Toy Love
Encyclopedia
Toy Love was a New Zealand
New Wave
/punk rock
band fronted by Chris Knox
. Other members were guitarist Alec Bathgate
, bass player Paul Kean
, drummer Mike Dooley, and keyboard player Jane Walker. The band developed out of the earlier punk band The Enemy
from Dunedin
, New Zealand, and are often regarded as the progenitors of the Dunedin Sound
movement.
Toy Love were together for less than two years (1978–80) and spent a large part of that time in Australia. They released just one (self-titled) album, however the band members were apparently appalled by the mixing of the tracks which took the edge off the band's deliberately raw sound. In April 2005, this album was remastered and released along with a bunch of demos and unreleased tracks as a double CD entitled Cuts.
After Toy Love broke up, Bathgate and Knox remained together as the Tall Dwarfs
.
. The following is a list of these albums that have featured tracks by Toy Love.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
/punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band fronted by Chris Knox
Chris Knox
Chris Knox is a New Zealand rock and roll musician, cartoonist, and DVD reviewer who emerged during the punk rock era with his bands The Enemy and Toy Love. After Toy Love disbanded in the early 1980s, he formed the group Tall Dwarfs with guitarist Alec Bathgate, much loved for their honest,...
. Other members were guitarist Alec Bathgate
Alec Bathgate
Alec Bathgate is a New Zealand musician who was a key member of The Enemy and Toy Love, as well as being one half of Flying Nun Records act Tall Dwarfs alongside Chris Knox. As well as playing guitar in these bands, he has released two solo albums....
, bass player Paul Kean
Paul Kean
Paul Kean is a New Zealand musician and music producer. He first played in the Basket Cases .When The Enemy lost Mick Dawson, Paul Kean joined as bass player along with Jane Walker on keyboards to form Toy Love in 1979...
, drummer Mike Dooley, and keyboard player Jane Walker. The band developed out of the earlier punk band The Enemy
The Enemy (New Zealand band)
The Enemy were a band from Dunedin, New Zealand, that are often seen as the starting point of the Dunedin Sound rock movement.Though the band did not release any official recordings, some of their performances are available in bootleg form. They are seen as hugely influential on the development of...
from Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
, New Zealand, and are often regarded as the progenitors of the Dunedin Sound
Dunedin Sound
The Dunedin sound was a style of indie pop music created in the southern New Zealand university city of Dunedin in the early 1980s.-Characteristics:...
movement.
Toy Love were together for less than two years (1978–80) and spent a large part of that time in Australia. They released just one (self-titled) album, however the band members were apparently appalled by the mixing of the tracks which took the edge off the band's deliberately raw sound. In April 2005, this album was remastered and released along with a bunch of demos and unreleased tracks as a double CD entitled Cuts.
After Toy Love broke up, Bathgate and Knox remained together as the Tall Dwarfs
Tall Dwarfs
Tall Dwarfs are a New Zealand rock band formed in 1981 by Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate who, through their do-it-yourself ethic, helped pioneer the lo-fi style of rock music. The duo formed out of the ashes of Toy Love....
.
Discography
| Date | Title | Label | Charted (NZ) | Certification | Catalog Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albums | |||||
| 1980 | Toy Love Live At The Cook Volume One | - | - | - | |
| Toy Love Live At The Cook Volume Two | - | - | - | ||
| Toy Love Toy Love (album) Toy Love is the self-titled by New Zealand band, Toy Love released in 1980.For many years the vinyl release of this album was regarded as one of New Zealand's major record-collecting rarities... |
WEA | 4 | - | - | |
| 2005 | Cuts Cuts (album) Cuts is a greatest hits album by New Zealand band, Toy Love, released in 2005.-Disc one:#"Squeeze"#"Rebel"#"Don't Ask Me"#"Sheep"#"I Don't Mind"#"Swimming Pool"#"Death Rehearsal"#"Bride Of Frankenstein"#"Toy Love Song"... |
Flying Nun Records Flying Nun Records Flying Nun Records is an independent record label formed in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1981 by music-store proprietor Roger Shepherd.-History:The label was formed in the flurry of new punk rock-inspired labels forming in the early 1980s... |
23 | - | FNCD473 |
| EPs | |||||
| 1980 | Toy Love EP Toy Love EP The Toy Love EP is an EP by New Zealand band, Toy Love released in 1980. It contained all of the tracks from the band's first two singles, which had been released over the previous 12 months.... |
Deluxe Deluxe Deluxe can mean:* de luxe, "of luxury" in French. The term in English has taken on "exquisite in quality and design", and is often used to label special edition products.-Corporations:* Deluxe Corporation, check printers... |
- | - | 20630 |
| Singles | |||||
| 1979 | Rebel b/w Squeeze | Elektra Elektra Records Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009.... |
29 | - | Z 10015 |
| 1980 | Don't Ask Me b/w Sheep | Deluxe Deluxe Deluxe can mean:* de luxe, "of luxury" in French. The term in English has taken on "exquisite in quality and design", and is often used to label special edition products.-Corporations:* Deluxe Corporation, check printers... |
10 | - | Z 10022 |
| Bride Of Frankenstein b/w Amputee Song/Good Old Joe | 22 | - | Z 10029 | ||
Featured appearances
The group have appeared on a few compilations and soundtracks in New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. The following is a list of these albums that have featured tracks by Toy Love.
- (1979) - AK79AK79AK79 is a compilation album of tracks by punk bands active in Auckland, New Zealand, in the late 1970s. The album was compiled by Bryan Staff, with artwork from Terence Hogan, and was released by Ripper Records in 1979 - just in time for Xmas. Bands featured on the original compilation include The...
(Ripper Records) - Squeeze & Toy Love Song. - (1980) - Goats Milk Soap (Ripper Records) - The Second To Last Song Toy Love Wrote With Ad Lib Lyrics
- (1988) - It's Bigger Than Both Of Us - NZ singles 1979-1982 (Propeller RecordsPropeller RecordsPropeller Records was an independent record label formed in Auckland, New Zealand, by Simon Grigg in 1980.-1980-81:In the years prior to 1980 the New Zealand contemporary recording industry was largely moribund. The major record labels were either not recording or were confining themselves largely...
) - Rebel - (1993) - AK79AK79AK79 is a compilation album of tracks by punk bands active in Auckland, New Zealand, in the late 1970s. The album was compiled by Bryan Staff, with artwork from Terence Hogan, and was released by Ripper Records in 1979 - just in time for Xmas. Bands featured on the original compilation include The...
(Propeller RecordsPropeller RecordsPropeller Records was an independent record label formed in Auckland, New Zealand, by Simon Grigg in 1980.-1980-81:In the years prior to 1980 the New Zealand contemporary recording industry was largely moribund. The major record labels were either not recording or were confining themselves largely...
) - Squeeze, Toy Love Song & Frogs. - (2003) - Give It A Whirl (Propeller RecordsPropeller RecordsPropeller Records was an independent record label formed in Auckland, New Zealand, by Simon Grigg in 1980.-1980-81:In the years prior to 1980 the New Zealand contemporary recording industry was largely moribund. The major record labels were either not recording or were confining themselves largely...
) - Don't Ask Me.