Taco (musician)

| occupation =

| years_active = 1979–present

| label =

Taco Ockerse (born 21 July 1955), also known mononymously as Taco, is an Indonesian-born Dutch musician, actor and entertainer who started his career in Germany. He scored a global hit song in 1982 with a version of "Puttin' On the Ritz".

Early life

Taco Ockerse was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 21 July 1955. He spent much of his childhood moving around the world, residing in the Netherlands, the United States, Singapore, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Germany.

He attended the International School of Brussels, Belgium, and graduated in 1973. Afterwards, he studied interior decoration and finished acting school in Hamburg. He held lead roles in numerous school productions, including You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; Carousel; The Fantasticks; and Fiddler on the Roof.

Career

Theatre beginnings (1975–1981)

In 1975, he began his first professional theatrical engagements in Hamburg. Although the single eventually earned him a Gold-certification for selling over one million copies, it was Taco's only Top 40 hit in the US. In 1983 and 1984, he toured extensively throughout Europe. "Puttin' On the Ritz" topped the charts in Sweden and New Zealand, and entered the Top 5 in numerous countries including Norway, Austria, and Canada. His subsequent album, After Eight, was released in over 40 countries and managed to reach No. 4 in Norway, No. 5 in Canada, No. 11 in Austria, No. 17 in New Zealand, No. 23 in the United States, and No. 59 in Germany. The album earned Taco a number of Gold certifications including one in Finland for selling over 25,000 copies.

Taco's second single "Singin' in the Rain" was a moderate success peaking at No. 49 in Germany, No. 46 in Canada, and No. 98 in the UK.

He appeared as a guest on The Merv Griffin Show, Alan Thicke, Solid Gold, Good Morning America, a Bob Hope TV special, and many other TV shows while touring. Taco continued to record, focusing mostly on the German market with albums Swing Classics/In the Mood of Glenn Miller in 1985 and Tell Me That You Like It in 1986 for Polydor. In 1987 he recorded the self-titled album Taco.

In 1989, he briefly flirted with contemporary dance music by releasing a pair of singles, "Love Touch" and "Got to Be Your Lover", that were styled after the high energy disco sound popularised by Stock Aitken Waterman. Afterwards, he repositioned himself as a swing/soul singer. He has collaborated with Geff Harrison of Kin Ping Meh fame.

Acting and other ventures (1989–2009)

Between 1989 and 1996, Taco worked as an actor. He had television acting roles in Friedrichstadt Palast and Das Erbe der Guldenburgs, and an appearance in the film '. He also appeared as "Chico" in the theatre production of Marx Brothers Radio Show, and played lead roles in Shakespeare Rock n Roll in Berlin and Shakespeare as We Like It in Austria. On 11 October 2009, the first channel of Russian TV, 1TV, filmed the program Songs of the 20th Century. Taco appears with "Puttin' On the Ritz" in the sequence about the 1930s. The show was broadcast in January 2010. On 27 November 2009, he performed "Puttin' On the Ritz" and "Singin' in the Rain" at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia. Furthermore, he was the star guest in the "New Year's Eve Show 2009" of Russian TV, which had about 84 million viewers in more than 20 countries.

Cleopatra Records (2009–present)

In July 2010, Cleopatra Records Los Angeles released an entirely new re-recording of "Puttin' On the Ritz". Taco's vocals were recorded in Germany and the backing tracks with top studio musicians in their studio in L.A. On 1 March 2011, DingDing Music released the original song "Timeless Love" that was written and produced by Edgar Rothermich and Matthias Muentefering in the late 1980s. The studio recording that Taco performed as a duet with the singer Rozaa Wortham in Berlin was remixed in late 2010 in the U.S. and is now available for download.

On 11 March 2011, RTL Germany broadcast The Ultimate Chartshow - the most successful Evergreens of all time, where he appeared with "Puttin' On the Ritz".

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:15em;" | Title

! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:15em;" | Album details

! colspan="9" |Peak chart positions

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | AUS

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | AUT

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | CAN

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | FIN

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | GER

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | NOR

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | NZ

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | SWE

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | US

! scope="row" | After Eight

Released: November 1982
Label: RCA
Formats: LP, MC
Also released as Puttin' On the Ritz

|35

|11

|59

|17

|23

! scope="row" | Let's Face the Music

Released: March 1984
Label: RCA
Formats: CD, LP, MC

|—

|58

|—

! scope="row" |Swing Classics: In the Mood of Glenn Miller

Released: 1985
Label: Polydor
Formats: CD, LP, MC

|—

! scope="row" | Tell Me That You Like It

Released: 1986
Label: Polydor
Formats: CD, LP, MC

|—

! scope="row" | Taco

Released: 1987
Label: Perle
Formats: CD, LP

|—

| colspan="11" style="font-size:90%" |"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Compilation albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! scope="col" style="width:15em;" | Title

! scope="col" style="width:15em;" | Album details

! scope="row" | Puttin' On the Ritz

Released: 1991
Label: RCA
Formats: LP, MC

! scope="row" | The Very Best Of

Released: 1996
Label: CMC Value
Formats: CD

! scope="row" |Best of Taco

Released: March 2000
Label: BMG Ariola
Formats: CD, MC

! scope="row" | Puttin' On the Ritz

Released: August 2001
Label: LaserLight Digital
Formats: CD

! scope="row" | Singin' in the Rain

Released: September 2002
Label: Edel
Formats: CD

! scope="row" | Putting on the Ritz – Original Greatest Hits

Released: 2008
Label: Daydream
Formats: CD

! scope="row" | Gold – The Maxi Versions

Released: 23 April 2021
Label: Aviator Entertainment
Formats: digital download

! scope="row" | Gold – The Ultimate Best Of

Released: 10 December 2021
Label: Aviator Entertainment
Formats: digital download

! scope="row" | Gold Rarities, Vol. 1

Released: 1 July 2022
Label: Aviator Entertainment
Formats: digital download

EPs

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! scope="col" style="width:15em;" | Title

! scope="col" style="width:15em;" | Album details

! scope="row" | 4 Tracks

Released: 25 January 1990
Label: Teldec
Formats: CD
Japan-only release

Singles

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:17em;" | Title

! rowspan="2" scope="col" style="width:2em;" | Year

! colspan="10" |Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2" |Album

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | AUS

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | CAN

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | FIN

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | NZ

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | SWE

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | UK

! scope="col" style="width:2em;font-size:90%;" | US

! scope="row" | "Träume brauchen Zeit"

| rowspan="2" |1981

|—

| rowspan="2"

! scope="row" | "Keiner Gewinnt"

|—

! scope="row" | "Puttin' On the Ritz"

|1982

|13

|20

|18

|—

| rowspan="2" |After Eight

! scope="row" | "Singin' in the Rain"

| rowspan="4" |1983

|—

|28

|46

|28

|49

|—

|98

|—

! scope="row" | "You Are My Lucky Star" (Sweden-only release)

|—

|Let's Face the Music

! scope="row" | "Cheek to Cheek (Heaven)"

|—

|45

|—

|After Eight

! scope="row" | "Superphysical Resurrection"

|—

|25

|—

! scope="row" | "Let's Face the Music (And Dance)"

| rowspan="2" |1984

|—

|Let's Face the Music

! scope="row" | "Under My Tight Skin"

|—

! scope="row" | "Winchester Cathedral" (New Zealand-only release)

| rowspan="2" |1985

|—

|Let's Face the Music

! scope="row" | "Heartbreak City"

|—

| rowspan="2" |Tell Me That You Like It

! scope="row" | "You're My Answer to It All"

|1986

|—

! scope="row" | "Got to Be Your Lover"

|1988

|—

| rowspan="2"

! scope="row" | "Love Touch"

|1989

|—

! scope="row" | "Lady of My Heart"

|1990

|—

|Go Trabi Go soundtrack

! scope="row" | "Tico Tico"

|1991

|—

| rowspan="3"

! scope="row" | "Timeless Love" (featuring Rozaa Wortham)

|2011

|—

! scope="row" | "Puttin On the Ritz 2017"

|2017

|—

! scope="row" | "Heavy Metal"

| rowspan="2" | 2021

|—

| rowspan="2" | Gold - The Ultimate Best Of

! scope="row" | "Far from My Homeland"

|—

! scope="row" | "Hot Summer Jams"

| rowspan="5" | 2022

|—

! scope="row" | "I Wanna Dance"

|—

| Gold Rarities, Vol. 1

! scope="row" | "Loonar Beat"

|—

! scope="row" | "Sing, Baby, Sing"

|—

| After Eight (Deluxe Edition)

! scope="row" | "It's Snowing In My Heart (Bad Santa)"

|—

| rowspan="2"

! scope="row" | "Bel Ami"

| rowspan="1" | 2024

|—

| colspan="13" style="font-size:90%" |"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

References

External links

Official YouTube Channel
Discography at Discogs