The Tahiti 80 story began at Rouen University back in '93 when Xavier Boyer met Pedro Resende on campus one day. Boyer, who was studying English at the time, discovered that, like himself, Resende was a musician in his spare time. The pair hit it off immediately and shortly afterwards decided to go into the studio together to record a first demo tape.

The following year the duo expanded, recruiting a new member by the name of Mederic Gontier, an economics student who was also a dab hand on guitar. In 1995 the group established their final line-up, recruiting drummer Sylvain Marchand. All that was needed now was a name – and inspiration soon came from a simple slogan emblazoned across a T-shirt Xavier's father brought back from a holiday in Tahiti.

The members of Tahiti 80 soon found they had one major influence in common, all four of them sharing a real passion for 60s pop - in fact, they loved anything ranging from the Beatles to the Kinks! By 1995 the foursome were already busy in the studio recording their debut mini-album "Twenty Minutes". Tahiti 80 financed the whole venture themselves and had 536 copies of their first album pressed. (Needless to say, "Twenty Minutes" has become a much sought-after collector's item these days)

After several years' relentless touring on the live circuit and a number of failed record deals, Tahiti 80's career began looking up after they signed to Atmospheriques. It was not long afterwards that Sony picked up on the foursome's catchy pop sound and whisked them into a studio to record their first real album. Tahiti 80 jetted off to New York to work with leading American producer Andy Chase and then headed out to Sweden to mix their first album with Tore Johansson (of Cardigans and St Etienne fame).

Puzzle

Tahiti 80's debut album, "Puzzle", was released on Sony's Trema label in October 1999. Following the release of the album, the group hit the road, embarking on an extensive tour. Interestingly enough, Tahiti 80 scored a bigger hit with Belgian music fans than with record-buyers back home. (In fact, French music fans have remained strangely unreceptive to Tahiti 80's music throughout the group's career).

Perhaps one of the reasons for Tahiti's lack of success in France is that their entire repertoire is recorded and performed in English, which is nevertheless a trump card when it comes to marketing their pop sound on the international music scene. The group's record label have certainly played up Tahiti 80's English lyrics, pushing the band to promote their music abroad.

The group's debut album, "Puzzle", was released in Japan on April 25th 2000 and scored an instant hit with Japanese music fans. In fact, orders for 25,000 copies of the album reached record company HQ the day "Puzzle" was released and the album went on to sell 50,000 copies over the next six weeks.

Tahiti 80 headed out to the land of the Rising Sun to play a series of concerts to Japanese pop fans between May 15th and May 23rd 2000 - and went down like a house on fire! The group proved such a hit that they were invited to return to Japan and appear at the "Summer Sonic" festival a few months later. In fact, Tahiti 80 made such an impact on the Japanese music scene that cult pop diva Kahimi Karie (who has worked with the likes of Bertrand Burgalat and Katerine) asked the group to write a series of songs for her.

Following their success in Japan, Tahiti 80 moved on to try and crack the famously hermetic American market. "Puzzle" was released in the U.S. on June 6th 2000 and orders for 15,000 advance copies soon reached record company HQ. Sales rose steadily over the summer months and the group flew out to New York to play two concerts in the summer of 2000. Meanwhile, on June 19th Tahiti 80 put in an appearance in France, supporting hip British pop group Oasis when they played in Marseilles. Two days later Tahiti 80 travelled up to Paris to perform at the annual "Fête de la musique".

At the end of the summer Tahiti 80 returned to the States to perform an extensive tour (lasting from August 31st to October 9th). Interestingly enough, the group have remained much more popular outside France than they have back home and their record company have concentrated most of their efforts on export sales.

Export sales

Special versions of the group's singles have been recorded for the Japanese market, the American market and other European countries and have been remixed by leading international DJs including Cornelius, Soulwax and Todd Terry. In fact, it was Terry who remixed the Tahiti 80 classic "Heartbeat" which scored such a phenomenal hit in Japan and went on to become the 4th most played single on Japanese radio in 2000.

In fact, all of Tahiti 80's singles have been marketed as major musical events, right from the very first single "I.S.A.A.C" (which featured three special bonus tracks and a cover of the Byrds' classic "So you want to be a rock'n'roll star?") Following on from this Tahiti 80 fans were treated to "Easy Way Out" and "Yellow Butterfly" in 2000. And in 2001 "Songs from Outer Space" was released in the United States and Japan. (The single, a jazzed-up version of the original album track, coincided with the release of an 8-track CD featuring various remixes and bonus tracks).

After completing a mini-tour of America (15th to 22nd March 2001), Tahiti 80 went on to play to an enthusiastic audience at the "Printemps de Bourges" festival in France. But in April the group turned their sights on the UK, releasing their debut album "Puzzle" there on April 30th (18 months after it had originally been released in France!)

For Tahiti 80 breaking into the UK market was a symbolic challenge given their love of British 60s bands and cross-Channel pop. But the British market has proved rather disappointing to date compared to Tahiti 80's adventures in Japan. The group recently topped sales of 120,000 there, earning themselves a coveted gold disc and a nomination to the Japanese Gold Discs Awards. However, the group continue to persevere with their UK venture and at the end of April 2001 they hopped across the Channel to play a mini UK tour.

The following year on October 8th Tahiti 80 released a new album entitled "Wallpaper for the Soul". The album was first released in the US and in Japan, where the band promoted it with a series of concerts. Immediately afterwards, Tahiti 80 went on touring in Europe-- Holland, Austria, and Belgium were their main destinations. The release of ‘Wallpaper for the Soul’ is expected at the beginning of 2003.

After a few dates outside France, plus a tour of the United States and Japan, the group took a few months off. Nonetheless in December 2003 they released a compilation in Japan entitled "Extra Pieces of Sunshine", comprising B sides of Japanese single releases and some new remixes. The compilation came out in the rest of the world in 2004.

Fosbury

But it wouldn't be until 2005 that any new music from Tahiti 80 would see the light of day. That would be the single "Changes", from the forthcoming album "Fosbury". The group had called on the services of Serban Ghenea and Neal Pogue, American sound engineers for the likes of Outkast and Nerd, to produce a pop album shot through with soul influences and even a little hip hop. The lyrics were as always in English and were mainly about love. In other words, it was a clever mix of music for the dancefloors.

May 2005