Taco (musician)

Taco
Taco Ockerse in Oldie 95 Studio in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Taco Ockerse
Born	(1955-07-21) July 21, 1955 (age 61) Jakarta, Indonesia
Origin	Hamburg, Germany
Genres	Swing, soul, new wave
Occupation(s)	Singer, actor, producer, composer, songwriter, scriptwriter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1979–present
Labels	Polydor, RCA

Taco Ockerse (born July 21, 1955), usually known mononymously as Taco, is an Indonesian-born Dutch singer and entertainer who started his career in Germany.

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.