Dutch singer/songwriter WALLY TAX was born in Amsterdam in 1948 and found fame as the vocalist in the 60's NEDERBEAT group THE OUTSIDERS. The band were highly regarded in Holland and were considered by many to be the Dutch ROLLING STONES. The live side of their DEBUT LP from 1967 captures the wildness of their act and the hysteria they generated in their audience
The group recorded a string of amazing songs as good as any in the era, but made little impact in the rest of the world. They split at the end of the decade and Tax put together another band TAX FREE, briefly moving to the US where an LP was recorded and released
Unfortunately the anticipated US breakthrough failed to materialize and Tax returned to Holland to embark on a solo career and write songs for others. His 70's material moved closer to the MOR field, string dominated and often reminiscent of BUDDY HOLLY'S later pop discs { ''MISS WONDERFUL'' from 1973 is a good example of this }
His biggest hit would come in 1977 with ''LET'S DANCE'' and the songs he wrote for CHAMPAGNE { one of which: ''ROCK n' ROLL STAR'' charted in the US }. ''THIS GIRL IS MINE'' from 1975 didn't fare as well but was an artistic high, driven by a DISCO HI HAT, SWEEPING STRINGS and WAH WAH GUITAR it stands as a perfect example of MID SEVENTIES PHILLY INSPIRED DANCE POP
