Name a song (or album or band) that prominently features a toy instrument.

[slj0101]

I just learned the other day that Ralf Hutter of Kraftwerk used a Mattel Bee-Gees Rhythm Machine on their "Computer World" LP.

http://handheldmuseum.com/Mattel/BeeGees.htm

When I was a kid, a friend of mine got one for Christmas. I remember thinking how lame it sounded.

[tool_of_the_people]

1. Hurdy-Gurdy Man

They have a recorder or tin whistle in the instrumental bars.

[flvegan]

2. Beck and Limp Bizkit have both used a Speak n Spell in songs

of theirs.

[slj0101]

6. Back to Kraftwerk's "Computer World,"

they also used Speak & Spells. :)

And here I thought they were all hi-tech.

[flvegan]

9. Actually, that wasn't a Speak n Spell

It was one of these:

[slj0101]

10. Yes, they did, but they also used a Speak & Spell.

At least according to this entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_World

I just find it ironic that a group known for their cutting-edge use of electronic instruments frequently employed the use of electronic toys in their music.

[unpossibles]

3. Self's Gizmodgery uses all toys/no real instruments

and is amazing.

samples here:
http://www.amazon.com/Gizmodgery-Self/dp/B00004XSKY

[Tyrone Slothrop]

4. That's a fun album

My brother introduced me to it several years ago.

[slj0101]

7. There's a band called Parts & Labor that also uses toys as lead instruments.

http://www.amazon.com/Stay-Afraid-Parts-Labor/dp/B000EMSY20/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-4830225-3351841?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1185382635&sr=1-2

Mind you, though, a lot of it is harsh noise, but still recognizable. Good band.


I'll have to check out Self. thanks.

[Deja Q]

5. 'The Door into Summer'

With his fools gold stacked up all around him
From a killing in the market on the war
The children left king midas there, as they found him
In his counting house where nothing counts but more

Chorus:
And he thought he heard the echo of a penny whistle band
And the laughter from a distant caravan
And the brightly painted line of circus wagons in the sand
Fading through the door into summer

Well, its travel onto maybe next year s places
As a trade-in for a name upon the door
And he pays for every year he cannot buy back with his tears
As he finds out theres been no one keeping score

Chorus...

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. "I'm the Urban Spaceman" with kazoo chorus at the end

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZBjjHd9ndM

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

11. Gizmodgery by Self....

Is an entire album recorded with toy instruments. Well, I think all the sounds were generated from toy instruments and then imported into various computer programs. It is balls good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gizmodgery

[asthmaticeog]

12. Pianosaurus.

A band from the '80s that only used toy instruments. Fun idea, and sonically better than you'd think, though I thought their songs were kinda just "meh."

[fudge stripe cookays]

13. Ha.

Ya beat me to it.

[asthmaticeog]

14. IN YOUR FACE! IN YOUR FACE!

:P

[Tektonik]

15. Computer World is such a good album

mostly for it containing my fav Kraftwerk song, 'Computer Love' (fuck Coldplay for sampling that song)

[slj0101]

16. Optiganally Yours.

A band that uses a Mattel Optigan as their lead instrument.

The Optigan wasn't really a toy, but a consumer-marketed organ that played samples found on optical disks (hence the name).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optigan

Speaking of Kraftwerk, they often employed a Vako Orchestron (a descendent of the Optigan) on some of their earlier albums.

[begin_within]

17. "Da Da Da" by Trio

uses a cheapo Casio keyboard identical to one I bought for my 5-year-old niece the same year.

[KG]

18. 'the babysitter's here' - dar williams

[GoddessOfGuinness]

19. Leopold Mozart's "Toy Symphony"

Leopold was Wolfgang's dad.

[Aristus]

20. "Rock Star" by Smashmouth features a toy piano in the musical interlude.

Mannheim Steamroller's "Night On A Full Moon" also features a toy piano duking it out with a tack piano, a piano that has thumbtacks affixed to the felt hammers that strike the strings. It's interesting.

[Rambis]

21. Tiptoe through the tulips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skU-jBFzXl0

[Dragonbreathp9d]

22. check out "Playboy" by Hot Chip

the video is histerical

[catmandu57]

23. Oh god I'm old Country Joe MacDonald

The Fixing to die rag otherwise known as the fish cheer used a Kazoo.
Give me a F
Give me a U
Give me a C
Give me a K
What's that spell? repeat.