Daniel Darc

Daniel Darc, frontman for the 1980s post-punk group Taxi-Girl, has sustained an unsettling solo presence long after the band dissolved. An outspoken bisexual performer who delivers material in both French and Hebrew, he projects an unmistakable ferocity, once slicing his own arm onstage on December 10, 1979, yet finishing the set as blood streamed from the wound. Among his stark compositions stands the chilling number “I Will Kill You, I Will Kill You Slowly.”

While still attending college, Darc found quick acceptance inside Paris’s punk circles. In 1978 he formed Taxi-Girl alongside keyboardist Laurent Biehler and drummer Pierre Wolfsohn, issuing the debut single “Yes, Me.” The outfit was taken on by the Incredible Alexis, already known for prior work with Malcolm McLaren and the Sex Pistols, and steadily cultivated a French audience. Their first full-length release, Seppuku, arrived in 1981 and spotlighted Darc’s alter ego Viviane Vog.

Persistent misfortune nevertheless shadowed the group. Pierre Wolfsohn died of an overdose, and Laurent departed after repeated clashes with Darc. Though the band later put out the EP Cette Fille Est une Erreur and received a full-program tribute on national broadcaster France 2, Taxi-Girl staged its last shows in 1985. Darc then launched a solo path, joining Epic and releasing the singles “Pans Sans Te Retourner,” “Sous Influence Divine,” and “La Ville” before delivering his first album under his own name, Parce Que, in 1988. His follow-up solo effort, Nijinsky, appeared in 1994.