Cuddly Toys were a new wave band from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

that grew out of the

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

-influenced

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band Raped.

History

The punk band Raped formed in 1976 with a line-up of Sean Purcell (vocals), Faebhean Kwest (guitar), Tony Baggett (bass), and a

trans woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

Paddy Phield (drums).Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Cuddly Toys", in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, They released the ''Pretty Paedophiles'' EP and the "Cheap Night Out" single in 1978 on Parole Records. Their last gig as 'Raped' was in Belfast with the punk band Rudi at Christmas 1978. In January 1979 they changed their name to 'Cuddly Toys'. The band's first release was the single " Madman", a song written by

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

and

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and poet. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex (band), T. Rex. Bolan strongly i ...

, which reached No. 19 in the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the ...

in 1980.Kellman, Andy " Cuddly Toys Biography, ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

'', Macrovision Corporation Bolan offered to manage the band but died before doing so. They were eventually managed by

Kendo Nagasaki Kendo Nagasaki is a professional wrestling stage name, used as a Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick of that of a Japanese Samurai warrior with a mysterious past and even supernatural powers of hypnosis. The name derives from ...

. On the first recording sessions as Cuddly Toys (later to appear on the album ''Guillotine Theatre''), they were augmented by Alig Fodder and Nicky Brockway (piano). Billy Surgeoner then joined the band for further album sessions as well as live appearances, playing keyboard synthesisers. They next released the ''Guillotine Theatre'' album in 1979 on Japanese label Teichiku, and a remixed version issued in the UK in 1980 on Fresh Records, which reached No. 1 in the indie album chart and 8 in the main billboard charts.Lazell, Barry (1997) ''Indie Hits 1980-1989'', Cherry Red Books, The album was described by Dave Thompson, in a review for ''

'', as "one of ''the'' underrated classics of the late 1970s, as delivered by one of ''the'' most underrated bands".Thompson, Dave " ''Guillotine Theatre'' Review, ''

'', Macrovision Corporation The band continued with various personnel changes through until 1987. The line-up of Cuddly Toys started evolving at the time of the sessions for the "Someone's Crying" 7" & 12" EP. They then recorded the ''Trials and Crosses'' album, initially still with original bassist Tony Baggett, but he left almost immediately being replaced by Paul Wilson on bass, completing the full line-up change. Sean who was half Irish died in Ireland in 1996 from a brain tumour. ''Guillotine Theatre'' has been reissued on CD with extra tracks together with a DVD including video promos. ''Trials and Crosses'' has been reissued on CD together with an extra disc of previously unreleased recordings. Both releases are on Jungle Records.

Later projects

* Fodder went on to form Family Fodder. * Sean Purcell released a single together with Phil Pickering of Webcore under the name Goat. * Billy Surgeoner played in Pink Fraud, a

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

tribute band A tribute act, tribute band, tribute group or tribute artist is a Musical ensemble, music group, Singing, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act. Tribute acts include individual performers who mimic the so ...

, from 2003 to 2009. * In 2016 Paddy Phield returned to Japan and formed Cuddly ToyZ to mark the 20th anniversary of Sean Purcell's death. The band only intended to play one show but were encouraged to continue. They have supported Doctors of Madness and

Sylvain Sylvain Sylvain Mizrahi (February 14, 1951 – January 13, 2021), known professionally as Sylvain Sylvain, was a Syrian-American rock guitarist, most notable for being a member of the New York Dolls. Early years Sylvain was born in Cairo, Egypt, to a S ...

amongst others. * David Kovacevic went on to record with

Killing Joke Killing Joke were an English rock music, rock band formed in Notting Hill, London, in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Killing Joke ...

and Then Jerico. * Kassy Andrews has continued to perform, including with

Brian Connolly Brian Francis Connolly (5 October 1945 – 10 February 1997) was a Scottish singer-songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead singer of glam rock band Sweet between 1968 and 1979 and known for his charismatic stage presence and di ...

formerly of

The Sweet Sweet (known as the Sweet until the early 1970s) are a British glam rock band who rose to prominence in the 1970s. Their best-known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bassist Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott and drummer ...

Discography

Raped

Albums (compilations)

*''Philes and Smiles'' (1984) Iguana *''The Complete Raped Collection'' (1994) Anagram

Singles

*''Pretty Paedophiles'' EP (1978) Parole *"Cheap Night Out" (1978) Parole

Cuddly Toys

Albums

*''Guillotine Theatre'' (1979) Teichiku (Japan)/(1980) Fresh (UK Indie No. 11) *''Trials and Crosses'' (1982) Fresh *''The Best of the Cuddly Toys'' (compilation) (2001) Cherry Red

Singles

*" Madman" (1979) Teichiku (Japan) *"Madman" (1980) Fresh (UK Indie No. 19) *"Astral Joe" (1980) Fresh *"Someone's Crying" (1981) Fresh *"It's a Shame" (1982) Fresh

References

{{Authority control English glam rock groups English new wave musical groups English post-punk music groups Fresh Records (UK) artists Irish new wave musical groups Irish post-punk music groups Naming controversies