Note: the CD I listened to was the Music On CD reissue (The Netherlands, 2024) with 4 bonus tracks.
I first discovered Eric Tagg in the early 1980s through his stellar vocals on Lee Ritenour's 'Rit' album, but was completely oblivious to his earlier solo albums for many years. This cluelessness was mainly because Tagg, a US native, was living and working in the Netherlands at the time and his albums weren't released in the US. (It also explains why he changed the spelling of his first name.) I've since found a couple of them, but I'm always on the lookout for other early Tagg CDs.
Here's the only US press I was able to find regarding this album. Up, up, and away...
In any case, this album is typical late-70s blue-eyed soul/jazz-pop/sophisticated Adult Oriented Rock. Production is lush but restrained with lots of warm Fender Rhodes, silky backing vocals, tasteful horn charts, and mellow grooves. All this good stuff supporting Tagg's airy tenor that can sound soulful and is always in complete control, almost as if this guy is incapable of over singing. The album was produced by Hans Vermeulen of the Dutch band Rainbow Train and you can hear a bit of a slightly European feel when compared to US soft rock of the time. (See also Lava). There's also several points where you can tell Tagg spent a lot of time taking in the ballads on Songs In The Key Of Life. Then again, who wasn't listening to that album back in 1977?
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Not originally released in the US
Tracks: All songs written by Tagg. My top picks on today's listen are Got To Be Lovin' You, Fancy Meeting You, Marja's Tune, and Mutual Feeling; but it all goes down easy. As do the...
Bonus tracks: Living Off The Love is the best of the four bonus tracks, but I also dig The Love I Gave and Who Are You. These four lean more to the Westcoast/AOR sound but also more to CCM (or were they still calling it "God Rock" back in '77?)
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None.
Previously revisited for the blog:
Tagg/McNulty Band - At The Legendary Popsicle Toes Club In Dallas TX 1986 (2018)
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