''Dig That Groove Baby'' is the first full-length album by the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band

Toy Dolls The Toy Dolls are an English punk rock band formed in 1979. They are best known for their sole UK hit, a punk-rock cover of " Nellie the Elephant". The Toy Dolls' songs expressed a sense of fun, such as "Yul Brynner Was a Skinhead", "My Girlfr ...

, released in 1983. It is considered by many fans to be the best work by the band and contains future live staples such as "Nellie the Elephant" and "Fiery Jack". The song "Dig That Groove Baby" is included in the 2002 video game ''

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4'' is a 2002 skateboarding game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision under their Activision O2 label. The game was ported by different developers to various systems. It is the fourth installment in the ' ...

''.

Recording

The album was recorded in February 1983 at Guardian Studios, which were located in a

terraced house A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

in the village of

Pity Me Pity Me is a suburban village of Durham, England, located north of Framwellgate Moor and west of Newton Hall. Etymology There are various theories on the origin of Pity Me's unusual name. Most likely, as speculated in the ''Oxford Dictionary o ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

.Liner notes. The album only took three days to record and mix, which left no time to fix any mistakes. The rushed production also meant that Happy Bob recorded his drum parts while on a lunch break from a local hospital that he worked at.

Songs

Algar said "My favourite songs on it are "Dougy Giro" (it's written from the heart and it's completely true; we knew Dougy well,) and also "Glenda and the Test Tube Baby" (I really love the chorus, it has minor chords which I like a lot, and it's one of our best)"

Reception

In his 2004 book ''Burning Britain: The History of UK Punk 1980–1984'', music journalist Ian Glasper called the album "brilliant" and said it "set the madcap tone that the Toy Dolls would become well loved for." Algar said that "I actually think the album has aged very well, and it's always sounded fresh–unlike some of the garbage we have written. It's the most special album for me anyway, because it was our first, but it's also one of the best."

Track listing

All writing by Michael "Olga" Algar, except where noted. # "Theme Tune" – 0:20 # "Dig That Groove Baby" – 3:00 # "Dougy Giro" – 3:16 # "Spiders in the Dressing Room" – 1:56 # "Glenda and the

Test Tube Baby In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation in which an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating the ovulatory process, then removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) from t ...

" – 3:15 (Referring to a storyline in

Crossroads Crossroads is a junction where four roads meet. Crossroads, crossroad, cross road(s) or similar may also refer to: Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a ...

) # "Up the Garden Path" – 2:43 # "

Nellie the Elephant "Nellie the Elephant" is a children's song written in 1956 by Ralph Butler and Peter Hart about a fictional anthropomorphic elephant of that name. Original version The original version, released on Parlophone R 4219 in October 1956, was record ...

" (

Ralph Butler Ralph Thomas Butler (12 October 1886 – 8 April 1969) was a British songwriter, responsible for the lyrics of many popular songs of the 1930s and later, mostly with comic or novelty elements. He was active as a songwriter from the late 1920s unt ...

, Peter Hart) – 3:27 (1984 version - 3:00) # "Poor Davey" – 3:22 # "Stay Mellow" – 2:18 # "Queen Alexandra Road Is Where She Said She'd Be, But Was She There to Meet Me... No Chance" – 2:17 # "Worse Things Happen At Sea" – 2:39 # "

Blue Suede Shoes "Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock and roll standard (music), standard written and first recorded by American singer, songwriter and guitarist Carl Perkins in 1955. It is considered one of the first rockabilly records, incorporating elements of blues ...

" (

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...

) – 2:16 # "Fiery Jack" – 2:53 # "Theme Tune" – 0:20

Personnel

* Michael "Olga" Algar - vocals, guitar * Phillip "Flip" Dugdale - bass * Robert "Happy Bob" Kent - drums

References

External links

Full album lyrics

o
The Toy Dolls website
{{Authority control Toy Dolls albums 1983 debut albums