AFTER EIGHT - Taco

YEAR: 1982

LABEL: RCA Victor

TRACK LISTING: Singin' In the Rain, Tribute To Tino, Puttin' On the Ritz, I Should Care, Carmella, La Vie En Rose, Cheek To Cheek, After Eight, Livin' In My Dream World, Encore (Sweet Gypsy Rose), Thanks A Million

IMPRESSIONS: Bubble gum with a new wave sound. A quintessential 80s one-hit-wonder, Taco's single for "Puttin' On the Ritz" was in heavy rotation on the early MTV and made a huge splash in the record charts as well. For something that looks in every way to be a disposable "product", AFTER EIGHT actually has some things going for it. The heavy synth reworking of classic standards from the "Great American Songbook" struck the right chord with early 80's America and the songs are strong enough to stand up to whatever is done to them. In Taco's case, he doesn't do much violence to the songs but performs them in a straight forward "crooner" fashion (deliberately apeing the sound of Rudy Vallee's megaphone) while laying them on a bed of Gary Numanesque synthesizer. While the "original compositions" are predictably weak, the ever-popular standards come off rather well; particularly Taco's version of "I Should Care" which insanely is my favourite version of that song. And of course the charm of "Puttin' On the Ritz" is hard to resist.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Singin' In The Rain, Puttin' On the Ritz, I Should Care, La Vie En Rose, Cheek To Cheek, Thanks A Million

FACT SHEET: AFTER EIGHT is Taco's first album. Taco Ockerse is a Dutch singer/actor who was born in Jakarta, Indonesia.