One Hit Wondering – Taco

One Hit Wondering is a series of columns where I listen to the album of a one hit wonder, and find three songs, other than the hit, that people should hear. 

All one hit wonders are unexpected, but you’d be hard pressed to find one more unlikely than Taco, and his 1982 cover of the Irving Berlin classic “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”

Songs that were written in 1927 weren’t exactly getting a lot of airplay in the ‘80s, but here was Taco, a stylish man with a wildly expressive face, putting a modern twist on an all-time classic, and people wholly embraced what in any other era would’ve been considered a downright bizarre combination of styles, and sounds.

By late summer of 1983 Taco had taken over U.S. radio, and the video for “Puttin’ on the Ritz” was receiving heavy airplay on MTV. The song eventually cracked the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #4 in September of ’83.

While this meant huge notoriety for Taco, it also made the then 95-year-old Irving Berlin the oldest living songwriter ever with a Top 10 single.

Berlin even later told Taco he was a fan of the updated version of the song!

About that video, though …

The original version of the “Puttin’ on the Ritz” music video had a few characters in blackface, causing it to be banned by a number of networks. An alternate version was made, which was the version that most of us remember seeing.

This does mean, however, there’s a chance MTV aired a man in blackface before they aired a video from an actual Black artist, since the first Black artist to be aired on MTV was Musical Youth, with their video for “Pass The Dutchie” beginning to receive airplay in 1983, a few weeks before the network began airing Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”

All that being said, based on every interview I’ve read with Taco while putting together this feature, and the really wonderful, and supportive comments he leaves for people on his YouTube page, he seems like a genuinely kind person, so perhaps he didn’t have full creative control for the video.

He did have some creative control in the way he promoted the song, however, and ever the showman, he made it quite the spectacle.

While promoting the song in Germany, which was where he lived at the time, he came up with the idea of doing department store window shows where they would carry him in like a mannequin, and he would perform “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”

When he approached the stores they thought it was odd, but figured it would get more people into the store, so what the heck, let the guy sing.

Creating a spectacle is actually something Taco had been a pro at for quite some time.

Born Taco Ockerse, the Indonesian-born Dutch entertainer began his career in Germany, and had lived all over the world by the time “Puttin’ on the Ritz” put him on the map.

It was seven years prior, in 1975, that he began his professional career as an actor, with theatrical engagements in Hamburg.

Singing quickly became a part of his life, and in 1981 he recorded a demo that led to him being chosen to participate in the German pre-selection competition for the Eurovision Song Contest. While he didn’t win – Germany ended up being represented by Lena Valaitis singing the song “Johnny Blue” – it led to the release of his first single, “Traume brauchen Zeit.”

The song wasn’t really the direction he wanted to go in, as his desire was to sing, and perform, in English. Because of this, he walked away from the first record contract he was offered, which had a clause in it that would’ve required him to sing solely in German.

After turning down that deal he began thinking about the sound he wanted to create, and the way in which he wanted to present himself. His love of the great American song book, the electro pop movement in the early ‘80s, led to his combining of the two musical styles.

Visually, his love of theatre led the way, as he was inspired by shows like Cabaret, and having performed in a German version of Chicago.

With that, he became a very dapper man, with a very unique sound that was equal parts old school, and modern.

Initially, that sound fell on deaf ears, but in 1981 he signed with Polydor in West Germany, which released “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” In 1982 the song was issued by RCA Records for its U.S. release.

While the single was working its way up the chart, and ultimately reaching gold status (500k copies sold), Taco’s debut album, After Eight, was released.

The album, which peaked at #23 on the Billboard 200, featured six covers of classic songs, and five originals co-written by Taco. It also spawned a one man show TV special titled Cheek to Cheek: A Taco Special that aired in 1983 (although I’m not sure in which countries it aired), and really showcased his full array of talents as a performer.

With worldwide notoriety, Taco toured extensively throughout Europe, and in 1984 he released his sophomore album, Let’s Face the Music.

That same year he also recorded the theme song for the Tom Selleck and Jane Seymour heist movie Lassiter, which was set in the 1930s.

The movie failed to break even, and Taco found himself in a precarious position – if he wanted to have a career in the U.S. he’d have to move there. This was something he wasn’t willing to do, although he had lived in Seattle for a period of time as a child, so he stayed in Germany, and continued his career there.

After five full-length albums, and a number of single releases, Taco returned to the acting world from ’89 through ’96. Music, however, kept calling his name, and in the late ‘00s, just as unexpected as his original rise to fame had been, there was a Taco renaissance.

In November of 2009 he performed both “Puttin’ on the Ritz” and “Singin’ in the Rain” at Olympic Stadium in Moscow, and a month later he returned to the country as a musical guest on New Year’s Eve Show 2009, which aired on Russian TV, and had a reported 84 million viewers, having been seen in over 20 countries.

The next year would start just as fruitfully for Taco, as in January of 2010 he was featured on a special titled Songs of the 20th Century, which aired on Russian TV.

This kicked off a second act for Taco, who has been releasing new singles sporadically since 2011, the most recent being “Bel Ami,” which came out in 2024.

He also released a Christmas Song, “It’s Snowing In My Heart (Bad Santa),” in 2023. Believe it or not, it’s an R&B jam. It also has one of the best uses of the word “damn” this side of Sophie B. Hawkins.

With Taco still “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” and occasionally puttin’ on a Santa outfit, I decided to take things back to his debut album, giving After Eight a spin, and I found three songs, other than the hit, that you should hear.

“Livin’ In My Dreamworld”

 

A Taco original, “Livin’ In My Dreamworld” sees him desiring to live in a utopian version of the past. His dreamworld, however, is interrupted by the reality of the ‘80s.

The closing of the song is especially prophetic, as Taco seemed to know what the technology of ‘80s could eventually give birth to, as he sang

Livin’ in my dreamworld, destined for the past
Don’t like the eighties, livin’ on maybes
Big brother’s watching you (Robot voice: don’t trust him)
(Living in my dreamworld, where did things go wrong)
(Computerizing and analyzing)
(Destroying my favorite song)

Did Taco end the song this way as a way of showing how tech could eventually destroy music? It definitely seems plausible.

“Carmella”

 

Another Taco original, “Carmella” has a Latin flair to it, as he sings about a woman he caught a glimpse of that sparked a passionate interest.

Musically, “Carmella” features combination of synths, and accordion. Before you say – how on earth could that possibly worK? – trust me when I say it’s actually pretty amazing. It also makes me wonder if Taco and Weird Al ever hung out together.

“Cheek to Cheek”

 

Just like “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” “Cheek to Cheek” is another Irving Berlin classic that Taco put his own unique spin on. That spin includes a great bass line, and Taco’s big, bold personality.

It’s clear on this song, and the rest of After Eight, that Taco’s ultimate goal was to be a showman, and he absolutely nailed it.

Until next time, here’s to discovering more great music from one hit wonders!