Tag: Toy piano in pop recordings

"Out of the Blue"

“Out of the Blue”: Earliest Toy Piano Pop Recording?

As noted in the update to my original posting, it appears that Neil Diamond has been supplanted by Tommy James & the Shondells as the new reigning champions* in the pioneering use of toy piano in musical recordings with “Out of the Blue,” their pop hit from 1967. The details,

December 20, 2013 No Comments

"Shilo"

“Shilo”: First Pop Use of Toy Piano?

Two songs were recorded in 1971 that featured toy piano lines: “Butterfly” by Danyel Gerard – a big international hit – and “Only You” by NRBQ, a song from their Scraps album that was released as the B-side to “Ain’t It All Right.” For the longest time I thought (quite

July 8, 2013 No Comments