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CHILDZPLAY 'The Learning' from the album "First Toy" reissued on Heaven and Hell Records

OVERVIEW:
CHILDZPLAY was formed in 1983 by founder/guitarist Mitch Hoitt in Boise, Idaho. Hoitt was introduced to bassist Ray Vancouver through a mutual friend. Hoitt then recruited schoolmates, drummer Troy Nickell and singer Curt Caldwell. Soon after, second guitarist Jefferey Fultz would join, completing the original line-up.

In 1984/85, CHILDZPLAY met the band's would-be producer and lifelong friend, Kevin Mitchell. Kevin would take CHILDZPLAY into The Music Source studio in Seattle, Washington, to record what was, at the time, supposed to be a demo. Dave Raynor recorded, mixed, and mastered the tracks.

That same year, 'First Toy' was released under the band's imprint, Playmate Records. The band would press only 500 copies of the record.

Upon release, 'First Toy' quickly received consistent local radio support. Band members would also do numerous radio interviews while traveling for shows in and around Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

Hoitt and Caldwell left the band within the next three years to pursue other opportunities. Now needing a replacement vocalist, the band looked towards a singer named Michael Bell. The band would ask Bell to audition for CHILDZPLAY, which he did, leading to him becoming the group's new frontman.

In 1988, CHILDZPLAY boldly decided to uproot and head for Hollywood.

CHILDZPLAY would spend numerous nights hanging out on the Hollywood Strip, checking out the hundreds of other bands chasing that elusive record deal. Like their peers littering the scene,
CHILDZPLAY played Gazzarri's on the Strip, The Waters Club in Sand Pedro, and other SoCal clubs as they chased that rock' n' roll dream. When the summer of 1989 rolled around, and to everyone's surprise, so did a new sound coming out of Seattle.

The band played around the Seattle area as CHILDZPLAY for a year or two, then decided to change the band's name and decided on the name BIG CITY.

BIG CITY would write and record a 13-song album titled "Make Your Mark" at Triad Studios with engineer Tom Hall, known for his work with (Queensryche and Heir Apparent. The project finished in late 1991/ early '92. Due to various issues at the time, BIG CITY would never release this project, and in 1992, BIG CITY would call it quits.

In mid-2024, the master tapes from the "First Toy" album, once thought to be lost, were discovered. They would be given to Tom Hall to restore and digitize. At this same time, Tom also had the master tapes from the BIG CITY record that had never been released. Since this material was never officially released, the band kept the name CHILDZPLAY and called the record "Big City." James Lancaster has remastered both records at Gemini Studios in Boise.