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Taco - Puttin' On the Ritz

Taco - Puttin' On the Ritz Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: After Eight
Released: 1983

Puttin' On the Ritz Lyrics

If your blue and you don't know where to go to
why don't you go where fashion sits
Puttin' On the Ritz.

Different types of wear all day coat pants
with stripes and cut away coats for perfect fits
Puttin' on the Ritz.

Dressed up like a million dollar trooper
Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper
Super-Duper

Come lets mix where Rockafellers
walk with sticks or umbrellas
in their mits
Puttin' on the Ritz.

Have you seen the well to do
Up and down Park Avenue
On that famous through fare
With their noses in the air
High hats and narrow collars
White spats and lots of dollars
Spending every dime
For a wonderful time.

If your blue and you don't know where to go to
why don't you go where fashion sits
Puttin' on the Ritz.

Different types of wear all day coat pants
with stripes and cut away coats for perfect fits
Puttin' on the Ritz.

Dressed up like a million dollar trooper
Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper
Super-Duper

Come lets mix where Rockafellers
walk with sticks or umbrellas
in their mits
Puttin' on the Ritz.

Dressed up like a million dollar trooper
Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper
Super-Duper

If your blue and you don't know where to go to
why don't you go where fashion sits
Puttin' on the Ritz.
Puttin' on the Ritz.
Puttin' on the Ritz.
Puttin' on the Ritz.

Move, I want ya to move
Got to dance
Got a dance

If your blue and you don't know where to go to
why don't you go where fashion sits
Puttin' on the Ritz.
Puttin' on the Ritz.

Writer/s: IRVING BERLIN
Publisher: IMAGEM U.S. LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Puttin' On the Ritz Song Chart

This was originally written in 1929 by legendary composer Irving Berlin ("God Bless America"). It was a hit for Fred Astaire in 1946 when he performed it in the movie Blue Skies. Taco pays homage to Astaire by including a tap-dance solo in the middle of the song.

The expression "Puttin' On The Ritz" means to dress fashionably. The saying comes from the upscale Ritz-Carlton hotel company.

Born in Jakarta, Indonesia to Dutch parents on July 21, 1955, Taco Ockerse (yes, it's his real name) was raised in Germany, where he studied dance and theater. He made a name for himself on the European supper-club circuit by dressing in formal attire and performing dance versions of American standards. This song was on his first album, and it became an unlikely hit when MTV picked up the video, which showcased Taco's distinctive look and performance that he had perfected in the supper-clubs. MTV didn't have many videos at the time, and this one had lavish costumes, a glowing cane and a tap dance sequence, making it very appealing to the fledgling network. (thanks, Rob - Jemseg, NB)

This appeared in the West German stage remake of West Side Story.

Taco's entire repertoire was comprised of older songs including some by Jazz bandleader Glen Miller and show tune writer George Gershwin. He played the role of "Chico" in a Marx Brothers stage show in Germany.

Taco's follow-up album was also named after an Irving Berlin song he covered, "Let's Face the Music and Dance." He also did Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek."

This came out around the same time as a cheesy TV show called Puttin' On The Hits. In the show, contestants would lip-synch for prizes. It could only have happened in the '80s.

In the Mel Brooks movie Young Frankenstein, there's a scene where Dr. Frankenstein (played by Gene Wilder) does a song-and-dance act to this with his monster.