Toy was a Belgian pop group that was especially successful in the 80s.
Toy was founded in 1974 by Theo Van Hemelrijk and Harry Woods. They had found each other in the then youth house De Vaandrig in Sint-Amands. They were the singer-guitarists. Paul Ielegems ('Ille') to the drums and Renaat Boeykens ('Renato Marciano') on bass completed the line-up. The choice of the group name was a find of 'den Ille'.
In 1976 the band won the Singing Sange Jo music competition on national television, presented by Jo De Clercq, better known as Jo with the Banjo. This victory did not completely benefit their career. The record company in which they were allowed to record their singles Do not go away and Lazy Time as part of the contest, made some decisions regarding production and promotion that the band members disagreed with. Then the group took matters into its own hands and set up its own record label. This company, Payola (with a logo inspired by a 20 Belgian franc note), released their debut album Bad Night in 1979, with the singles 'Crazy Monday' and 'Coconut'. The LP meant a reasonable breakthrough, with a lot of airplay and live performances, but the big boom had yet to come.
In 1980 their number Last Chance appeared on the Get Sprouts collection plate. That was an initiative of the bank ASLK and was given as a promotion to every young person who opened an account. This again gave the band some popularity with the general public. Marc Bonne became the new drummer. In 1981 their second album, The Split, appeared with their most famous song Suspicion. This single received some attention by airplay and was mentioned three weeks in the then BRT Top 30. The LP was released in ten countries. Germany in particular was successful. There were some changes in the line-up: Alain Gautier on bass (later also shortly Barry McNeese) and Werner Pensaert on the keyboards. They played many concerts: mostly in youth clubs, at festivals and also in the Ancienne Belgique. After a few other singles, which were more influenced by the popular synthpop of the 80s, it became quiet around the band. Between 1987 and 1990 they made a different kind of music under the name New Forces. This was a project by singer-guitarist Theo Van Hemelrijk together with female vocalists. The contribution of the other group members (including Tony Callebaut) became smaller and smaller, although Harry Woods continued to play live. In 1993 they signed for a comeback with the album Brand New Toy (released at KOCH International) and in 1999 followed the collection plate AnToylogy 1980-1993. For this, all recordings were digitized on vinyl and a choice of twenty songs was made. Tom Barman made his film 'Anyway The Wind Blows' and used 'Suspicion' on the soundtrack (2003). Theo and Harry did a John Fogerty tribute together in the following years under the name 'Fogertyshow'. In 2012 Toy with 'Suspicion' was added in the Hall of Fame of Sabam and VRT. Harry and Theo played the song live with the houseband. In the meantime they had worked on new songs. As the first single from the reborn Toy, 'Walking Backwards' came out. Currently (2012) new numbers are still being worked on and the group is starting to think of a comeback.
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