YOU'RE WATCHING THE TV TOY CHANNEL
OVERVIEW ~
SINGLES ~
SONGS ~
ARCHIVES ~
MOCO SOUND ~
LINKS
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1980, Northern New Jersey. A Dover-based band known as TV Toy records a bright, jumpy, power-pop single called "(Don't Blame It On The) Weekend" and promotes it with an appearance on the Uncle Floyd Show. Me and my best high-school chum Tommy Koprowski are all eyes and ears. Tom sends away for a copy of the single and throws it onto a cassette for me when he gets it. For a time, all my weekends begin with a spin of "Weekend," and Rob Barth's commanding voice assuring me, "This time the weekend's gonna last..."
Fast forward to December 1999. Los Dug Dug's are all the rage amongst a small circle of Morris County-based record collectors, one of whom, Mick Spillane, has a radio show on WNTI-FM. Mick sends me an e-mail and we become fast friends. His "Dangerous Rock & Roll Show" is often co-hosted by a man who calls himself Rob the Foil. One night, Mick casually reveals the true identity of this foil, informing me that he was once TV Toy's fearless leader. Memories of Uncle Floyd, Tommy K., and that song come flooding back to me.
Soon Rob and Mick are approaching me with the idea for me to produce a website devoted to the genius of TV Toy. At first, I think they're joking. "Rob, that should be your department!" But he's busy with his graphic design business and besides, he doesn't feel he can give such a project the kind of "objectivity" only an outsider like me could provide. After some arm-twisting on their part, I finally agree to produce the site. And now, here it is.
TV Toy were, simply put, New Jersey's best-kept rock & roll secret. In an era where such things as musical hybrids and "crossovers" were unheard of, they dared to mix as many styles as they could into their sound, and succeed in making it all sound seamless and original. Mixing the virtuosity and complexity of progressive rock with everything from punk and power pop to funk and avant-garde jazz, they were truly ahead of their time. They were even organizing and promoting their own gigs before the whole do-it-yourself aesthetic really started to catch on. Just take a look and a listen to this site, from their words and music to the reprints of various vintage press clippings, to the special section on Morris County's "MoCo Scene" from which they emerged, and you'll see a portrait emerge of a truly gifted and unfortunately overlooked band.
...but now it's gone.
TV Toy's music is available on CD at last!
Click the CD cover art above for more information!
WATCH RARE TV TOY VIDEOS HERE! 
"A JERSEY BAND THAT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE SPRINGSTEEN...
THAT'S A MEASURE OF THEIR COURAGE, I THINK."
-- John Peel, BBC-1 Radio, 1979RAY BRAZEN, May 5, 2000
THE MICKSTER'S DANGEROUS ROCK AND ROLL SHOW
WAS THE OFFICIAL RADIO SHOW OF RAYBRAZEN.COM
We miss ya, Mick!
THIS SITE IS A PRODUCTION OF
Designed and produced by RAY BRAZEN.
Special thanks to original TV Toy members
ROB BARTH and STEVE PEER
and to MICK SPILLANE, BILL KOPP & PETE MINERS.