The Toyshop (a.k.a. Alan Avon And The Toy Shop, UK, Psych Pop / Rock) - mało znane zespoły
Grupa ze Stoke-on-Trent, założona latem 1968r. - pierwotnie w składzie :
- Tony Todd - lead guitar
- Alan Avon (a..k.a. Alan Dutton) - lead vocals
- Roger Jones - drums
- Ron Smith - lead guitar
- Steve Nixon - bass.
W krótkim czasie Steve Nixon został zastąpiony przez :
- John Askey - bass ( w 1966r. założył The Dominators, ostatnie dwa lata [1966 - 1968] współpracował
z Sandie Shaw - Sandie Shaw And The Streamliners, a także był członkiem zespołu o nazwie Hedgehoppers
[1968] ).
(The Toyshop, circa 1969 - góra od lewej : John Askey, Alan Avon, Tony Todd, dół od lewej : Ron Smith, Roger Jones).
Na początku 1969r. za sprawą Terry Kennedy (producent muzyczny, m.in. : Ivy League, Donovan, Flowerpot Men) grupa podpisała kontrakt płytowy z Polydor.
11 Marca 1969r. The Toyshop nagrali (Chappel Studios, London) pierwszy singiel :
- " Say Goodbye To Yesterday " (Carter, Alquist)
- " Send My Love To Lucy " (Tony Todd),
wydany w kwietniu 1969r. - Polydor, 56317 (także we Francji - Polydor, 421 471).
(Francja)
W sesji nagraniowej brało udział sporo muzyków sesyjnych, m.in. sekcja smyczkowa Londyńskiej Orkiestry
Symfonicznej.
Singiel był odtwarzany, m.in. w Radio Luxembourg i Radio One. Lepiej wypadł we Francji niż w UK.
Informacje prasowe
Po 18 miesiącach spędzonych z Toyshop, John Askey opuścił zespół. Na jego miejsce pozyskano
basistę - Maurice Cope (z Stoke-On-Trent).
W czteroosobowym składzie (już bez Rona Smitha), pod nową nazwą - Alan Avon And The Toy Shop,
został nagrany i wydany drugi (ostatni) singiel :
- " These Are The Reasons " (Todd)
- " Night To Remember " (Todd),
(1970, Concord Records, CON - 005).
Szczególne podziękowania dla John Askey za zdjęcia i informacje o zespole.
John Askey :
"...Hi Paul, I believe “Toyshop” were formed around 1967 or 1968, The original line-up was, Guitarist / songwriter, Tony Todd, Guitarist Ron Smith, Bass Guitarist Steve Nixon, Drummer, Roger Jones, Lead vocalist, Alan Avon, the agent at that time was Keith Fisher, I believe Keith was very instrumental in getting the band a recording contract with Poldor Records, who at the time I think, were the biggest recording company in the world, I was not part of the band at this point, but the Bass Guitarist Steve Nixon, realised he would be away from home quite a lot decided to leave the band, at which point they approached me to join, I had just finished my second European tour with Sandie Shaw’s touring Band “The Streamliners” after Sandie won the European Song Contest with “Puppet on a String” and I agreed to join “Toyshop”. After settling in to the band, a date was set for the recording of “Say Goodbye to Yesterday” and “Send my Love to Lucy”, our producer at Polydor Records, was Terry Kennedy, we were Played on Radio Luxenbourg, and Radio 1 in England and interviewed by Dave Lee Travis on Radio 1. The line-up of the band was the same as the original apart from the Bass Guitarist Steve, who I replaced and played on the first single sometime in 1969.
I met my Wife while in the band and left within 18 months after. ..."
"...Hi Paul, I was bass guitarist for Sandie Shaw for almost 2 years, and backed her on 2 European tours, our original drummer, Bill Honeyman, left to join "The Ivy League" we advertised in "The Melody Maker" magazine and recruited Glen Martin who was replacement drummer with Hedghoppers Anonymous, he bought the name rights from Johnathan King and when not touring with Sandie Shaw we took the Hedghoppers name. I did not play on any of their recordings. I was a founder member of The Dominators in1966, I went for the bass guitarist audition for Sandie in late 1966, and took the job the day she won the Eurovision Song Contest ... "
(Mick Rogers, John Griffiths, Jacci Lewis, JOHN ASKEY, Roger Bull)
(Dave Birkenhead, Glen Martin, Sandie Shaw, JOHN ASKEY, Tony Kaye)
(JOHN ASKEY)
Suplement (17.07.2021)
Alan Dutton :
"...Hi Paul, sorry for the delay, John Askey was the first Bass player with Toyshop, and was one of the founder members, it was actually John who persuaded me to join the group. Other members were Tony Todd, Ron Smith and Roger Jones. John left the Group to get married round about 1970. We replaced him with Steve Nixon. It was the original members who recorded “Say Goodbye to Yesterday” the producer was Terry Kennedy who discovered The Ivy League, Carter/Lewis were two of the Ivy League who wrote the track. Terry left Polydor and signed me on a solo contract with the music publishing company Campbell Connelly, they had the Label Concorde Records, distributed through CBS. Thus the name change “Alan Avon and The Toyshop” as I was the only one under contract. Members were Tony Todd, Ron Smith, Roger Jones, Maurice Cope on Bass. Toyshop split in December 1970 when I left the Group to join Hedgehoppers Anonymous, to do a tour of South Africa where we recorded an Album called “Hey” which was number 1 for three months. The single “Hey” got to number 1 and prior to that a single “A Song For Pete” got to number 5. Hedgehoppers split in September1971 when we had an horrific crash in the van in South Africa, killing the Drummer, apart from the lead guitarist we all came back to the UK, he stayed and married a South African girl and still lives there. I signed to Tony Hatch released two singles on Phillips Records which did nothing. I set up my own label Dinosaur Records ( known as Dino Records) which I eventually sold to EMI. I recorded a single on my label, a reggae version of “Over The Rainbow” which is on YouTube. I still write with my song writing partner Paul (Sham) Marshal, and will be putting forward two tracks for next years Eurovision, 🤞.
Hope the further information is useful. Kind regards, Alan ... "
