Mambo Taxi were a London based British band that were linked with Riot Grrrl

Riot grrrl

Riot grrrl was an underground feminist punk movement based in Washington, DC, Olympia, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and the greater Pacific Northwest which existed in the early to mid-1990s, and it is often associated with third-wave feminism...

, who formed in 1991 and split up in 1995.

History

Mambo Taxi were inspired by the UK garage rock scene and US punk. Their sound was a mixture of garage, punk, and pop and they also had links to British riot grrrl bands such as Huggy Bear. Drummer Anjali Bhatia left in 1992 in order to form the Voodoo Queens

Voodoo Queens

The Voodoo Queens were a North London-based girl group, who reached number one in the Indie Charts in 1993.-History:The band composed of Anjali Bhatia , Ella Guru , Stefania Lucchesini , Rajni Bhatia and Anjula Bhasker...

 and guitarist Ella Guru

Ella Guru

Ella Guru is an American painter and musician living in London. She was a member of Mambo Taxi and the Voodoo Queens. In 1999, she became one of the founding members of the Stuckist art movement.-Life:Ella Guru was born in Ohio, USA...

 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). 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

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 and Antonio Banderas...

and was a reference to the Mambo Taxi used by the film's heroine. Ella Guru

Ella Guru

Ella Guru is an American painter and musician living in London. She was a member of Mambo Taxi and the Voodoo Queens. In 1999, she became one of the founding members of the Stuckist art movement.-Life:Ella Guru was born in Ohio, USA...

, 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.” Lenie is from Belgium, Ella from Ohio, whilst Delia and Andrea are British.

Following the bands dissolution, Delia went on to be in The Phantom Pregnancies along with members of Huggy Bear and Wat Tyler

Wat Tyler (band)

Wat Tyler was an English novelty/punk band of the late 1980s and 1990s, fronted by Sean Forbes alongside Andy Tuck of Thatcher on Acid. The band were known for their eclectic style, insightful political commentary, surreal humour, and inside jokes, and produced a number of EPs and albums on...

, and has proved to be the most prolific of the band, later appearing in the line-up of Baby Birkin and the Family Way.

As of 2008, Andrea and Delia are in The Nuns, which is a cover band

Cover band

A cover band , is a band that plays mostly or exclusively cover songs. New or unknown bands often find the cover band format marketable for smaller gigs, and these bands may be known as a wedding band, party band and function band. A band whose covers consist mainly of songs that were chart hits is...

 which plays songs by The Monks

The Monks

Monks are a garage rock band, formed by American GIs who were based in Germany in the mid to late 1960s. They reunited in 1999 and have continued to play concerts, although no new studio recordings have been made...

; also in the band is Debbie Smith

Debbie Smith (musician)

Debbie Smith is a British guitar and bass player who has been in several bands from the 1990s to the present, including Curve, Echobelly, Nightnurse, Snowpony, Bows, The Nuns , and SPC ECO .Smith was interviewed for the book Never Mind the Bollocks: Women Rewrite Rock by...

, formerly of Echobelly

Echobelly

Echobelly were a Britpop band, debuting in 1994 with their album Everyone's Got One. They were often compared to Blondie and were influenced by Morrissey, who himself was a fan of the group....

 and Curve

Curve (band)

Curve was an English music group formed in 1990 chiefly around the collaboration of singer/songwriter Toni Halliday and bassist/guitarist/programmer Dean Garcia.-History:...

.

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"