Cuts

[ Flying Nun Records New Zealand / 2 CD ]

Release Date: Tuesday, 26 April, 2005

Should this item be out of stock at the time of your order, we would expect to be able to supply it to you within 2 - 5 days.

Toy Love? 40 tracks? 25 years later? There is a god! (This ain't nostalgia, this is right now).

25 years after the fact comes the news that Flying Nun have worked in conjunction with the band to finally release an all-encompassing 2CD audio collection of Toy Love songs, entitled 'Cuts'.

One disc contains the first two singles, the entire Toy Love album and the b-sides from the third single. The second disc is just as packed; with the bulk of this material being previously unreleased tracks recorded in demo format -- this disc is a magic collection of material recovered from the vaults.

All the tasty Toy Love tracks are included here: 'Sheep', 'Squeeze', 'Rebel', 'Bride Of Frankenstein', 'Good Old Joe', 'Swimming Pool', 'Don't Catch Fire' and 31 other gems.

'Cuts' also includes a 32page booklet full of photos, lyrics, gig posters and personal recollections from the band and their associates. All the tracks have been digitally remastered for issue on compact disc for the first time ever.

Like most people, we get all misty-eyed just thinking about it. So, let's take a look back at the life & times of the band, through the eyes of the people who were there:

"My job was to sing. Up there, stranded without an instrument to hide behind, I woulda got dead bored (dead) without a great band around me. They were great. I was lucky."
- CHRIS KNOX 2005

"Being part of TOY LOVE was, looking back on it, a good old ride on one particular rock'n'roll rollercoaster and a rare privilege."
- JANE WALKER 2005

"3 singles, an album, was it 5 videos, numerous TV appearances, demos in 5 (?) different studios and about 500 gigs - all in 18 months. phew!!"
- PAUL KEAN 2005

"There was a long moment when to see TOY LOVE in full flight was to get one of the best bands in the world, right at their peak..."
- TERENCE HOGAN 2005

"TOY LOVE scared me shitless at first. I was 16 or 17 and too young, too straight and way too uptight for that kind of carry on. But I had mates who adored them. And Jane Walker was a third cousin twice removed of my very best friend... so I was practically a member of the band. Thus, at some stage in the early eighties, I trooped along to see them at the Rock Theatre in Wellington. Of all the gigs I ever saw that was the most terrifying. Boots, safety pins, spiked hair, sneers and attitude. Pogo'ing was violence with a beat. A bootgirl had a t-shirt with "fuck off" written on it. Excuse me? Chris Knox was a punk Peter Cushing... so demonic I wanted garlic and a crucifix. It was a cult meeting. I stood at the back appalled, transfixed and utterly in love. I'd seen the future of rock and roll and it was small, white and demented. Pull down the shades? Christ, I felt like someone had lifted them! What would I pay to hear them remastered and issued afresh on cd? Easy: I'd give my Maserati."
- JOHN CAMPBELL 2005

"The first time I heard the Toy Love album I was stunned by the sheer quality and consistency of the songs. A disc jockey gets a hell of a lot of dross across his desk, or maybe a song or three on an album, but here came excellent songs, one after another...Not a dud among 'em. Sure, you could pick up a reference or two but the quotes were acknowledged. There was no attempt to pull the wool. So it is being released. More power to you."
- BARRY JENKIN 2005

"Finest live band I ever saw and one of the leading exponents of the 'true Gladstone sound'. Chris Knox's advice to New Zealand musicians has stood the test of time and has inspired many along the way: 'if I can do it...anyone can'.....The only band I ever painted my entire front fence for 'Love Toy Love'."
- JIM WILSON 2005

"PICK OF THE BUNCH: Something terribly familiar about the tune...but it may be just that I've listened to it fifteen times."
- COLIN HOGG 1979 (reprinted from 'Stranded In Paradise' with permission.)

"By year's end [1979], Toy Love were the hottest property in New Zealand rock, and, more importantly, they'd achieved this with no compromises."
- JOHN DIX 1979 (reprinted from 'Stranded In Paradise' with permission.)

Band Members:
Chris Knox (vocals)
Alex Bathgate (guitar)
Mike Dooley (drums)
Jane Walker (keyboards)
Paul Kean (bass)

A Quick History:

"Toy Love were a New Zealand new wave band that grew out of the country's first punk band, The Enemy. The band proved to be an important starting point for New Zealand's alternative rock scene of the 1980s.

The Enemy was formed in 1977 in Dunedin by singer/songwriter Chris Knox, guitarist Alec Bathgate, drummer Mike Dooley, and guitarist Chris Prendergast. Prendergast was replaced shortly thereafter by a friend & former collaborator of Knox's, Mick Dawson.

The band built a cult following, playing gigs throughout 1978 in Dunedin and Christchurch and Knox's reputation for wild onstage antics (such as self-mutilation) drew much attention. Mick Dawson left the band by year's end and was replaced for a short time by Phil Judd (ex-Split Enz), but the band decided to call it quits by January of 1979.

Remaining members Knox, Bathgate, and Dooley recruited keyboardist Jane Walker and bassist Paul Kean to complete the lineup for their new band, Toy Love. WEA New Zealand signed the band for a single, 'Rebel'/'Squeeze', in July 1979. The single received a lot of critical attention in New Zealand and stands as one of their finest recorded moments. In 1980, they recorded another single, 'Don't Ask Me'/'Sheep', for the independent label Deluxe, and it reached #10 in the NZ Single Charts.

The band was received well in their homeland, but an attempt to break in Australia failed, and constant touring took its inevitable toll.

Toy Love recorded one self-titled album before exhaustion and disillusionment forced the band to break up in late 1980. The album saw some success in New Zealand, hitting the #4 position on the NZ Album Charts.

Chris Knox went on to a successful solo career and (along with Bathgate) formed Tall Dwarfs. Alec has also released several solo albums while Paul Kean later toured the world numerous times with The Bats, also making several albums in the process. Jane Walker is working within graphic design in London and Mike Dooley currently resides in Dunedin, working as a specialist.

Very few of the band's vinyl recordings are available (the band's sole LP is a long-out-of-print collectible), but a couple of their tracks have been made available on various CD compilations - 'Rebel' can be found on 'Bigger Than Both of Us', 'Don?t Ask Me' appears on 'Give It A Whirl' and versions of 'Squeeze' 'Toy Love Song' and 'Frogs' were released on AK79."
- abridged from Chris Woodstra, All Music Guide (used with permission)

"It's taken 25 years to get Toy Love on CD. Don't take 25 years to buy it."
- Chris Knox, again.

Tracks:
CD 1 - TOY LOVE - THE AUTHORISED VERSION:
01: Squeeze
02: Rebel
03: Don't Ask Me
04: Sheep
05: I Don't Mind
06: Swimming Pool
07: Death Rehearsal
08: Bride of Frankenstein
09: Toy Love Song
10: Photographs of Naked Ladies
11: Bedroom
12: The Crunch
13: Ain't it Nice
14: Cold Meat
15: Don't Catch Fire
16: Green Walls
17: Pull Down the Shades
18: Frogs
19: Fast Ostrich
20: Amputee Song
21: Good Old Joe

CD 2 - CEILING WITH KNIVES:
(all tracks previously unreleased, except #1, #7, #18)
01: Squeeze
02: Sheep
03: I Don't Mind
04: Swimming Pool
05: Death Rehearsal
06: Unscrewed Up
07: Toy Love Song
08: Photographs of Naked Ladies
09: Lust
10: I'm Not Bored
11: 1978
12: 15
13: Cold Meat
14: Wanna Die With You
15: Don't Catch Fire
16: Green Walls
17: Pull Down the Shades
18: Frogs
19: Fast Ostrich