"Calcutta (Taxi Taxi Taxi)" is a song recorded by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

artist Dr. Bombay. It was released in 1998 as the lead single from his debut album, '' Rice & Curry''. The song became Jakobsen's first major hit, topping the charts at number-one in Sweden and number 2 in Norway. In Denmark, it peaked at number 12. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

, the single peaked at number 31 in October 1998. The song is sung from the perspective of Dr. Bombay, an eccentric

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

taxi driver who is employed by his uncle and, despite his impaired vision and lack of a license to operate, loves to drive his taxi. ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' noted the song as an "Asian-flavoured poppy dance tune (try imagining Aqua with an Indian singer)" in their review of the song.

Music video

An accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song was produced in 1998. It shows Jakobsen clad in a

kurta A ''kurta'' is a loose collarless shirt or tunic worn in many regions of South Asia, (subscription required) Quote: "A loose shirt or tunic worn by men and women." Quote: "Kurta: a loose shirt without a collar, worn by women and men from South ...

pagri Phari or Pagri (; ) is a town in Yadong County in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China near the border with Bhutan. The border can be accessed through a secret road/trail connecting Tsento Gewog in Bhutan () known as Tremo La. the town had a popula ...

and dark glasses, driving the streets of

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

in an

Austin FX4 The Austin FX4 is a hackney carriage that was produced from 1958 until 1997. It was sold by Austin from 1958 until 1982, when Carbodies, who had been producing the FX4 for Austin, took over the intellectual rights to the car. Carbodies continu ...

as he collides with pedestrians and debris, steals the lunch of an unsuspecting restaurant customer, steals a newspaper in a similar manner and hangs outside his taxi window in

roller skates Roller skates, are shoes or bindings that fit onto shoes that are worn to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. The first roller skate was an inline skate design, effectively an ice skate with wheels replacing the blade. Later the "quad ska ...

as various engine parts are continuously breaking off from the car. Throughout the video, the action frequently cuts to a 180 degree pan of the taxi's interior, in which Jakobsen is superimposed with several instances of himself who can be seen making hand gestures, dancing, sleeping, hanging out the windows and interacting with each other. Much of the video was filmed in Malaysia, as can be deduced from vehicle number plates on display throughout, and as well as a brief

Batu Caves Batu Caves ( ta, பத்து மலை : Pathumalai) is a mogote (a type of karst landform) that has a series of caves and cave temples in Gombak, Selangor, Malaysia. It takes its name from the Malay word ''batu'', meaning 'rock'. The hill ...

sightings on the background.

Track listing

CD single

The following tracks are on the CD single: #Calcutta - Original Version – 3:20 #Calcutta - Extended Version – 4:16

Single CD-maxi

The following variations of the track were released on the

Maxi single A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. The first maxi singles Mungo Jerry's first single, "In the Summertime" was the ...

: #Calcutta - Original Version – 3:20 #Calcutta - Extended Version – 4:16 #Calcutta - Karaoke Version – 3:18 #Calcutta - Alternative Mix – 4:16

Remixes and samples

*A remixed version of the song by

Basshunter Jonas Erik Altberg (; born 22 December 1984), known professionally as Basshunter, is a Swedish singer, record producer, songwriter and DJ. Basshunter has recorded five studio albums: ''The Bassmachine'' (2004), ''LOL (Basshunter album), LOL'' (2 ...

appears on Jakobsen's first compilation album ''

The Hits The Hits was a music video channel broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland, owned by Box Television. On 15 August 2008 it was rebranded as 4Music. Overview and availability The channel showcased a range of pop centred on chart hits and curr ...

'' as a bonus track. *The song was featured in the South Korean comedy program ''

Gag Concert ''Gag Concert'' ( ko, 개그콘서트) was a South Korean sketch-comedy television show more commonly known as ''Gag Con'' ( ko, 개콘). It began airing on September 4, 1999 and aired its last episode on June 26, 2020, making it South Korea's ...

'' a few times. * Taiwanese pop singer

Yuki Hsu Yuki Hsu (born 3 March 1978) is a Taiwanese singer and actress from Taiwan. She is perhaps best known for her series of hits in Taiwan between 1998 and 2001. Most of her songs in her early career are upbeat, catchy, melodic dance tracks, often ...

covered the song in 1999 as "Who's Naughty".Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

In other media

"Calcutta" was licensed for inclusion in the music game ''

Beatmania IIDX 2nd Style This list comprises the entire ''Beatmania'', ''Beatmania IIDX'' and ''Beatmania III'' catalog of music video games. This list does not contain beta, demo, bootlegged, or unreleased games. :''This list is incomplete. If you know of a release that ...

''.

Chart position

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Dr. Bombay at Bubblegum Dancer
(Archive.org) {{authority control 1998 singles Dr. Bombay songs 1998 songs Songs written by Robert Uhlmann (composer) Songs about India Songs about cities Songs about cars Songs about occupations Works about taxis