal Decree of 2005.


Death

Eddy Wally died on 6 February 2016, aged 83, following a stroke back.


References

a


External links

*
Official website
(in Dutch).
Link to Eddy Wally Soundboard for Iphone


{{DEFAULTSORT:Wally, Eddy 1932 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Belgian male singers 20th-century Belgian singers Dutch-language singers of Belgium Schlager musicians 21st-century Belgian male singers 21st-century Belgian singers Belgian male actors Salespeople People from Zelzate People from Evergem Internet memes