And so we end our Sheep in the Box playlist with the British punk band Toy Dolls.
They are a fun band. I can put them on and it’s nice: there’s a lot of energy and they play really well. They are a solid, professional band.
But there isn’t much too them. They are an awful lot like Richard Hell and the Voidoids but during their Destiny Street period when Hell didn’t have much to say. They also sound quite a lot like generic Ramones.
I don’t mean to be difficult here. And I will admit: I’m biased towards California punk. I don’t think we got really great stuff out of England until the post-punk period.
But I appreciate any artists who even try to entertain — much less ones like Toy Dolls who succeed in spades.
Nellie the Elephant
Toy Dolls is known for their covers and they are best known for their cover “Nellie the Elephant.” It was originally released by child star Mandy Miller. Toy Dolls released a single in 1982 of the song, which was later included on their first album, Dig That Groove Baby.
The following music video is a rerecording of the song. It’s charming. But then, most things from Toy Dolls are.
Dig That Groove Baby album cover via Wikipedia under Fair Use.
IF only we had followed them as closely as we did Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers……. I would put early lovers in about the same category.
The energy in these blokes is quite enrapturing.
Yeah, I really like them. It’s amazing if you start researching punk bands you come upon some amazing stuff!