Toy Love


Toy Love was a New Zealand new wave/punk rock band that originated in Dunedin and was active from 1978 to 1980. Members included Chris Knox, Alec Bathgate and Paul Kean.

History

was the band's front man and 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, and are often regarded as the progenitors of the Dunedin sound movement. Toy Love were together for less than two years and spent a large part of that time in Australia.
They released just one album, which was self-titled Toy Love. The band members were apparently appalled by the mixing of the tracks, which took the edge off the band's deliberately raw sound. Allmusic gave the album a 3/5 rating. In April 2005, the album was remastered and released along with a number 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. Kean was later a member of The Bats.
In 2012, Toy Love was inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame and given the Legacy Award at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards.
Jane Walker died in October 2018; her death was announced by Flying Nun Records on Twitter.

Discography

Featured appearances

The group have appeared on several compilations and soundtracks in New Zealand. The following is a list of these albums that have featured tracks by Toy Love.