22 Tunes from Tokyo

Artist: Toy Dolls
Label: Receiver Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Live
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
EAN: 5014438712928
ASIN: B0000005T3

Release Date: 1994-12-15

22 Tunes from Tokyo

Related Categories:

Punk

| Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

British Punk

| Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Hardcore & Punk

| Live Albums | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General

| Reggae | International | Styles | Music

General

| Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General

| Rock | Styles | Music

General

| Live Albums | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock

| Pop | Styles | Music

Novelty Music

Reggae

| International | Indie Music | Stores | Music

General

Alternative Rock

| Imports | Stores | Music

Rock

| Imports | Stores | Music

Tracks:

Wakey Wakey Intro
Dig That Groove Baby
Cloughy Is a Bootboy
Lambrusco Kid
I've Got Asthma
Peter Practises Practice Place
Diedre's a Slag
Ashbrooke Laundrette
Bless You My Son
My Girlfriend's Dad's a Vicar
Spiders in the Dressing Room
Popeye Medley
She Goes to Finos
Fisticuffs in Frederick Street
Harry Cross
Glenda & The Test Tube Baby
Wakey Wakey Outro
When the Saints
Wipe Out
Nellie the Elephant
Sabre Dance
Blue Suede Shoes

Customer Reviews:

Dig That Groove Baby!.......2006-03-26

The Toy Dolls are one of those love `em or hate `em type bands. The band's odd sense of humour and less than conventional Punk style is quite divisive. Just take a close look: Vocalist/guitarist Olga has a reedy, girly sounding voice, despite being a bloke; their greatest hit is a cover of "Nellie The Elephant", a song popular in kindergartens the world over; and much of the subject matter of the songs is utterly trivial. So, as you'd expect, they're big Japan...

This live album was recorded in Tokyo in December 1989, at a time when Punk was apparently at a low ebb, only no one told the Japanese. Coronation Street obviously wouldn't have been huge in Japan in 1989, but the audience was still full of enthusiasm for shouting "slag, slag, slag!" at the appropriate moment in the irreverent, but still oh-so-relevant "Deirdre's A Slag", with kazoo intro intact. Other songs which might not have translated well include "Cloughy Is A Bootboy", "Ashbrooke Laundrette", "My Girfriends Dad's A Vicar" and "She Goes To Finos", but the sheer child-like joy of the uncomplicated melodies and the pure silliness of it all seems to cross all cultural barriers.

Elsewhere, there's sheer rampant absurdity. "Spiders In The Dressing Room" is the ultimate wimp out song. What bloke would ever admit to being scared of spiders? "Dig That Groove Baby" sounds like Spike Milligan on amphetamines, silly voices, nonsensical lyrics and all.

Anyone who tells you Punk is about three chords and 4/4 beats, and that's it, has obviously never heard this band. OK, most of the songs are fairly straight forward, but Olga is a great guitarist. "Wakey Wakey Intro", and "Wakey Wakey Outro" for that matter, show off the man's skills, but the best example is "Sabre Dance", a tricky little rearrangement of the traditional Cossack tune. There are also solos peppered throughout the set, not perfect, but fun anyway.

And then, of course, there's that song about that stupid elephant. Hear it once and you'll be hearing "off she went/with a trumpety trump/ trump trump trump" in your subconscious for days. The single originally sold 500,000 copies, so not hearing it live would be like Motörhead without "Ace Of Spades".

Music Album:

Music Album

Music Album

Music CD

Play George Gershwin ~ Sammy Price, Doc Cheatham

Sonando ~ Poncho Sanchez

This is Jazz, Vol. 8: Miles Davis Acoustic ~ Miles Davis

A Groove Christmas

World on a String

Andean Masterpieces ~ Various Artists

Laurence Jalbert/Dan Bigras En Concert ~ Laurence Jalbert, Dan Bigras

Continuidade Da Maquina ~ Sugar Kane

Fishin on Sunday ~ Wataru Takada

Carmel Quinn's Ireland ~ Carmel Quinn