Bourgeois Tagg - Yoyo
Bourgeois Tagg
YoYo
Island Records 1987
Produced by Todd Rundgren with Brent Bourgeois and Larry Tagg
Brent Bourgeois - vocals, keyboards
Larry Tagg - bass, vocals
Scott Moon - Synths
Mike Urbano - Drums, Percussion
Lyle Workman - Guitars
In the late 80s, elegant, eloquent pop was in decline. A few stalwarts (XTC, Squeeze, Elvis Costello) kind of kept things afloat, but new blood was hard to come by. Bourgeois Tagg was one of the few promising new acts, and on their way to establish themselves as new scions of post-new wave coolness. Then they broke up. But at least we have their self-titled debut and the follow up, Yoyo as reminders.
BT had some particular strengths, and a chemistry that exploited them, helped along in this case by the infamous Todd Rundgren (who had just come off producing Skylarking for XTC). Lyrics that were thoughtful, articulate and pithy were used against performances that were sincerely delivered and played with more aplomb than one would expect. They had the fortune of Tagg and Urbano as a flexible and unexpectedly funky rhythm side (especially Tagg's supple basswork), and in Workman they lucked out with one of the most versatile and compelling guitarists to come out of that decade (he has since worked with folks like Beck, Kevin Gilbert, Frank Black, and They Might Be Giants). Bourgeois and Tagg were both excellent frontmen and seemed to have a fluid common area where they built ideas from into albums.
This is not to imply the album suffers from sameness. It is quite the contrary. Straightahead AOR like 15 Minutes in the Sun follows the Boz Scaggs/Steely Dan style lazy day sounds of Out of My Mind. Waiting for the Worm To Turn is full of creative guitar/bouzouki work and one of the catchiest choruses which play into B+T's harmony vocal style. What's Wrong with This Picture is a melancholic narrative track that may be appealling to folks who liked Joni Mitchell's more jazzy work (it even features fretless bass sounding more Jaco than not). The dark, chilling story of losing one's mind in I Don't Mind At All is a centerpiece of this album (and it's sole charting hit). It is sung against a Beatles-esque backdrop of acoustic guitars, strings, and lush keyboards. The closer, Coma could have come off as an accidentally accessible b-side from Laurie Anderson; disturbed, somber and not ending happily (it is a song about drinking yourself into a coma), it was an autobiographical account of where Bourgeois felt he was heading at the time. It was prescient, as BT folded after the tour supporting this album.
Bourgeois made one stellar solo album, followed by a medicore sophomore effort, and an abyssmal third as he became a born again Christian and gutted every interesting aspect of his songwriting and edgy musical approach with the exception of his clear, expressive vocals. Tagg has done 2 obscure solo discs well worth seeking out (Particualrly to those who like the work of bands like Train or Chantal Kreviazuk). Urbano and the aforementioned Workman have gone on to do lots of session work, with Moon being the lone "where is he now?" candidate.
They really were a thinking man's pop band.
You might like this if you like:
Kino - Picture
XTC - Oranges and Lemons
Todd Rundgren - Nearly Human
Squeeze - Play
Tears For Fears - Sowing the Seeds
Kevin Gilbert - Thud
YoYo
Island Records 1987
Produced by Todd Rundgren with Brent Bourgeois and Larry Tagg
Brent Bourgeois - vocals, keyboards
Larry Tagg - bass, vocals
Scott Moon - Synths
Mike Urbano - Drums, Percussion
Lyle Workman - Guitars
In the late 80s, elegant, eloquent pop was in decline. A few stalwarts (XTC, Squeeze, Elvis Costello) kind of kept things afloat, but new blood was hard to come by. Bourgeois Tagg was one of the few promising new acts, and on their way to establish themselves as new scions of post-new wave coolness. Then they broke up. But at least we have their self-titled debut and the follow up, Yoyo as reminders.
BT had some particular strengths, and a chemistry that exploited them, helped along in this case by the infamous Todd Rundgren (who had just come off producing Skylarking for XTC). Lyrics that were thoughtful, articulate and pithy were used against performances that were sincerely delivered and played with more aplomb than one would expect. They had the fortune of Tagg and Urbano as a flexible and unexpectedly funky rhythm side (especially Tagg's supple basswork), and in Workman they lucked out with one of the most versatile and compelling guitarists to come out of that decade (he has since worked with folks like Beck, Kevin Gilbert, Frank Black, and They Might Be Giants). Bourgeois and Tagg were both excellent frontmen and seemed to have a fluid common area where they built ideas from into albums.
This is not to imply the album suffers from sameness. It is quite the contrary. Straightahead AOR like 15 Minutes in the Sun follows the Boz Scaggs/Steely Dan style lazy day sounds of Out of My Mind. Waiting for the Worm To Turn is full of creative guitar/bouzouki work and one of the catchiest choruses which play into B+T's harmony vocal style. What's Wrong with This Picture is a melancholic narrative track that may be appealling to folks who liked Joni Mitchell's more jazzy work (it even features fretless bass sounding more Jaco than not). The dark, chilling story of losing one's mind in I Don't Mind At All is a centerpiece of this album (and it's sole charting hit). It is sung against a Beatles-esque backdrop of acoustic guitars, strings, and lush keyboards. The closer, Coma could have come off as an accidentally accessible b-side from Laurie Anderson; disturbed, somber and not ending happily (it is a song about drinking yourself into a coma), it was an autobiographical account of where Bourgeois felt he was heading at the time. It was prescient, as BT folded after the tour supporting this album.
Bourgeois made one stellar solo album, followed by a medicore sophomore effort, and an abyssmal third as he became a born again Christian and gutted every interesting aspect of his songwriting and edgy musical approach with the exception of his clear, expressive vocals. Tagg has done 2 obscure solo discs well worth seeking out (Particualrly to those who like the work of bands like Train or Chantal Kreviazuk). Urbano and the aforementioned Workman have gone on to do lots of session work, with Moon being the lone "where is he now?" candidate.
They really were a thinking man's pop band.
You might like this if you like:
Kino - Picture
XTC - Oranges and Lemons
Todd Rundgren - Nearly Human
Squeeze - Play
Tears For Fears - Sowing the Seeds
Kevin Gilbert - Thud
posted by theloniusfunk at 3:08 AM
1 Comments:
Thanks for this great commentary on Bourgeois Tagg. A lost band from the 80's, very expressive and lyrical.
I saw on Lyle Workman's webpage that David Fincher (of Zodiac fame) directed the video of "I don't Mind At All" very, very first rate in an 80's look and feel, and indicative of a great cinematic talent to be developed.
I think "I Don't Mind At All" is truly one of the lost pop gems of the 1980's.
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