Have you never heard Toy Dolls? They are Sparks for open minded skins. I'm talking Mael Brothers: Ron and Russel. In the same way that Sparks have hyper tempos, strange vocals and clever lyrics, Toy Dolls challenged the confines of skinhead punk with three punky haired players fronted by a lad named Olga who liked to write about odd situations and people he knew. In many ways they sound like Sparks, but there are the Oi styled background vocals.

If you want a place to start, try 'Dougy Giro'. And don't tell me that you won't listen to them because they are skins and skins are rascist. That is only a certain type of skin - I used to shave my head and listen to Oi in 1985. The main stumbling block I can picture many of you having as you try to appreciate Toy Dolls is the metal styled guitar. I'm not talking solos or anything like that - I am just referring to the tone the guitar used. If you CAN get past that, you will hear a bunch of great tunes spread between the 45 songs on this two CD set.

Some of MY faves are 'Nelly The Elephant', 'Dougy Giro', 'She Goes To Finos', 'Florence Is Deaf', and 'James Bond Lives Down My Street' from disc one, and 'Tommy Kowey's Car', 'No Particular Place To Go' (Chuck Berry treatment), 'Kids In Tyne and Wear' (treatment of 'Kids In America'), and 'The Devil Went Down To Scunthorpe' (Charlie Daniel's treatment).

There are many more songs that those that are fun. Give em a go.