Some bands find their moment, whilst others such as Blue Rondo a la Turk try to create their own moment and never quite make it happen. At the time, 1982, their mix of salsa, pop and soft jazz stylings was on the verge of becoming incredibly trendy and in vogue. With zoot suits, padded shoulders and slicked back hair, everything looked at the time ripe for Blue Rondo a la Turk. Word of mouth was building, press reviews of their live gigs raved. But when their sound reached the vinyl something seemed to fall distinctly flat upon the ears. Where was all that pizzazz and verve we were expecting to hear?
Their first single Me and Mr Sanchez reached only the lower end of the chart at 40. The second, this track Klacktoveesedstein, even though it was produced by Godley & Creme, faired little better topping out at 50. But it showed more of their promise, that 'uh uh uh ah' vocal backing is the real making of it. Lifting it a bit beyond your average Latin tinged derivative. I still have a soft spot for it all these years later.
Blue Rondo a la Turk didn't last much longer. The record company brought in some big hitters to try and salvage their speculative investment. But their second album, part written and produced by Clive Langer, ex Deaf School and Madness producer failed to chart. Two of them split off to form Matt Bianco, who did have a moment and a few Latin tinged hits. The lead singer Chris Sullivan ran The Wag Club for a while, started making videos and eventually became a successful writer.
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