Mambo Taxi

Mambo Taxi
Origin	London, England
Genres	Garage punk, Britpop, riot grrrl, indie rock
Years active	1991–1995
Labels	Clawfist
Associated acts	The Invisibles, Voodoo Queens, Ella Guru, The Phantom Pregnancies, Huggy Bear, The Nuns (not to be confused with the punk band of the same name)
Past members
Anjali Bhatia Ella Guru Delia Sparrow Andrea Stallard Karin Rapp Lenie Mets
Notable instruments
Farfisa organ

Mambo Taxi were a London based British band that were linked with Riot Grrrl,^[1] who formed in 1991 and split up in 1995.^[2]

History

Mambo Taxi were inspired by the UK garage rock scene and US punk. Their sound was a mixture of garage, punk, and pop^[2] and they also had links to British riot grrrl bands such as Huggy Bear. Drummer Anjali Bhatia^[3] left in 1992 in order to form the Voodoo Queens and guitarist Ella Guru joined her in 1993. The other members of the 1992 line-up appearing on the first single were Lenie (bass/vocals), Delia (guitar/vocals), Andrea (organ/vocals).^[4] Karin Rapp played drums after Anjali's departure, starting with the second single.

The band's name was taken from the film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and was a reference to the Mambo Taxi used by the film's heroine.^[5] Ella Guru, in an interview with NME’s Sam Stallard in 1992, described it as “tacky” but “with all sorts of different things in it that sort of clash, but everything’s useful as well as fun.”^[4] Lenie is from Belgium, Ella from Ohio, whilst Delia and Andrea are British.^[4]

Following the bands dissolution, Delia went on to be in The Phantom Pregnancies along with members of Huggy Bear and Wat Tyler,^[6] and has proved to be the most prolific of the band, later appearing in the line-up of Baby Birkin and the Family Way.^[2]

As of 2008, Andrea and Delia are in The Nuns, which is a cover band which plays songs by The Monks; also in the band is Debbie Smith, formerly of Echobelly and Curve.^[7]

Discography

Singles

• "Prom Queen" / "Insecure" (Clawfist, HUNKA 13, 1993)
• "Poems On The Underground" / "A&E" (Clawfist, HUNKA 19, 1993)
• "Do You Always Dress Like That In Front Of Other Peoples Boyfriends?" / "I Want To Marry A Serial Killer" (Clawfist, HUNKA 20, 1993)
• "Tom" (Echostate, Echo 5-6, 1995) - split single with Breed

Album

In Love With… (Clawfist, HUNKALP7, 1994)

Track listing:
Pink Side

• "Tom"
• "Kiss Kiss Kiss"
• "Belgian Blues"
• "2 Nice Boys"
• "Happy Claire"
• "(Push That) Pram (Under The Train)"
• "Evangelical"

Green Side

• "Screaming In Public"
• "Poems On The Underground"
• "Reasons To Live"
• "Insecure"
• "My Room"
• "Velvet Youth"

Compilations

V/A – Seek Refuge From Your Intolerable Situation, Say No To Male Violence (Garden Of Delights, 1994) Features the track "Foolish Little Girl"

V/A – Gay Pride (You Don’t Know What You’re Missing) (Rugger Bugger, 1994) Features the track "Brett From Suede (It's About Time You Got Laid) By A Man"

References

1. ^ Bayton, Mavis, "Frock Róck", OUP, 1998
2. ^ ^{a b c} Mason, Stewart "Mambo Taxi Biography", Allmusic, retrieved 2011-02-01
3. ^ http://www.anjali.org.uk/biog/php
4. ^ ^{a b c} Stallard, Sam, "Cab Happy", NME, late 1992
5. ^ Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0, p. 855
6. ^ http://www.damagedgoods.co.uk/band/?c=Phantom-Pregnancies
7. ^ O'Keeffe, Niall (2008-06-17), "When it comes to singing The Monks' praises The Nuns can't shake the habit", The Stool Pigeon (17), http://www.thestoolpigeon.co.uk/17/comes-singing-monks%E2%80%99.html 

External links

• Clawfist: http://www.discogs.com/label/Clawfist