| Toad | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Switzerland |
| Genres | Hard rock Blues-rock |
| Years active | 1970–1980s |
| Associated acts | Brainticket |
| Members | |
| Vic Vergeat Werner Frolich Cosimo Lampis |
|
Toad were a Swiss hard rock band, formed by ex-Brainticket members. Their best known songs were a cover of "Purple Haze", "Using My Life" and "Stay".
Contents |
In 1971, European Psychedelic rock band Brainticket released their first album. Soon after, Werner Frohlich (bass) and Cosimo Lampis (drums) departed the group and formed Toad with Vittorio 'Vic' Vergeat, who was briefly in the British space rock group Hawkwind, on guitar. That year, they released their self-titled album and the single 'Stay', which did fairly well. Their first album was mixed by Martin Birch, and had Benjamin Jaeger on vocals, who would leave once the album was finished.
In 1972, the band released Tomorrow Blue, which was in a more Blues direction and without a lead vocalist (with Vergeat and Frohlich handling vocals) and their first album in a more heavy rock direction. The same year, the band recorded the album Open Fire: Live in Basel 1972.
They waited until 1975 to release their third and final album, Dreams, which contained the single 'Purple Haze'. After that, their history is mainly undocumented except for a live album recorded in 1978. They spent the rest of the 1970s and 1980s appearing on a few compilations and releasing live albums before fading into obscurity.
The band never achieved great success outside of their own country, but were very influential on the Swiss heavy metal movement during the 1980s. They have seen renewed interest in the early 2000s among the European Hard rock scene. Their albums were re-released recently in CD in a box-set, packaged as miniature vinyl records.