BOXSET REVIEW: The Toy Dolls – The Albums 1989-93
(Captain Oi!/Cherry Red Records)
The Toy Dolls’ fast-paced punk rock and zany sense of fun is something you either ‘get’ or don’t. Me? I love them.
Mention their name in conversation and chances are that whoever you’re talking to will remember Nellie The Elephant.
But there’s much, much more to the three-piece from Sunderland than that novelty hit, which reached No 4 in 1984.
Talented guitarist
Singer Olga is as one of punk’s most talented guitarists, and they’re still selling out live shows 40 years into their career.
Related: The Toy Dolls reschedule their 40th anniversary UK dates until 2022
Their first four LPs and a bunch of rarities were compiled by Captain Oi! for a previous boxset, The Albums 1983-87.
Now they’re at it again by gathering their next four studio albums and a live set on this 5CD offering.
There’s 83 tracks in all, with the card-sleeve CDs housed in a sturdy clamshell box. I’d heartily recommend it, whether you’re looking to replace your battered old vinyl or a more recent convert.
Disc one is Ten Years Of Toys, originally released in 1989, and many people have mistaken it for a greatest hits album.
In fact, it’s new recordings of songs that Olga felt best represented the group’s first 10 years. Happily, there’s not a song about elephants in sight.
Thus we get fresh-sounding versions of Toy Dolls classics like She’s Goes To Finos, Dougy Giro, Fiery Jack, and my personal favourite, Carol Dodds Is Pregnant.
Wakey Wakey, also from 1989, is an album Olga described as “alright”, but he’s being typically modest.
It’s not their best, but still contains songs of the calibre of Cloughy Is A Bootboy and Lester Fiddled The Tax Man.
There’s more covers than usual, but when they’re of the calibre of No Particular Place To Go, and a stunning Sabre Dance who’s complaining?
Disc three is Twenty Tunes Live From Tokyo, recorded in 1999 and released the following year.
For a reason I can’t fathom, The Toy Dolls have always been big in Japan. And by big I mean huge. Airport crowds, fainting fans, hotel stalkers, the lot.
The back-story to this release is unusual; a fan in the audience made a bootleg recording on his Walkman, and gave it to Olga.
Live snapshot
A few overdubs later, they had their first live album, with its tracklist a good snapshot of their set at the time.
Fan favourites like Dig That Groove Baby, Ashbrooke Launderette and Fisticuffs In Frederick Street are all present and correct (along with the inevitable Nellie).
Two bonus tracks from the CD version of the album, Sabre Dance and Blue Suede Shoes, are included here, giving you 22 tunes in all.
Fat Bob’s Feet, their 1991 homage to their long-suffering roadie, is disc four, with all but one of its 14 tracks original Olga compositions.
The exception is a reworking of Kim Wilde’s Kids In America as the more UK-friendly Kids In Tyne And Wear. A bit corny, but it works.
The Sphinx Stinks and Back In ’79 are the pick of the originals, and it’s another enjoyable slice of punky fun in inimitable Toy Dolls style.
Bringing up the rear as disc five is 1992 album Absurd-Ditties, which Olga reckons is the band’s best album.
They hit their stride early with songs like I’m A Telly Addict!, Ernie Had A Hernia, My Wife’s A Psychopath and Melancholy Margaret.
Olga shows his knack of tapping into popular culture with Alec’s Gone (a paean to Coronation Street’s Alec Gilroy). It has to be said, however, that When You’re Jimmy Saville (“everybody thinks yer brill”) hasn’t aged well…
By my reckoning the band’s back catalogue will make another couple of boxsets yet. In the meantime, get your hands on this, slap it in your CD changer and sing along. 8/10.
- The Toy Dolls – The Albums 1989-1993 should be at your local record store now. If not, get it direct from Cherry Red Records HERE. https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/toy-dolls-the-albums-1989-1993-5cd
