The Toys were an American pop girl group from Jamaica, New York, which was formed in 1961 and disbanded in 1968. Stokes and Blocker eventually left the group, so Harris, Parritt and Montiero formed a trio.

Their friend Bobby Uri, a manager, named the band The Charlettes, making them work doing background vocals for several recording artists. At a talent show in Brooklyn, they met Eddy Chase, who in turn introduced them to manager Vince Marc and songwriter/recording executive Bob Crewe.

The group was then named The Toys and landed their first recording contract on Crewe's DynoVoice Records. Marc introduced them also to songwriters Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell.

The couple wrote most of the songs the trio recorded. They took a piano piece from a Bach exercise book ("Minuet in G major" by Christian Petzold), put a Motown bassline to it, and "A Lover's Concerto" was born: it was released in 1965 and soon rose to No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The band followed that up with another hit, "Attack!", also written by Linzer and Randell: released in 1966, it reached the Top 20.

The songwriters also produced the group's 1965–66 recordings on the DynoVoice record label.

The first U.S. tour of the trio was with Gene Pitney.

Barbara Harris continued to perform on public television and at "Oldie Shows" as The Toys featuring Barbara Harris. She has also sung with Joe Rivers, known for Johnnie & Joe's hit, "Over the Mountain, Across the Sea".

In 1998, she produced and released her first solo CD, entitled Barbara Now, for which she wrote all but two of the songs. In 2016, she released the singles "Forever Spring" and "(Rock 'n' Roll) Soothes The Soul".

Members

The trio consisted of:

  • Barbara Harris (born "Barbara Ann Harris", August 18, 1945, Elizabeth City, North Carolina),
  • Barbara Parritt (born October 1, 1944, Wilmington, North Carolina)
  • 1966: "Baby Toys" (U.S. No. 76)
  • 1966: "Silver Spoon" (U.S. No. 111)
  • 1966: "May My Heart Be Cast into Stone" (U.S. No. 85)
  • 1968: "Sealed with a Kiss" (U.S. No. 112, U.S. R&B No. 43)

Albums

  • 1966: The Toys Sing "A Lover's Concerto" and "Attack!" (U.S. Billboard 200 No. 92; Billboard Black Albums No. 9) - a CD version was released in 1994 with two bonus tracks.

References

  • Barbara Harris' official site
  • Interview with The Toys
  • The Toys at Doo Wop Heaven