Mambo Taxi were an English, London-based

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

band, linked with

riot grrrl Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington, and the greater Pacific Northwest, and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. A subcultural movement ...

, who formed in 1991 and split up in 1995.Mason, Stewart
Mambo Taxi Biography
,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, retrieved 2011-02-01

History

Mambo Taxi were inspired by the UK

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

scene and US punk. They formed after Lenie was invited to join Anjali, Ella, Andrea and Delia - who were all living together (bar Delia) in a squat in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

- to form a band. They became part of a vibrant music scene in the early 1990s which centered around three indie labels in London at the time, namely Clawfist,

Too Pure Too Pure Records was a London-based independent record label formed in 1990 by Richard Roberts and Paul Cox. The label gained prominence after the release of PJ Harvey's debut studio album ''Dry (album), Dry'' in 1992, and subsequently found f ...

and

Wiiija Wiiija was a British independent record label founded in 1988 by staff from the Rough Trade Shop in Notting Hill, London. The name Wiiija is a corruption of W11 1JA, the postcode of the Rough Trade Shop in Talbot Street. The label was notable fo ...

. Their sound was a mixture of garage, punk, and pop and they had links to British riot grrrl bands such as Huggy Bear. Drummer Anjali Bhatia left in 1992 in order to form the Voodoo Queens and guitarist

Ella Guru Ella Guru (born Ella Drauglis; May 24, 1966) is an American painter and musician living in Hastings, East Sussex, England. She was a member of Mambo Taxi and the Voodoo Queens. In 1999, she became one of the founding members of the Stuckist ...

joined her in 1993. The other members of the 1992 line-up appearing on the first single - a double 'A' side of "Prom Queen" written by Anjali and "Insecure" written by Lenie - were: Lenie (lead vocal/bass), Delia (guitar/vocals) and Andrea (organ/vocals).Stallard, Sam, "Cab Happy", NME, late 1992 Karin Rapp (drums/vocals) joined the band from the second single onwards. After the departure of Anjali and Ella the band went on to record one album ''In Love With'', featuring songs composed by all band members, but with lyrics mostly written by Lenie, covering topics as diverse as sexual abuse ("Velvet Youth" written by Lenie), religion ("Evangelical" written by Andrea) and women's issues such as single motherhood ("Push that Pram" written by Lenie), depression and self-harm ("Happy Claire" written by Karin Rapp); all other tracks were written by Lenie including the 'hit' single "Poems on the Underground" and the non-album single "Do you Always Dress Like That..." Mambo Taxi videos were early works b
Nicholas Abrahams
The band's name was taken from the film ''

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown ''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'' () is a 1988 Spanish black comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas and Julieta Serrano. The plot follows actress Pepa, who, after her lover Ivá ...

'' by

Pedro Almodovar Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

and was a reference to the taxi used by the film's heroine.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 855

, 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." thus describing the band. Lenie is from Belgium; Delia, Andrea and Anjali are British, Karin comes from Germany and Ella from Ohio.

Post break-up

Following the band's dissolution, Lenie formed Jolt with former

Senseless Things Senseless Things were an England, English pop punk band, formed in 1986 in London. The band released four studio albums and achieved two UK Singles Chart, UK Top 20 hit singles before splitting up in 1995. Senseless Things reformed in 2017 to p ...

frontman Mark Keds, they formed their own label 'Scared of Girls' and were signed by Warner Chappell. They released an EP ''Punk Jungle Rules'' and several singles. She briefly played in Square Mile Group and has been writing music ever since whilst bringing up a family. She has contributed songs to plays and

the Libertines The Libertines are an English Rock music, rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât (vocals/guitar) and Pete Doherty (vocals/guitar). The band, centred on the songwriting partnership of Barât and Doherty, included John Hassall ...

song, " Can't Stand Me Now", which features lyrics taken from a song written by Lenie and Mark Keds recorded in Brittania Row Studios called "Walking in LA". Delia went on to be in the Phantom Pregnancies along with members of Huggy Bear and

Wat Tyler Wat Tyler (1341 or – 15 June 1381) was a leader of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt in Kingdom of England, England. He led a group of rebels from Canterbury to City of London, London to oppose the collection of a Tax per head, poll tax and to dem ...

, and has proved to be the most prolific of ex-Mambo Taxi members, later appearing in the line-up of Baby Birkin, the Family Way and the A-Lines, as well as Manic Coughh, the Schla La Las, the Action Time, the Werewandas, and others. Delia and Karin were also in short-lived band Punjab Rovers, a collaboration with

Cornershop Cornershop are an English indie rock band formed in Leicester, in 1991. The group are best known for their single " Brimful of Asha" from their third album '' When I Was Born for the 7th Time''. A remixed version of the track reached number one ...

which produced one 7" single. Delia and Andrea are currently in Ye Nuns (previously The Nuns), a

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. N ...

which plays songs by

The Monks The Monks, referred to by the name monks on record sleeves, were an American rock band formed in Gelnhausen, West Germany, in 1964. Assembled by five American GIs stationed in the country, the group grew tired of the traditional format of ro ...

, alongside Debbie Smith, formerly of

Echobelly Echobelly are a British rock band, debuting in 1994 with their album '' Everyone's Got One''. They were often compared to Blondie and the Smiths, with Morrissey becoming a fan of the group. Career Echobelly lead singer Sonya Madan was born i ...

and

Curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line, but that does not have to be straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point. This is the definition that ...

, Charley Stone, formerly of

Salad A salad is a dish consisting of mixed ingredients, frequently vegetables. They are typically served chilled or at room temperature, though some can be served warm. Condiments called '' salad dressings'', which exist in a variety of flavors, a ...

Gay Dad Gay Dad were an English rock band that formed in London in 1994 and broke up in 2002. The line-up of the band has included Cliff Jones (guitarist/vocalist), Nick "Baz" Crowe (drummer), James Riseboro (keyboardist), Nigel Hoyle (bassist) and ...

, and Debbie from

thee Headcoatees Thee Headcoatees were an all-female garage band formed in Chatham, Kent, England in 1991. They were part of the Medway scene. The members were Holly Golightly, Kyra LaRubia, Ludella Black and "Bongo" Debbie Green. Formation Thee Headcoatees ...

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mambo Taxi Riot grrrl bands English garage punk groups English indie pop groups Pop music groups from London Musical groups established in 1991 1991 establishments in England English garage rock groups Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom