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Bourgeois Tagg was an American pop rock band headed by Brent Bourgeois and Larry Tagg and featuring guitarist Lyle Workman, drummer Michael Urbano, and keyboardist Scott Moon.
The band is most remembered for their hit song "I Don't Mind at All" from their 1987 album Yoyo.
In 1987, the five members of Bourgeois Tagg recorded Yoyo with producer Todd Rundgren.
The album reached a respectable number 84 on the Top Pop Albums chart.
This is a fun little record -- and unfortunately the last for this group with hot, catchy songwriting not too over the top with '80s cliché.
Clever wordplay is a strong point in their songwriting -- akin to Elvis Costello without all the sarcasm. Not a weak song here -- every song is loaded with smart pop hooks and intelligent lyrics -- the only weak point coming with the use of the name "Frankie" as the character in an otherwise fantastic song "15 Minutes in the Sun."
Single "I Don't Mind at All" is very pretty, with syncopated rhythms, string arrangements, and great acoustic guitar work by Lyle Workman. Great closing number -- "Coma" -- has an unexpected, almost transcendental ending.
The listener also finds nice percussion work on "What's Wrong With This Picture" -- a sad song about infidelity.
One of the finest examples of '80s power pop one is likely to find.
The first single gave the band had what would prove to be their biggest hit: "I Don't Mind at All", written by Workman and Bourgeois.
The song is an acoustic ballad that is called "phenomenally pretty" and "achingly sad" by English music critic James Masterton, who proffered that its "shimmering string section" harked to classic Beatles songs such as "Yesterday" and "Across the Universe" and placed "its heart and soul firmly in the 1960s".
In 2024, reviewer Sobsey called it "the showstopper" of the album and "the 'inevitable song'—a simple, plaintive, folkish breakup ballad built around [Workman's] acoustic guitar track" that "adds decorative percussion and deftly incorporated strings" as it progresses.
He notes that "nearly four decades since it hit the airwaves, [it] still sounds like the from-the-heart classic it seemed like it would be in 1987."
The follow-up single "Waiting for the Worm to Turn" (the first single with a lead vocal by Tagg) failed to chart in the U.S., as did the third single "Cry Like a Baby".
Side one
1. Best Of All Possible Worlds - 3:58
2. Cry Like A Baby - 3:25
3. Pencil & Paper - 4:03
4. Out Of My Mind - 4:02
5. 15 Minutes In The Sun - 3:46
Side two
1. Waiting For The Worm To Turn - 4:02
2. I Don’t Mind At All - 2:33
3. What’s Wrong With This Picture - 4:23
4. Stress - 4:13
5. Coma - 4:14
Companies, etc.
- Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Island Records Inc.
- Produced For – Alchemedia Productions Inc.
- Recorded At – Utopia Studios
- Recorded At – Studio D, Sausalito, CA
- Mixed At – Utopia Studios
- Pressed By – Sonopress
Credits
- Arranged By [Songs Arranged By] – Bourgeois Tagg, Todd Rundgren
- Arranged By [Strings Arranged By] – Brent Bourgeois, Lyle Workman
- Bass – Larry Tagg
- Cello – Teressa Adams (tracks: B2, B5)
- Cover – Tony Wright
- Crew – Bob Lebarre, Larry Toomey, Scott Harrison
- Drums – Mike Urbano
- Engineer – Todd Rundgren
- Engineer [Assistant At Studio D] – Jim Watts Vereecke
- Guitar – Lyle Workman
- Keyboards – Brent Bourgeois, Scott Moon
- Lead Vocals – Brent Bourgeois (tracks: A1 to A4, B2, B4, B5), Larry Tagg (tracks: A5, B1, B3)
- Management [Direction] – Bill Graham
- Mixed By [At Utopia Sound Studios] – Todd Rundgren
- Percussion – Mike Urbano, Mingo Lewis (tracks: A1, A3, B3), Mingo Lewis (tracks: A1, A3, B3)
- Photography By – Michael Jang
- Producer [For Alchemidia Productions, Inc.] – Todd Rundgren
- Producer [In Association With] – Brent Bourgeois, Larry Tagg
- Strings – The Coast String Quartet (tracks: B2, B5)
- Viola – Rebecca Sebring (tracks: B2, B5)
- Violin – John Tenney (tracks: B2, B5)
- Violin [2nd] – Joseph Edelberg (tracks: B2, B5)
Notes
Release: 1987
Format: LP, Vinyl
Genre: Pop rock, Synth-pop
Label: Island
Catalog# 208606
Vinyl: Goed (Excellent)
Cover: Goed (Excellent)
Prijs: €10,00
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