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