Toy Love were a New Zealand new wave and punk rock band that originated in Dunedin and was active from 1978 to 1980. Members included Chris Knox, Alec Bathgate and Paul Kean. They achieved significant chart success in their home country, with three top 30 singles and an album that peaked at number four.
History Chris Knox 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.Stranded In Paradise, New Zealand Rock and Roll 1955 to the Modern Era, J. Dix, Penguin, 2005, , Chapter 25 Toy Love were together for less than two years (1978–1980) and spent a large part of that time in Australia.
Based in Sydney, ostensibly as a staging post to reaching the UK and a wider audience, Knox summed up his bitterness about the experience in a frank interview shown on Radio with Pictures. The band were unhappy with their management, touring schedule and recording arrangements. By the time they took a "break" (which was actually the end of the band), they had played 337 gigs in 18 months, but had barely found the time to write new material.
They released just one, self-titled album, a significant number of its tracks written as The Enemy. The band members were apparently appalled by the mixing of the album, which took the edge off the band's deliberately raw sound.
Nonetheless, the Toy Love album was a hit in New Zealand, reaching number four in the album charts, and the band returned from Australia to a tour of their home country, packing out venues and garnering positive write-ups. According to their profile in AudioCulture, music journalist and record store owner Roy Colbert called them "The Stooges with Beatles melodies", and described the album as "a collection of post-punk power, pure pop, macabre melodrama, whoop n' holler bizarre bop, sublime ice-cold beauty, three-chord thunder [and] chaotic psychedelia, [...] "pegging the slower, more dramatic songs as better realised, while noting a good take on three-chord punk perennial 'Pull Down the Shades', and exciting new material, including 'Bedroom'."
In April 2005, the album was remastered and released along with a number of demos and unreleased tracks as a double CD entitled Cuts. In 2012, a further compilation, simply titled Toy Love, was released on double LP, containing all singles, b-sides, compilation tracks, demos and some live recordings (this has the same front cover artwork as 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 Studio albums + List of studio albums, with New Zealand chart positions Title Album details Peak chartpositionsNZ Toy Love Released: August 1980 Label: Deluxe Records, WEA (Z 20008) Format: LP, Cassette 4
Live albums + List of live albums, with New Zealand chart positions Title Album details Peak chartpositionsNZ Live At The Gluepot Released: April 2012 Label: Real Groovy Records (RGLP 001) Format: 2xLP, 2xCD Recorded September 1980 at Ponsonby, Auckland, NZ 11
Compilation albums + List of compilation albums, with New Zealand chart positions Title Album details Peak chartpositionsNZ Cuts Released: April 2005 Label: Flying Nun Records (FNCD473) Format: 2xCD 23 Toy Love Released: 3 November 2012 Label: Flying Nun Records (FNLP528/FNCT001) Format: 2xLP
Extended Plays + List of EPs Title Details Toy Love Released: 1980 Label: Deluxe Records (20630) Format: 7"
Singles + List of singles with selected New Zealand positions Title Year Peak chart positions AlbumNZ1979 "Rebel" / "Squeeze" 29 Toy Love (EP)1980 "Don't Ask Me" 10 Toy Love"Bride of Frankenstein" 22
Awards Aotearoa Music Awards The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously known as New Zealand Music Awards (NZMA)) are an annual awards night celebrating excellence in New Zealand music and have been presented annually since 1965.
! |- | 2012 || Toy Love || New Zealand Music Hall of Fame || ||
References
External links Official Toy Love Flying Nun artist page https://www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/toy-love Chris Knox: Not Given Lightly by Craig Robertson (Auckland University Press, 2025), chapters 4 and 5