Toy Matinee

Toy Matinee was a short-lived American art-pop band, and also the title of their only album. Their sound was an array of mixed influences, including progressive rock, AOR and pop reminiscent of both the Beatles and the Beach Boys.

Toy Matinee was formed by producer/composer/keyboardist Patrick Leonard in collaboration with singer/lyricist Kevin Gilbert. Backed by a group of session musicians (drummer Brian MacLeod, guitarist Tim Pierce, and bassist Guy Pratt), and with guest appearances from several other musicians including Julian Lennon, the duo recorded just one self-titled album which was released on Reprise Records in 1990.

The album was engineered and produced by Bill Bottrell. Thematically, it covered a rather broad ground; two tracks were dedicated to Czech poet and political figure Václav Havel and painter Salvador Dalí, and "Queen of Misery" is about Madonna.^[2] (Leonard was the singer's longtime songwriting and producing partner and Gilbert had recently worked with her as an engineer.) Two of the other songs on Toy Matinee -- "The Ballad of Jenny Ledge" and "Last Plane Out" -- received wide play on album rock stations, both of them peaking at #23 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Despite that, the album's highest U.S. chart position was #129.

After the album was released, Leonard apparently lost interest in the group and Gilbert was left to promote the album on his own. He assembled a promotional band for the album which featured Gilbert's then girlfriend, Sheryl Crow, on keyboards and Marc Bonilla on guitar and engaged in a fury of on-air promotions, including most notably frequent appearances on the Mark & Brian show on Los Angeles-area station KLOS.

Gilbert went on to do additional work with Bottrell including Sheryl Crow's debut album as well as his own solo projects. In 1994, Leonard and former Mr. Mister frontman Richard Page released the album Meanwhile as Third Matinee. Gilbert's untimely death in 1996 ended any possibility of a second Toy Matinee album, although a live recording of Gilbert and his touring band performing songs from the album in 1991 was released by his family.

Album track listing

The original album Toy Matinee included the first nine tracks listed here. It was remastered and re-released with five bonus tracks in 2001, and then in 2008. The DVD-Audio version without bonus tracks was also released in 2001.

1. "Last Plane Out" (Kevin Gilbert, Patrick Leonard, Guy Pratt) - 5:13
2. "Turn It On Salvador" (Gilbert, Leonard, Pratt) - 4:54

   (a tribute to painter Salvador Dalí)

3. "Things She Said" (Gilbert, Leonard, Pratt) - 4:57
4. "Remember My Name" - 5:19

   (loosely dedicated to Václav Havel)

5. "The Toy Matinee" (Gilbert, Leonard, Pratt) - 5:02
6. "Queen Of Misery" (Gilbert, Leonard) - 4:31
7. "The Ballad Of Jenny Ledge" (Gilbert, Leonard) - 5:50
8. "There Was A Little Boy" (Gilbert, Leonard) - 5:35
9. "We Always Come Home" (Leonard) - 4:29

   Bonus tracks:

10. "eenitaM yoT ehT" (Gilbert, Leonard) - 0:33
11. "Blank Page" (Gilbert) - 2:23
12. "Things She Said" [alternate version] (Gilbert, Leonard) - 5:13
13. "There Was A Little Boy" [early version] (Gilbert, Leonard) - 4:15
14. "Last Plane Out" [early version] (Gilbert, Leonard, Pratt) - 5:35

External links

• Toy Matinee page at Blue Desert
• Official Kevin Gilbert website
• Unofficial Myspace Page

References