Biography

Taxi Girl was formed in Paris in the late '70s around Daniel Darc (vocals), Mirwais (guitar), Laurent Sinclair (keyboards), Stéphane Erard (bass), and Pierre Wolfsohn (drums). The band played directly alongside such legendary acts as Marquis de Sade in the French '80s cult bands club. Mainly influenced by literature and American pop music, the band came up with a Mishima meets the Stooges meets Kraftwerk meets Jim Morrison formula, becoming famous thanks to a couple of handful of singles ("Mannequin," "Cherchez le Garçon," "Paris," "Aussi Belle Qu'une Balle") and shocking live sets. Their manager, Alexis, built a whole legend around Darc and his crew, especially after Darc cut his own wrists on-stage when opening for Talking Heads. Their first album, Seppuku, produced by the Stranglers' Jean-Jacques Burnel and recorded with the help of drummer Jet Black (also of the Stranglers) showcased a fully grown romantic new wave band at the height of their powers. But drummer Pierre Wolfsohn's death by drug overdose precipitated the band's end, though the Darc-Mirwais core kept on recording a handful of singles and mini-LPs before both going solo. Darc had a slowly but amazingly growing career, and Mirwais when on successfully in the production field to the point where he got to produce Madonna albums in the 2000s. His newfound popularity, coupled to his Production album and Darc's acclaimed Crève Coeur, contributed to the increasing amount of bands claiming their influence in the mid-2000s new wave/post-punk revival scene. ~ Olivier Duboc, Rovi