Bourgeois Tagg -

Bourgeois Tagg was an American adult-oriented pop band from Sacramento that released the 1986 album Bourgeois Tagg and the 1987 follow-up Yoyo on Island. The group reached the Billboard Hot 100 with “Mutual Surrender (What a Wonderful World)” and “I Don’t Mind at All.”

Members: Brent Bourgeois (vocals, keyboards), Larry Tagg (vocals, bass), Lyle Workman (guitar), Scott Moon (keyboards), Michael Urbano (drums)

Background

Bourgeois Tagg emerged in Sacramento, California, by 1983 when singer-keyboardist Brent Bourgeois and singer-bassist Larry Tagg formed a new group after their partnership in Uncle Rainbow.

Bourgeois was born on June 16, 1958, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His family moved to New Jersey when he was seven and settled in Dallas, Texas, during his teens. He played piano from age three and entered the Dallas club circuit while in high school.

Tagg was born in Lincoln, Illinois, and grew up in Dallas, where his father served as music director at Highland Park Presbyterian Church. His younger brother, Eric Tagg, also became a singer. Larry earned a philosophy degree from the University of North Texas and accepted a graduate teaching assistantship at the University of Texas. He abandoned graduate studies after one semester to pursue music.

Bourgeois played keyboards in Uncle Rainbow, a Dallas sextet formed around 1975 with singer Richard Oates and saxophonist John Lee Sanders. Tagg replaced original bassist Richard Bannister. In 1978, the musicians relocated to the San Jose–Los Gatos area under the guidance of Doobie Brothers drummer Michael Hossack, who arranged recording opportunities. Uncle Rainbow played extensively across Northern California with originals and covers that ranged from The Beatles to Weather Report. They established a regular presence at the Shire Road Pub in Sacramento and attracted interest from Riva Records and Geffen A&R executive John Kalodner.

Around 1980, Bourgeois and Tagg attended a Talking Heads concert in New York and sought a change of musical direction. The other Uncle Rainbow musicians resisted the proposal. The pair eventually settled in Sacramento at the invitation of Shire Road Pub owner Jerry Sterchi, who established a recording studio on 35th Avenue. Bourgeois and Tagg developed new songs and demos at the facility.

They recruited guitarist Lyle Workman from San Jose, where he had played in local groups and studied jazz theory and improvisation at West Valley College in Saratoga. Bourgeois Tagg eventually settled into a quintet with Sacramento keyboardist Scott Moon and drummer Michael Urbano. Bourgeois and Tagg shared lead vocals and songwriting duties.

Bourgeois Tagg played the El Dorado Saloon in Carmichael in December 1983 and established regular dates at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz. The Catalyst owner brought the group to the attention of Island Records A&R representative Ian Matthews, who helped secure a label contract.

Bourgeois Tagg

Bourgeois Tagg released their self-titled debut album in January 1986 on Island.

The album combines synth-pop and guitar-led rock with funk-inflected rhythms and shared lead vocals. Bourgeois sings seven of the nine originals, while Tagg leads “Heart of Darkness” and “Electric Train.”

The group employs PPG synthesizer programmer Andy Thomas and backing singers Mary Ann Bourgeois and Iain Matthews. Original drummer Rick Walker returns on talking drum for “The Perfect Life.”

A1. “Changed” (3:39) – Bourgeois
A2. “The Perfect Life” (3:42) – Bourgeois
A3. “Heart of Darkness” (3:38) – Tagg
A4. “Body Count” (3:01) – Bourgeois–Tagg
A5. “Dying to Be Free” (5:09) – Bourgeois–Tagg

B1. “Mutual Surrender (What a Wonderful World)” (4:25) – Tagg
B2. “The Move Up” (4:42) – Bourgeois
B3. “Electric Train” (3:34) – Tagg
B4. “Let the War Begin” (4:46) – Bourgeois

Sessions took place in 1985 at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, where Bill Jackson engineered the basic tracks. Bourgeois Tagg completed the album at David J. Holman Studio with engineer Ray Leonard. Holman co-produced with Bourgeois and Tagg and mixed the album at his studio. His earlier engineering credits include Olivia Newton-John (Totally Hot, Physical) and the Xanadu soundtrack. Leonard assisted on 1985 albums by the Pointer Sisters (Contact) and Stevie Nicks (Rock a Little), while Jackson worked on 1986 albums by Elvis Costello (King of America) and Fishbone (In Your Face).

Mike Doud shared sleeve art direction with Larry Tagg. New Orleans artist Coral Bourgeois illustrated the front cover, which depicts stylized, white-faced figures in patterned clothing amid dense foliage and geometric motifs. Kate O’Hair designed the band logo. Doud previously shared the 1980 Grammy Award for Best Album Package with Mick Haggerty for Supertramp (Breakfast in America). Four Eyes supplied photography, with a concurrent credit on the 1985 Mr. Mister album Welcome to the Real World.

Island issued “Mutual Surrender (What a Wonderful World)” as a February 1986 single (b/w “The Move Up”), which reached No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100. “The Perfect Life” followed in July 1986 (b/w “Electric Train”).

Bourgeois Tagg reached No. 139 on the Billboard 200.

Yoyo

Bourgeois Tagg released their second album, Yoyo, in September 1987 on Island.

Yoyo combines keyboard-led pop-rock and funk rhythms with acoustic guitar and orchestral elements. Bourgeois sings lead on seven tracks and Tagg on three.

The Coast String Quartet, including cellist Teressa Adams, performs on “I Don’t Mind at All” and “Coma” with string parts by Bourgeois and Workman. Former Santana percussionist Mingo Lewis guests on “Best of All Possible Worlds,” “Pencil & Paper,” and “What’s Wrong with This Picture.”

“I Don’t Mind at All” drifts across syncopated acoustic-guitar figures as strings and decorative taps enter around plaintive lead delivery. “Coma” ascends through somber meditation into dense harmonies and an unexpected, hallucinatory finale.

A1. “Best of All Possible Worlds” (3:58) – Tagg
A2. “Cry Like a Baby” (3:25) – Bourgeois
A3. “Pencil & Paper” (4:03) – Tagg
A4. “Out of My Mind” (4:02) – Bourgeois
A5. “15 Minutes in the Sun” (3:46) – Tagg–Bourgeois

B1. “Waiting for the Worm to Turn” (4:02) – Tagg
B2. “I Don’t Mind at All” (2:33) – Workman–Bourgeois
B3. “What’s Wrong with This Picture” (4:23) – Larry Tagg–Lyle Workman–Eric Tagg
B4. “Stress” (4:13) – Bourgeois–Peacock
B5. “Coma” (4:14) – Bourgeois

Sessions occurred in 1987 at Studio D Recording in Sausalito, California, and Utopia Sound Studios in Bearsville, New York, with producer–engineer Todd Rundgren in association with Bourgeois and Tagg. Rundgren mixed the album at Utopia, while Jim “Watts” Vereecke assisted at Studio D. Rundgren worked in sequence on albums by XTC (Skylarking) and the Pursuit of Happiness (Love Junk). Vereecke also assisted on 1987/88 albums by Earth, Wind & Fire (Touch the World) and Huey Lewis and the News (Small World).

Yoyo features cover art by British designer Tony Wright and photography by San Francisco portraitist Michael Jang. The front displays three treated faces against black: a red-and-yellow diamond-patterned profile, a blue monochrome portrait, and a green face overlaid with circuit-board motifs. Multicolored band lettering spans the upper edge. The back repeats the portrait treatments alongside personnel and production credits. Original LP copies include a separate lyric insert with black-and-white photographs. Wright also created contemporary artwork for Sly & Robbie (Rhythm Killers) and Melissa Etheridge. Jang documented San Francisco’s 1987 Golden Gate Bridge fiftieth anniversary in a photographic series.

Island lifted “I Don’t Mind at All” as an October 1987 single (b/w “Pencil & Paper”), which reached No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 5 on Adult Contemporary, and No. 8 on Album Rock Tracks. “Waiting for the World to Turn” (b/w “Coma”) followed with the A-side retitled from the album version, “Waiting for the Worm to Turn.” In early 1988, the label promoted “Cry Like a Baby” (b/w “15 Minutes in the Sun”).

Yoyo reached No. 84 on the Billboard 200.

Postlude

Bourgeois Tagg began a third Island album in 1989 with producer Peter Wolf. Bourgeois abandoned the project after three songs, dissatisfied with the musical direction and unable to reconcile the arrangements with his increasingly personal lyrics. The group dissolved amid sessions for Nearly Human, the 1989 Warner Bros. album by Todd Rundgren. All five members contributed to the album; bassist Larry Tagg, guitarist Lyle Workman, and drummer Michael Urbano joined the subsequent Rundgren tour.

Bourgeois signed with Charisma and cut the 1990 solo album Brent Bourgeois with producers Danny Kortchmar and David J. Holman. He followed with A Matter of Feel (1992) and the Christian-oriented Come Join the Living World (1995), produced with Charlie Peacock for Reunion Records. Bourgeois relocated to Nashville, where he produced Christian-music albums and became vice president of A&R at Word Records.

Tagg toured with Rundgren and Hall & Oates and became a staff songwriter for Warner Chappell, with songs covered by Eddie Money, Kim Carnes, and Cliff Richard. He released the solo albums With a Skeleton Crew (1995) and Rover (1997), then taught English and drama at Hiram Johnson High School in Sacramento. Tagg also authored the Civil War histories The Generals of Gettysburg (1998) and The Unpopular Mr. Lincoln (2009).

Workman joined Jellyfish for their 1993 album Spilt Milk and played on subsequent albums by Frank Black. He entered film scoring with The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) and Superbad (2007). Urbano played on the 1993 Cracker album Kerosene Hat and joined John Hiatt for the 1995 Capitol release Walk On. He later spent six years with Smash Mouth.

Bourgeois Tagg reunited at the Crest Theatre in Sacramento on June 3, 2008, for a benefit concert to assist former Uncle Rainbow singer Richard Oates. The band performed again at the Crest and the Visalia Fox Theatre during the August 2012 Lost 80’s Live concerts.

In 2014, Bourgeois reunited with Tagg, Workman, and Urbano for “Psycho,” a track on his fourth solo album, Don’t Look Back. David J. Holman, producer of the first Bourgeois Tagg album, mixed the song.

Discography:

Bourgeois Tagg (1986)
Yoyo (1987)

Sites

Resources and notes

Ralph Burnett — Brent Bourgeois interview (1990). Birth, childhood, piano studies, Uncle Rainbow, Jerry Sterchi, Sacramento demos, and the Island contract. (My Sonic Island)
Larry Tagg interview — July 18, 2010. Family background, university education, the 1978 California move with Uncle Rainbow, and the 1985 Island signing. (Bull Runnings)
Jackson Griffith — May 29, 2008. Original Uncle Rainbow personnel, Michael Hossack, the Sacramento club circuit, Talking Heads concert, Jerry Sterchi, and the Bourgeois Tagg lineup. (Sacramento News & Review)
Lyle Workman interview — April 26, 2020. San Jose background, West Valley College studies, early Bourgeois Tagg membership, and relocation to Sacramento in 1985. (KVR Audio)
Sacramento concert chronology — 1983–84. Lists Bourgeois Tagg engagements at the El Dorado Saloon on December 6–7, 1983, and Beaverbrooks North on January 7, 1984. This establishes activity under the name earlier than the commonly cited 1984 formation year. (SacTV)
Catalyst concert archive — 1984. Documents performances on September 29, November 8–9, and December 22, 1984, at the Santa Cruz venue. (Concert Archives)
Ben Brooks — September 2–15, 1985. Contemporary interview with Island A&R representative Ian Matthews, who identifies the Catalyst owner as his introduction to Bourgeois Tagg and confirms the record deal. (Music Connection, page 7)
Bourgeois Tagg — 1986 album credits. Confirms the five musicians, David J. Holman, the Sunset Sound basic tracks, and the Hollywood studio sessions. (Album credit transcription)