Taco - Puttin' On The Ritz (1983)

For this one we jump ahead to 1983 when the new wave order of things for first half of the decade was achieving its ultimate personality. By this time, groups and artists like Berlin, After The Fire, The Greg Kihn Band, The Culture Club, Cyndi Lauper, Human League, Billy idol, Thomas Dolby, The Pretenders, Soft Cell and others had brought to maturity a sound that began infiltrating pop charts back in 1978 and 1979. Such sophistication and character would never be heard on a mass scale for this type of music again. During the second half the 80's, many of the bands and artists from the 70's returned to Top 40 with a vengeance, merging their sound with those of many newer artists that were moving in the direction of dance-rock, art rock, synthpop, power pop, electro, Eurobeat, post-punk, rap, jazz pop, jazz R&B, and a much harder heavy metal sound.

To say the least some of the most iconic hits of the 1980s were recorded and released during the 1982-84 period. And of course, like other eras, some of these were "one hit wonders." Thus is the case with my next music video, presenting a truly iconic moment in early 80's music, the song "Puttin' On The Ritz" by Indonesian-born German singer Taco Ockerse, known professionally as Taco. Taco's music video of "Puttin' On The Ritz," which pays homage to the singers and dance routines of the 1930s, merging Depression-era images with those of the then-ongoing Reagan recession, was one of the most popular videos of 1983. In this video I take us back to the actual 1930s with film footage from several sources, creating music, comedy, acting, and dance presentations in keeping with the times the song was written and widely-performed ... even with an actual singer who is very reminiscent of Taco himself.

This is meant to be a fun tribute and I hope you will enjoy.