MP3: Taco, “Puttin’ on the Ritz”
On this day, fifty-eight years ago, in Jakarta, Indonesia a boy named Taco was brought into the world. The kids teased him, particularly a rotund child by the name of Burrito, and said “Haha, your name is Taco and you’ll never amount to anything or record a popular cover of a Fred Astaire song!”
They were wrong…
Okay, I exaggerated a bit but today is Taco Ockerse’s birthday. You probably only know him from his early 80’s synthpop cover of Fred Astaire’s classic “Puttin’ on the Ritz”, unless you’re German, in which case you may be interested in my David Hasselhoff posts…
Download “Ritz” now! (Right-click, save as)
I remember that song very well and loved it when it came out in early summer 1983. It got tons of radio airplay and there were two versions. The one on the 45 (RCA 13574) and most 80s compilations was the one most heard on the radio, but there was a longer version that had more music stuck in it near the end. That song was on the chart 21 weeks (about 5 months) and peaked at number 4 (Billboard data). The album “After Eight”, that “Puttin’ On The Ritz” was from, only reached number 23 on the album chart and that song was the only one from it to be a hit.
You’re a knowledgeable man, Chris21718. I didn’t know there were two versions.