Taco Ockerse, born in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 21, 1955, had spent many of his childhood years 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. Afterward, 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.
In 1975, he began his first professional theatrical engagements in Hamburg. This included roles in Children's Theater, and roles as an ensemble member of the Thalia Theater in a number of plays, including Sweet Charity, Chicago, and Three Musketeers. He also directed and choreographed for the musical Nightchild. In 1979, he played "Chino" in John Neumeier's West Side Story at Hamburg Opera House. He founded his first band, Taco's Bizz, in 1979.
In 1981, Taco signed his first record contract with Polydor (Germany) for two record releases, whereon he released his first single, "Puttin' On the Ritz", which in 1982 was picked up by RCA Records for US release. His version of the song also had pieces of other Irving Berlin songs, such as "White Christmas". The single was widely played throughout the U.S. by late summer of 1983 eventually peaking at number 4 in September 1983 on the Hot 100 as well as number 1 on Cashbox. Although the single eventually earned him a Gold-certification in USA for selling over one million copies, it was Taco's only top-40 hit in the U.S. In 1983 and 1984, he toured extensively throughout Europe. While the single "Puttin' on the Ritz" topped the charts in Sweden and New Zealand, it 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.
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's follow-up album, ‘Let's Face the Music’ was recorded in 1984 for Polydor which peaked at no. 58 at his home of Germany. 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 popularized by Stock Aitken Waterman. Afterwards, he repositioned himself as a swing/soul singer.
Between 1989 and 1996, Taco worked intensively as an actor. He had television acting roles in Friedrichstadt Palast and Das Erbe der Guldenburgs, and an appearance in the film Karniggels. He also appeared as "Chico" in the theater 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 October 11, 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 November 27, 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.
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 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 female singer Rozaa Wortham in Berlin was remixed in late 2010 in the U.S. and is now available for download.
He currently resides in Germany, performing with his band and as a gala artist.
Alan Mercer: Taco, you have been working so hard for a long time.
Taco Okcerse: It’s been an incredible ride. It was always such a surprise. It was nothing I ever counted on. I was at the right place at the right time. I was very happy-go-lucky back then.
AM: You weren’t so ambitious? Your career wasn’t a driving force for you?
TO: No, not at all.
AM: That lets you know destiny does play a part.
TO: Definitely, who would have dreamt that a kid from Jakarta, Indonesia, after traveling half the globe in his childhood would end up in the white house performing for the President.
AM: You speak such fluent English. Did you learn it as a child?
TO: As of my eighth year, we lived most of the time in the Netherlands and then we moved to Singapore. That’s when my parents put us kids in the International Schools of America. That’s an American school system that is all over the world. That helped us kids as we knew we were going to be doing a lot of moving through the years.
AM: Why did you moved so much and know you would be moving?
TO: My father was in the fashion industry. He was a salesman for Arrow shirts. He loved to travel and would always get himself on the transfer list. Every couple of years is was pack your bags, we’re moving next month.
AM: How many are in your family?
TO: It was just my mom and my younger brother.
AM: Did you enjoy all the traveling or did you want to be more settled?
TO: As a kid, I really enjoyed it. It was a big adventure all the time. My dad had a gift that made it pretty exciting for us. I met so many interesting people all the time after I learned English.
AM: What other languages do you speak?
TO: Well, I only speak Dutch, and now that I live in Germany, I speak German. We lived in Belgium for a time, so I learned French, and of course English.
AM: That’s quite a few languages.
TO: When you are touring you try to learn a couple of lines in whatever language the country, you are in speaks. I learned a few lines in Japanese, some Portuguese, and some Spanish.
AM: You come across as a natural actor. Is that something you were interested in as well?
YO: Definitely, that’s one of the big advantages when you go to an international school. They had a great arts program. The first musical I ever did was ‘You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown’ when I was in Junior High. I played Snoopy.
AM: How did you end up in the recording studio?
TO: I came to Germany in 1974 and I had to learn to speak German. I got my high school degree in Belgium. I didn’t have a clue about what to do. My dad suggested that I go to acting school because he knew I loved being on stage and that I sang in choir. So, I found an acting school in Hamburg and even though the semester had already started, I went to the head of the school and asked what can you offer me with my miserable German. (Laughter) He told me usually you have to learn a part and audition for it. It was really fun. I learned German and I came into the theater. Hamburg has a very big theater scene. There is also an Opera House. I started as an extra to make some money. I was involved in all kinds of plays with German stars on stage. All I had to do was watch and learn. We did all kinds of musicals and that got me in touch with musical directors. I guess they noticed some kind of a talent and they took me into the studios.
AM: Who’s idea was it for you to record ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz?’
TO: That came later. I was doing demo work for other artists at that time. Before I knew it I was in Munich singing a German song. I really bombed, but I already had a record contract.
AM: Was this around 1980?
TO: Yes exactly. I had my own band at this time, and we did a little bit of touring. I was always on the road or in the studio. I played in Summer Theater and Children’s Theater and before you know it, I was playing in ‘West Side Story’ at the Hamburg Opera House. Mr. Bernstein came to our premiere. It was such an honor for little ol me.
AM: So how did you get an album out?
TO: After I bombed with the German song, I put out 2 German singles. Then I begged them to tear the contract up because I didn’t want to sing German for the rest of my life. So, then I sat down and wondered what was I going to do? I even wanted to change my name but a choreographer friend of mine told me not to. He convinced me it was part of my history and I should just come up with something different and that’s when I came up with the idea of recording ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz.’ I had just seen the movie, ‘That’s Entertainment’ where I saw the clip of Clark Gable singing ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz.’ That is the only song Clark ever sang in a movie. I thought it was a cool song and at that time, new wave music was just starting. I thought if we could combine the American songbook with those electronic sounds, that would be really cool, because nobody has done that before. I shopped the idea around and eventually recorded it in the cellar with a little Casio machine and nobody was interested.
AM: oh no!
TO: (Laughter) For me that was it. My father had just started a chain of sportswear shops so I thought I was getting out of show business and I would be selling jeans.
AM: So, what happened to get you back into the game?
TO: We got a phone call from Sweden about six months later and they wanted me to come do a promotional tour there. I flew over to Sweden and there was a Rolls Royce to pick me up. I only had the single of ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz’ and on the B-side was ‘After Eight.’ I performed in a big discotheque and I looked through the curtains and saw all the guys in tuxedos. The girls were in beautiful gowns. That’s when I realized it was a big thing in Sweden. I put on tons of make-up so I would look like an old vaudeville performer. I went on stage and sang the song ten times because I had nothing else. When I flew back to Hamburg the album, ‘After Eight’ was already platinum. Now, here comes the joke. There was no LP. I only had the single.
AM: How weird!
TO: The whole team was called into the studio and we had hardly any time to put out ‘After Eight.’
AM: Did you just go into the studio and record it fast?
TO: Yes, we did some classics, but we also did some original material, and I was writing lyrics every night. We were working on the spur of the moment with a lot of pressure on our backs.
AM: This was 1982, right?
TO: Yes.
AM: Did it take another year to make it to the United States?
TO: Here’s the thing. Nobody wanted it but after Scandinavia started promoting it, it started going all over Europe. Everyday I would get a phone call telling me it was playing in Spain and then Germany. You have to go to Portugal and France. After months of working and traveling all over Europe I said, I need a break.
AM: I bet you were exhausted.
TO: I was just about to go on holiday when I got another phone call telling me to forget all those vacation plans because I was about to hit in the United States. That moment was so scary. The rest is history.
AM: Your version has become the definitive version for the current generation, how awesome is that?
TO: Believe me, It still in shocks me today.
AM: You even re-recorded it just a few years ago.
TO: Yes, we did a whole new version of it two or three years ago in the style of electro-swing.
AM: Swing music seems to fit your style so well.
TO: I love swing music. It puts you in a good mood.
AM: You seem to have an innate understanding of it.
TO: Maybe it has to do with the music I heard growing up. My parents listened to a lot of music. I grew up listening to all the standards. We listened to all the greats. It came natural and then I went to American schools where the American songbook was very popular.
AM: I must tell you how much I enjoy your albums ‘Tell Me That You Like IT’ and your 1987 self-titled album where you sing contemporary songs.
TO: It was always important to me not to stick with one style. Other artists have had success with one thing, stick to it and never change, but I’m not like that. I come from the theater. After a couple of months of doing a show, I get bored and want to move on to another project. I like to try different styles.
AM: Is it true that you have several songs in the can that will be released over time?
TO: I have a YouTube channel with a large following, so we have an outlet for those songs.
AM: You have the whole world!
TO: Yes, and most fans are from the United States and it’s a lot of young people. That’s a good enough reason for us to put out all this unknown material.
AM: How does it feel to have all these fans appreciating your music?
TO: I love everybody listening to all my music and passing it on to a whole new generation. It’s very heartwarming and it gives me the feeling that I did something right in my life.
