R. Dean Taylor: A Forgotten Artist

I keep a list of songs that I've really enjoyed throughout the years and today I was scrolling through it to pick one to write about. As I was scrolling, I came across "There's a Ghost in My House" by R. Dean Taylor. I don't expect the name "R. Dean Taylor" to ring a bell for, well, anyone really. I have no idea how I found out about him in the first place (my best guess is that I was listening to a collection of Motown artists and he came up), because there's so little information about him out there.

In a nutshell, Richard Dean Taylor, or R. Dean Taylor, was a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer at Motown in the 60s and 70s. He achieved some chart success in the US, the UK, and Canada, most notably with his song "Indiana Wants Me," which hit number 1 in Canada and in Cash Box magazine, number 2 in the UK, and number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. His other two songs that charted well were "Gotta See Jane" and the aforementioned "There's a Ghost in My House." His Wikipedia page notes that a music writer named Jason Ankeny called Taylor one of the most underrated Motown acts ever and based on my limited (but not insignificant) knowledge of Motown acts, I feel comfortable agreeing with him. He has some really good songs, a few of which were hits, but he never seems to be mentioned...well, ever.

Besides Taylor's personal Wikipedia page, only the three songs I mentioned before have their own pages. His Spotify is bare. There are only two individual releases of his available while a handful of his other songs are found on compilations. I was surprised to see that he has over 100,000 monthly listeners, but I'm not sure how many of those are dedicated R. Dean Taylor fans, as opposed to people who are just listening to those Motown and 70s collections that he's on.

Even though I stopped listening to R. Dean Taylor many years ago, for some reason I've never really forgotten about his music. There's a quality to it that sits somewhere between sentimental and eerie. "Indiana Wants Me" is about someone on the run from the police, wishing to be back home with his wife and child. "There's a Ghost in My House" is about grieving over the loss of a significant other. "Gotta See Jane" narrates a man's frenzied attempt to return to a girl he left behind. "Back Street" is a particularly emotional, heavy song that I don't want to just try and summarize in a sentence or two.

Now, there are plenty of songs that touch on similar subject matters as R. Dean Taylor's, but in my opinion, something about his music sets him apart. If I had to guess, I'd say it's his earnestness. There are many vocalists who try to express a sense of longing or pain in their performances, but it can sometimes end up sounding empty and contrived. This is not the case with Taylor, as he always sounds extremely genuine. This, along with very full, interesting instrumentals make him an artist who is definitely worth checking out, in my opinion. Any of the songs mentioned here, along with "Woman Alive," would be good starting points for anyone interested.