"Taxi" is a song written and performed by
Harry Chapin from his 1972 album
Heads and Tales. Chapin debuted the song on
NBC's
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1972, which was followed by many calls and telegrams sent from viewers to NBC demanding that Chapin return to the show. It was the first time in the show's history that host
Johnny Carson brought a performer back the very next night for an encore performance. "Taxi" thus front-lined his defining work. The single helped establish Chapin's musical style and fame, and as a result, many Chapin items featured
taxi-related imagery. Legendary
WMEX-Boston Radio Personality
Jim Connors is credited with a Gold record for discovering Chapin and pushing his single "Taxi" to #24 on the
Billboard charts, where it would last 16 weeks on the
Hot 100, in the
United States.
Billboard ranked it as the No. 85 song for 1972. In Canada, the song reached number three, and is ranked as the No. 37 song for 1972.