Video: The Toll - Jonathan Toledo

Coffee For Two Blog: The Toll, “Jonathan Toledo”

At the Coffee For Two Blog, Dan Seeger looks back 30 years to The Toll's debut:

I think of the nineteen-eighties as a time when any band that sounded even the slightest bit like R.E.M. could get a record deal and a concerted push on college radio. I tend to forget that the smash success of The Joshua Tree, released in 1987, rejiggered the algorithm, at least for a little bit. Any band that evoked the anthemic propulsion of U2 (even those that had been around for a bit) could get the brightest spotlight turned on them. The Toll made music that was earnest, political, guitar-driven, and, yes, a little pompous. Surely Geffen had visions of the band planting their boots squarely in the footprints laid out by Bono and the boys. 

The label must have been incredibly confident in the Toll’s prospect for U2-level success. That’s the simplest explanation for the pure bravado of releasing “Jonathan Toledo” as an introductory single. It ran over ten minutes and included a lengthy spoken word interlude railing against historic and ongoing cruelty against Native Americans. Geffen didn’t really trim it down, either. Aside from the mini-epics Michael Jackson was allowed to deliver, the “Jonathan Toledo” music video evidently set a record for the longest clip added to the MTV rotation.

New Additions: The Price Of Progression by The Toll

I didn't know quite what to make of The Toll before I actually got the debut album The Price Of Progression and listened to it. On the one hand, they were on Geffen Records for both their releases, and had some very solid-to-big names appear on the album (Mick Ronson on guitar for a song, Lenny Pickett of Tower Of Power on sax for a song, etc.), yet when I brought the album up to some folks, there was a dismissiveness. I will say, after dropping the needle on the vinyl, the production is very 80s and doesn't do this band any favors. I sought out some live clips on YouTube, as the line was, "great live band, albums don't do them justice," and maybe that's the way to go. 

Know Yer Band: The Toll

Band: The Toll

Members
Vocals - Brad Circone
Guitar - Rick Silk
Bass - Greg Bartram
Drums - Brett Mayo

Releases
1988 - The Price Of Progression album (Geffen Records)
1991 - Sticks & Stones And Broken Bones album (Geffen Records)