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dynoVoice homePage Released ONE KISS CAN LEAD TO ANOTHER: A labor of love from Sheryl Farber and co-producer Gary Stewart, ONE KISS follows in the tradition of Rhino's revelatory, genre-defining boxed sets like Nuggets, Beg, Scream & Shout: The Big Box Of '60s Soul, and Loud, Fast & Out Of Control: The Wild Sounds Of '50s Rock by bringing listeners dozens of shoulda-been-classics. And Rhino has given this boxed set the kind of over-the-top packaging it deserves. ONE KISS CAN LEAD TO ANOTHER: GIRL GROUP SOUNDS, LOST & FOUND comes in a mod black-and-white hatbox, while the four digipak CDs inside resemble '60s makeup compacts, and the book, which contains essays by Gerri Hirshey and Gene Sculatti and a track-by-track by Sheila Burgel, looks like a girl's diary. The TOYS are featured on
Bob Crewe Presents
w/ The Toys' The TOYS are featured in
Embellished with a piano "thunderstorm" intro that neatly prefigured the "rain" in the opening lyrics, "A Lover's Concerto" updated Johann Sebastian Bach's "Notebook For Anna Magdalena Bach, Minuet In G," a five finger piano exercise. One also hears echoes of the Supremes' "Back In My Arms Again." "A Lover's Concerto" was certified Gold by the RIAA on December 17, 1965. The January 29, 1966 Record World had a photo of Bell-Amy-Mala president Larry Uttal presenting the Gold Record Plaque to June Monteiro and Barbara Harris. The headline: "Gold Toys." The Toys' "A Lover's Concerto" appeared in the film Mr. Holland's Opus. Check out cover versions of "A Lover's Concerto" by the Bob Crewe Generation (dynoVoice 237), the Hutch Davie Convention (dynoVoice 904), Mrs. Miller (Capitol 5640B, April 1966, Billboard #95), Sarah Vaughan (Mercury 72543, March 1966, Billboard #63), the Vogues, Enoch Light, the Soulful Strings, Horst Jankowski, Ronnie David and Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. The Toys Sing A Lover's Concerto and Attack! LP (dynoVoice 9002, January 1966) peaked at #92 in Billboard.
In April 1966, the Toys released "Can't Get Enough Of You Baby," Copyright June 28, 1965, on dynoVoice 45. The song had first been recorded by the Four Seasons. ? (Question Mark) and the Mysterians and Smash Mouth also released versions.
The urban splendor of "(On) Back Street" ("Where all the swingin' hippies make the scene") evoked "Nowhere To Run" AND "Dancing In The Street" by Martha and the Vandellas. "You know you can't let yourself go / With that stranger you meet/ On Back Street."
Opening with a blinding flash of Hollies' "Look Through Any Window" guitar, "May My Heart Be Cast Into Stone" paid tribute to Old Testament self-cursing oath formulas. "IF the end of the earth comes tomorrow/ And with only a moment or two/ IF you spend it alone and in sorrow/ Because I'm not there to die loving you/ Then may my heart be cast into stone." See Second Samuel 11:11: "May God bring all manner of evil upon me IF I do this thing = Surely I will not do this thing. See also First Samuel 3:14, 19:6 and Second Samuel 3:35.
The Toys performed "A Lover's Concerto" on NBC-TV's Hullabaloo on October 25, 1965 (see Hullabaloo Volume 8, MPI video, 1996). The Toys also appeared on ABC-TV's Shindig, toured with Gene Pitney and played countless dates with major artists.
On November 17, 1965, the Toys, Dave Clark Five and Barbarians rocked the Island Gardens auditorium in West Hempstead, NY.
In April 1966, the Toys delivered a scorching 30 minute set at NYC's Phone Booth discotheque. Variety: "The Toys are a pleasant group. Their harmonies are good and they have the feel of the youthful dances. The kids are individually good singers. They prove this by alternating the lead amongst themselves. However, their forte is still as an act, rather than a dance group."
After a promo tour of England, the Toys worked up a Sid Shaw-arranged nightclub act that premiered at the San Su San in Mineola, NY. The March 1967 issue of Teen's Top Ten (released November 10, 1966) declared: "With four hits in a row, these chicks are the tuffest competition the Supremes have." Intimidated, the Supremes covered "A Lover's Concerto" on the I Hear A Symphony LP.
Signed to Philips in late December 1966 (Billboard January 7, 1967), the Toys appeared in the April 1967 cinematic triumph It's A Bikini World (England: The Girl In Daddy's Bikini). According to Linda J. Sandahl's Rock Films (1955-1986) PN 1995 .9 .m86 .s260, the Toys performed "All's Fair In Love and War" in the film. Marshall Crenshaw's book disagrees. Philips singles: "Ciao Baby" / "I Got Carried Away" 40432 Billboard review February 25, 1967 "My Love Sonata" / "I Close My Eyes" 40456 Billboard review May 13, 1967. "Ciao Baby" (English-Weiss) was also recorded by Lynne Randell (Epic 5-10147) and the Montanas (Pye 7N 17282).
In 1968, the Toys released two singles on Musicor: "You Got It Baby" /"You've Got To Give Her Love" 1300 "Sealed With A Kiss" / "I Got My Heart Set On You" (B. Toomer-B. Harris-G. Redd) 1319
On film, stage or disc, the Toys were the embodiment of 60's Pop / Soul.
Sundazed CD SC 6034, 1994
All Tracks Produced by
All Tracks Arranged and
1. Can't Get Enough Of You Baby 6732
2. Deserted
3. See How They Run (Stereo)
4. Hallelujah (Stereo)
5. I Got A Man
6. A Lover's Concerto 6502
7. What's Wrong With Me Baby (Stereo)
8. Yesterday
9. Baby's Gone (Stereo)
10. This Night 6503
11. On Backstreet (Stereo) 6691
12. Attack
13. Baby Toys 6839
14. May My Heart Be Cast Into Stone 6690
Not On Sundazed CD:
15. Silver Spoon 6731
16. Happy Birthday Broken Heart 6840
A Stereo version of "Attack" is rumored to exist on a second pressing of the Toys' dynoVoice LP. The Wax of the first pressing of the Stereo LP with the MONO "Attack" is inscribed DVS9002SA-1A- / DVS9002SB-1A.
The Toys' Musicor tracks "You Got It Baby" and "You've Got To Give Her Love" appear on Quartet Of Soul, Volume 3 Musicor LP 3152. The previously unreleased Toys' Musicor track, "Try To Get You Out Of My Heart" appears on Kiss And Tell Ace CD CHD 330. The previously unreleased (?) Toys' Musicor track, "Let Me Down Easy" appears on Where The Girls Are, Volume Two Ace CD CHD 711, June 1999. "Now I belong to you / From this day until forever/ Just love me tenderly / And I'll give to you / Every part of me." BARBARA HARRIS: BARBARA NOW 1. It's What You Do 2. I Can't Wait To See You 3. If It's Not So 4. I'm Going Home 5. I Need Your Love So Bad 6. The Real Me 7. Levi 8. Let's Go Do It Up 9. I'll Wait For The Day 10. I Found Someone
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