The Toys / New Toys

The Toys / New Toys 13th Street Records

YEARS ACTIVE: November 1979 – July 1, 1984 and 1988/89 & 2011 – 2014

The Toys / New Toys were an American Pop-punk band formed in Buffalo, New York in the late 1970s, by Kevin K (Kevin Starr) and Alan K (Rocky Starr) after the dissolution of their band Aunt Helen. Joining The Toys were Doug Tyler aka Mick Tyler (vocals/guitars) and Joel Slazyk aka Meat Cleaver (vocals/bass).

With the demise of Aunt Helen, Alan K & Kevin K (Rocky Starr & Kevin Rat [later Starr]) were in search of a new project, something more outrageous than their previous band…enter Doug Tyler. Doug (aka Mick) had played with the two K brothers back in 1977 with the short-lived punk group Grim Reaper. Mick was in his band (Space Junk) but wanted to get back with Kevin & Alan, so in the Summer of 1979, the most outrageous and influential punk band out of Buffalo, New York was formed. Bringing the bass master of mayhem (Joel Slazyk who played a fretless bass) with him, they set out to conquer Lake Erie!!

Their first gig was at the famous McVan’s Capricorn Club, known in its hay day as a speakeasy and later a jazz club, it was now one of the premiere venues for punk bands. With only a few gigs under their panties, the word quickly spread about their outlandish theatrics and dynamic stage presence. This was not your usual hardcore, angry punkers ala Sex Pistols — not at all. This quartet [Rocky Starr (gtr./voc.), Kevin Rat (drums/voc.), Mick Tyler (gtr./voc.) and Meat Cleaver (bass/voc.)] were more like a cross between Alice Cooper, the Dead Boys, and The Tubes. On any given night you could expect to see toy dolls being hacked apart during the Alice Cooper song Dead Babies, manikins being blown up, objects lit on fire, or Meat Cleaver (his name originating from the fact he used to dress up in a butcher’s outfit) playing in his underwear. You could always count on the outlandish performance of Mick Tyler doing his “Elvis Fuck-up” impression, in which he paid homage to “The King” by reworking the lyrics to All Shook Up to All Fucked Up…rolling around on the stage floor shaking and enacting a drug induced frenzy (how Elvis probably did it on the bathroom floor) reminding everyone that “the king” died on the toilet taking a crap. Then there were those truly memorable once-in-a-lifetime performances when the band would outdo themselves. Before there was Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers there was Meat Cleaver. He was the true originator of naked bass playing. Though rare as it was, watching Meat try to run back and forth across stage with his pants and underwear around his ankles, weaving around Mick as Mick ran back and forth across the stage — the audience waiting and hoping for a collision — was a thing of pure poetry. Then there was the Halloween Night performance when Rocky and Mick dressed up as girls and Rocky disemboweled a bunch of pumpkins in honor of Halloween; leaving the stage a pulpy orange mess and the crowd screaming for more. Those were the performances you waited for, the reason you kept going back and the reason The Toys quickly made a name for themselves. However, the antics of the band didn’t stop on stage. The ultimate off-stage antic was to moon a bus full of cadets and nuns on the New Jersey Turnpike on their way to New York City, which subsequently got them taken into custody by the New Jersey State Police. This solidified them as true anti-establishment legends amongst their loyal fans.

Gig after gig followed along with the momentum, packing clubs in Buffalo, Toronto, Albany, Fredonia and Rochester. It wasn’t long after they opened up for Pat Benatar at Stage One (Buffalo, NY) that local concert promoter Eddie Tice approached them about being their manager. Eddie was managing a band called Talas and was also a concert promoter. During 1980/early ’81, The Toys opened up for such acts as Split Enz, The Romantics, The Tourists (later known as The Eurythmics), Squeeze, and Bauhaus.

In 1980, the band released their first 7″ single Livin’ Fast b/w I’m Telling You Now. Having already recorded two other tracks during their session at Maxwell Music, The Toys planned on releasing the follow up single Running Away b/w Instant Suicide. However, it was decided that proceeds from the sales of the their single should be invested in a full length album. Running Away and Instant Suicide was shelved and would not see a release until 2024.

By Spring of 1981 the boys were no longer interested in being big fish in a little pond, so they parted from their manager on friendly terms, and set out on the challenge of gaining a following in Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, and New York City. It took awhile but their popularity grew outside of their home territory. However, the music scene was about to take on a new chapter.

By late ’81/early ’82 the punk scene was nearly dead and many of the era’s bands along with it. With their following waning they needed to affect a change or they too would be just another forgotten band from the “punk era”. Luckily, the band had recognized the changing music scene early on and adapted rather quickly. The sometimes out-of-control antics and edgy punk sounds of Rocky, Kevin, Meat and Mick matured as they embraced the sound of the oncoming power-pop/new wave era. This reflected in their 1982 album release, Say It. Though Say It maintained some of the band’s signature punk elements (especially with bassist Joel Slazyk’s signature song F.Y.Y.B. being included) and the gritty power pop of the K Brothers, it also leaned into the mainstream of power pop. The transition into this new band, now called New Toys, could not have been accomplished without the talent of Doug Tyler, who had already been composing ballads and bluesy punk rock tunes since the beginning days of the band.

Shortly after the album’s release, New Toys began plans to relocate to New York City. Not wishing to make the move, bassist Joel Slazyk played his last show with the group on July 30, 1982, at The Continental in Buffalo, NY. Peter Cain of Modern Men (former bandmate of Doug’s from the “early” days) joined the lineup immediately after Joel’s departure. Peter’s first live show was at The Continental on November 27, 1982.

By December the band had relocated to Staten Island with their road manager. Their first gig after moving was at CBGBs on December 20, 1982. The group eventually became friends with artists like Dirty Looks, Johnny Thunders, Cheetah Chrome. and Iggy Pop, as they began to play regularly at CBGBs, Gildersleeve’s, the Peppermint Lounge, and Zappa’s. With the sudden death of Dirty Looks’ manager Andy Cavalieri, who was going to start booking the band as the opening act for Dirty Looks, they found themselves struggling to gain a larger audience and find steady gigs. This began to take a toll on the four friends.

Disheartened with the band’s laging success, Doug Tyler decided to depart. He played his last gig with New Toys at CBGBs on July 29, 1983. Returning to Buffalo, Doug joined up with Joel to form the band The Layers. By early 1984, their road manager also parted ways with the band. New Toys carried on as a 3-piece until their final gig on July 1, 1984. Officially disbanding Kevin, Alan, and Peter formed the Alternate Rock/Post-Punk band Lone Cowboys.


The EARLY Reunions: April 16, 1988 – February 10, 1989

In August of 1988, Alan and Kevin a hiatus from their band Lone Cowboys, after bassist Peter Cain quit. The two brothers chose to take their leave in Buffalo, NY to relax and work on new material. While in Buffalo Alan and Kevin formed a new, but temporary, Lone Cowboys with old friends Charlie Petit (bass) and Joe DiPasquali (guitar). During this time they also reached out to original founding members Doug and Joel to see if they would be interested in doing a few reunion shows. A couple of shows turned into nine, all being performed at The Continental. However, Slazyk only played on the first four shows. Chris “Hack Saw” Martin replaced Slazyk for the last four performances.

2011: New RECORDING SESSION & REUNION SHOW

There would be no more reunions with all the original members, as Alan K tragically died on November 10, 1996 from congestive heart failure. It wouldn’t be until October 16, 2010 before Doug Tyler would play with Kevin again, when the Kevin K Band performed at Buffalo musician/visual artist Steven Meyers‘ art space Gateway Gallery in Buffalo NY. Doug joined Kevin on stage near the end of the performance to play a few Toys tunes.

Doug and Kevin reunited again with Joel in North Carolina (where Joel was living) in July 15-17, 2011. The three members had reunited to record a new album titled Made in Buffalo. Though the album did not include much new material, it did include re-arrangements of previous recorded but unreleased material, along with songs that had only received mobile recordings (most of which have been lost).

The new album would get it’s live debut on December 17, 2011 at Club Diablo in Buffalo, NY. In 2012, Made in Buffalo was released by Circumstantial Records, which was the same label that had released several Kevin K and Road Vultures albums.

2012 – 2014: the final shows

On July 15-17, 2011, Doug and Kevin reunited with Joel in North Carolina, where Joel had relocated to, and went back into a recording studio to record a new album titled Made in Buffalo. Though the album did not include much new material, it did include re-arrangements of previous recorded but unreleased material along songs that had only received mobile recording (most of which have been lost).

Between October 6, 2012 and November 28, 2014, the Toys / New Toys played six shows not all of which were with the three remaining members. There were two Old Toys shows that did not include Kevin K. These were shows that featured Doug and Joel with drummer John Lynch.

The final performance with all three remaining original members was held at Mohawk Place in Buffalo, NY, when the Kevin K Band performing. The band had featured Joel on bass and former Lone Cowboys guitarist Joe DiPasquale on guitar. At the end of the show Doug came on stage and replaced Joe, and the band was reunited for the last time.

There will be no more reunions for the group. As of 2023, both Doug and Joel have mainly retired from the music business.


2019-2023: The Road to the say It album restored

It 2020, long time friend and road manager for the band was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. “I wasn’t ready to die,” Ted Sterns, states. “In 2019 I started working with long time friend and Buffalo singer Paul MacArthur on video editing the two reunion shows he did with his band Twilight. I was trying to get Paul to record a solo album because I thought it would be a good place to start up my record label again. Then along came the pandemic and the news of my cancer. I was depressed for awhile and the medication put me out of work for along time,” Ted revealed.

“I still wanted to get the label going again, but Paul was no longer interested in recording. I was considering re-issuing the Kevin K Band’s Party Down album or his 1995 debut album, since I had the master tapes. I had started working with Kevin many years ago on trying to locate and digitize as many master recordings, mobile recordings, and demos as we could find. Bob Ballentine still had most of his mobile live recording done on a reel-to-reel, which he gave to me. However, Larry Germack at Circumstantial Records no longer had the Road Vulture masters and the Lone Cowboys and New Toys album recordings were given to other of our friend’s for safe keeping.

“Joey D (DiPasquale) had the master tapes from all the Lone Cowboys sessions and Frank La Greca had the masters to the New Toys album. I ended up with the Lone Cowboys tapes first, since I usually connect with Joey when I get into town (Buffalo). But I was having a hard time setting up a pickup with Frank. Well, then one tragic event after another happened. My dear friend Charlie Petit died during the pandemic. I had just visited him a few months earlier. He was having some health issues, but was determined to get healthy and start playing music again once the pandemic was over. At the time, I had never thought about asking if he still had the master tape of the mobile studio recording he did for The Toys. Then another death in our circle of friends, Mike Fechner, the band’s original sound engineer was diagnosed with ALS during the height of the pandemic and within 6 months was gone. Once the pandemic was over Mike’s family held a memorial event for him at his family home. Frank La Greca came to the memorial and gave me the two master reels of the Say It album. It was Mike’s death that made me decide to make the Say It album my top priority.”

Ted had the 2″ master reels along with the original master from the band’s 1979 Maxwell Music session baked and transferred to digital through a service in Nashville, TN. In April of 2023, Ted took the digitized recordings into Mark Custom Recording, where the album had been originally recorded. To his disappointment the tapes had suffered tape deterioration but were salvageable. Working with sound engineer Dave Bishop, who had engineered Paul MacArthur’s album “Call Me” for Ted, the two began restoration efforts. “Most of the first 2-3 songs on both reels had issues. With Dave’s help, we managed to restore one of Kevin’s drum tracks but two of Joel’s bass parts were unsalvageable, along with some of Kevin’s harmonies on Say It,” Ted revealed. He continued, “Dave meticulously reconstructed Kevin’s drums but it wasn’t going to be impractical to get Kevin into Buffalo to re-recorded a couple harmonies. So I worked around it when remixing the album. My biggest concern was Joel’s lost bass parts on Say It and Let Me Down. Luckily, Joel was gracious enough to come back into the studio and re-record them.”

Once the album was restored, it had to be mixed. “I was in the studio and texted Kevin and told him I was about to start the remix on the album. He texted me back and said, ‘Reverb on my drums and make the guitars loud’. I laughed out loud, and said, ‘Does he think I’ve never mixed an album before?’ Of course, he knew I had. But he was making a point about the original mix. I don’t think anyone in the band was happy with Patrick Barnes’ (Stiff recording artist Dirty Looks) original mix. That’s not a bash. Patrick is a great guy and knew what he wanted. But that’s my point. He had a vision for it, and he made a great sounding album, but it wasn’t a Toys album. It lacked the edgy guitar energy and gritty feel of the band’s shows and of the earlier Maxwell Studio recordings. It felt mainstream and limp,” Ted commented, and then continued. “There was a keyboard in one of the songs, I left it in but buried it in the mix. Then there was that horrible handclap in another song, which I was on. Yeah, I took that out. All the elements of a Toys record were there, it just needed be brought out.

Ted went on onto say that he and Dave Bishop listened to The Toys Maxwell tape first, as a base for the sound he was wanting. “Dave knew immediately what I was looking for just after listening to the the Maxwell tape. I even had Doug come into the studio one day to listen and give input on a few songs. We turned the Say It album into the Pop-punk album it was meant to be.”

The Say It album has been remixed and remastered with bonus tracks. It will be available from Hi-Fi Hits for purchase in-store and online around March 10, 2024.

Follow the link for the release information: New Toys – Say It (S13-0002)

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