Wally Tax
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Wladimir "Wally" Tax (; 14 February 1948 – 10 April 2005) was a Dutch singer and songwriter. He was founder and frontman of the
Nederbeat Nederbeat (also: Nederbiet) was the Dutch rock boom of mid-1960s influenced by British beat groups and rock bands such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and, much like British freakbeat, it is essentially the Dutch counterpart to American g ...
group The Outsiders (1959–1969) and the rock group Tax Free (1969–1971). After commercial and artistic success with The Outsiders in the late 1960s, he had a brief solo career in the 1970s, and then was a successful songwriter, producing a number of hit songs for Dutch artists. He faded into obscurity in the 1980s; after his death in 2005, two benefit concerts in Amsterdam proved his lasting popularity and influence.


Early life

Wladimir Tax was born on 14 February 1948 in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
in the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. His Dutch father and his Russian
Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
mother had met in a concentration camp during World War II. He grew up in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
and learned English at an early age from contacts with American sailors, for whom he acted as a pimp.


Music career


The Outsiders

In 1959, at age 11, he was one of the founding members of the beat band The Outsiders. The band sang English lyrics, with Tax as the main songwriter; Tax sang and played guitar and harmonica. Even while playing with The Outsiders, Tax recorded a solo album (with a symphonic orchestra), ''Love-In''. The Outsiders reached a measure of success, opening up for
The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
in 1966 and scoring a number of hits in the Netherlands. They were one of the best-known bands of the
Nederbeat Nederbeat (also: Nederbiet) was the Dutch rock boom of mid-1960s influenced by British beat groups and rock bands such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and, much like British freakbeat, it is essentially the Dutch counterpart to American g ...
movement — when they signed with
Phonogram Records Phonogram Incorporated was started in 1970 as a successor to Philips Phonographic Industries, a unit of the Grammophon-Philips Group (GPG), a joint venture of Philips N.V. of the Netherlands and Siemens A.G. of Germany. Phonogram was the nam ...
in 1968, '' Billboard'' reported on it. Leading what ''Billboard'' called "the leading Dutch beat group," Tax had a high-profile—he was reported to have the longest hair in the country, and lived a lavish lifestyle involving expensive dinners, chauffeur-driven cars, and friendships with Little Richard and
Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France. During a career spanning 57 ...
, as well as rumors of an affair with
Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...
. Although The Outsiders' records were not distributed in the United States, Tax did go overseas and made friends with notable musicians such as
Tim Hardin James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk and blues musician and composer. As well as releasing his own material, several of his songs, including " If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe", beca ...
, Richie Havens, and
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member ...
, and attended the
Woodstock Festival Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aquar ...
. He played with Hardin and Jimi Hendrix at the latter's Electric Ladyland Studio. As he explained in his 1998 autobiography, success came too quick for him, and alcohol and drugs took their toll, and combined with a lack of financial security (he admitted not being good at bookkeeping since his "way of life" had killed too many brain cells) the next decades of Tax's life were chaotic. After recording three albums, The Outsiders broke up in 1969. In 1997 The Outsiders came together for the last time to play a reunion tour in the Netherlands. The tour was short-lived because of Tax's unpredictable behavior. Jerome Blanes wrote ''Outsiders by Insiders'' around this time, the official biography of the band.


Solo career

Tax, after briefly heading a band called Tax Free, went solo. He was accompanied, in succession, by Bamboule (1972), George Cash (1973), Watermen (1973), and The Mustangs (1976). In 1974, he won the Silver Harp, an award for musical talent and had significant success with a couple of solo singles, "Miss Wonderful" and "It ain't no use". The end of his playing career was "Let's Dance" (1977), which became a minor hit in the Netherlands. Fourteen years after "Tax Tonight", in 1989, he recorded his fourth solo album with The Music. The album was very well received by critics but the sales were low. It takes until 2002 before his next and last solo effort was released. On "The Entertainer" Tax made a musical return to his rock roots. Again well received by critics, "The Entertainer" was not the success Tax hoped for. On the album Tax sings about his life as 'an entertainer' who is mostly misunderstood by his public.


Songwriting

After his playing career had ended, he concerned himself mainly with songwriting and wrote a number of hits for Dutch artists such as
Lee Towers Leendert "Leen" Huijzer (; born 23 March 1946), better known by his stage name Lee Towers, is a Dutch singer with international success. He remains as one of the best-selling artists and holds the record for the most concerts performed by a singl ...
("It's Raining in my Heart") and
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("Valentino", "Oh Me Oh My Goodbye", and "Rock 'n Roll Star", the latter charting at #2 in the Netherlands and #83 in the United States).


Personal decline and death

The 1980s saw his personal decline, starting with the slow death by cancer of his long-time partner Laurie Langenbach, who died in 1984 — according to close friend Armand, he never recovered from her death and for the next twenty years lived surrounded by her personal belongings. Efforts to revive a music career appear hampered by personal problems caused by alcoholism and tax problems. Tax died in 2005 in relative obscurity, bothered by financial and physical problems. He was buried in Amsterdam, after a gathering in Paradiso in his honor raised enough money for his funeral. A year later, a benefit concert was held in Paradiso to raise funds for a monument to be placed on his grave. The monument, three guitar necks crossing, continues to draw visitors. His biography, ''Wally Tax - Leven en Lijden van een Outsider'', was written by Rutger Vahl and came out ten years after his death in 2015.


Discography


Solo


Albums

*''Love In'' ( LP,
Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
, 1967) *''Wally Tax'' ( LP, Ariola IT 87762, 1974) *''Tax Tonight'' ( LP, Ariola XOT 89244, 1975) *''Springtime in Amsterdam'' (with The Music) ( LP, 1989) *''The Entertainer'' ( CD,
Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
, 2002)


Singles


With The Outsiders

*''Outsiders'' (LP, Relax 30007, 1967) *''Songbook'' (LP, Teenbeat APLP 102, 1967) *''C.Q.'' (LP,
Phonogram Records Phonogram Incorporated was started in 1970 as a successor to Philips Phonographic Industries, a unit of the Grammophon-Philips Group (GPG), a joint venture of Philips N.V. of the Netherlands and Siemens A.G. of Germany. Phonogram was the nam ...
, 236803, 1968) *''Outsiders / Wally Tax - Live 1968-2002'' (CD, VPRO/3 voor 12, 002, 2006) *''The Outsiders, Photo Sound Book'' (Book + CD, Poparchief Nederland, 2010)


With Tax Free

* ''Tax Free'' (Polydor, 1971)


Bibliography

* * Blanes, Jerome (2012 - English edition). Outsiders by insiders. * Vahl, Rutger (2015). Wally Tax - Leven en Lijden van een Outsider.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tax, Wally 1948 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Dutch male singers Dutch people of Russian descent Dutch Romani people Dutch male songwriters Dutch songwriters Musicians from Amsterdam People of Russian-Romani descent Romani singers