Taxxi

The London trio Taxxi managed to carve out a small but devoted following with its blend of new wave-tinged pop/rock on several releases in the '80s. Scottish-born singer/guitarist David Cummings moved to London in the mid-'70s, where he met drummer Jeff Nead. The pair played in a succession of bands before joining with bassist Colin Payne, who was in a popular funk/reggae band. With their lineup complete, Taxxi was convinced to relocate to the U.S., signed with Fantasy, and issued Day for Night in 1980. Their sophomore effort managed to attract a bit more attention. Arriving in late 1982, States of Emergency edged onto the album charts on the strength of airplay for the track "I'm Leaving." A year later, the group again earned rock radio attention for "Maybe Someday," although it wasn't enough to get Foreign Tongue onto the charts. One final album, Expose, produced one of their catchiest tracks, "Still in Love," but it too failed to break the band and they soon disbanded. In 2001, fans were treated to the compilation Chequered Past, which gathered tracks from Taxxi's now out of print catalog to create a fairly definitive sampling.