Conversation with Keith:
Keith: Would you rather see a staging of the musical Chess or a combined hits of the 80s show co-headlined by Taco and Falco?
Rebecca: I would rather see Chess.
Keith: Really?
Rebecca: Well, Falco is dead, so…
Keith: Falco is dead?
Rebecca: You didn’t know about the tragic death of Falco?
Keith: No… how did he die?
Rebecca: In a car accident! A big car crash… His life cut short…
[Note: Falco died of injuries after his car collided with a bus in the Dominican Republic in 1998. He was 40.]
Keith: Then Taco could sing all of Falco’s songs for the show… Or they could hire the number one Falco tribute act to fill in for Falco. Their name is “Eagl,” without the “e” at the end.
Rebecca: Well, I don’t like Taco that much to begin with so… I wouldn’t want to hear Taco sing “Rock Me, Amadeus.”
Keith: Taco was the musical genius of the 80s. He was really channeling the zeitgeist. What if you found out that Taco was working with Rick Rubin on a stripped-down, back-to-basics comeback album, which he would be promoting by playing clubs like First Avenue? Hey, do you think Taco and Bowie ever sang a duet? Taco and Mick Jagger?
Needless to say, I was not stirred by the prospect of a Taco return. If you don’t remember Taco, or weren’t pop culturally aware in the 80s, this is him:
Make sure you read the comments below the video… My favorite is:
“I’m scared of him but this is like the dopest song ever.”
My question: What’s up with the black face?
I’m embarrassed to admit that the only reference I knew, off the cuff, was to Chess. Taco by name would not have elicited this song and Falco is lost on me… I was thinking of Edie from Sopranos.
As a youngster I enjoyed Puttin on the Ritz, as an adult I find there’s a weird auto-tune sound to it and sort of a Rocky Horror feel to it all.
Falco’s tomb in Vienna features a granite obelisk
With FALCO etched into the side.
Percent chance of a Taco obelisk, 5%
JoEllen – Rocky Horror feel! YES. This is exactly right. I was trying to verbalize my feeling about the video last night but failed. However, you don’t know the musical Chess? “One Night in Bangkok?”
Come on.
Welcome back to Not Shallow, Tiffany Bottoms (Male). I’ve missed you. I should have guessed your vote would be for Falco and I think you made the right choice. Taco’s only other semi-hit was a limp cover of “Singin’ In the Rain.”