Time Toy

about

Time Toy, one of the most creative bands ever from Athens, GA, 1981-1989, were Paul Hammond (guitar & bass), Danny Cottar (guitar & bass), Bryan Cook (vocals), Robby McMahan(drums & vocals). The name is credited to Paul Hammond. Prior to starting Time Toy, Paul Hammond came from Georgia and played guitar and tenor sax in bands such as the "Little Tigers". He also played in "Bang", and later on in "The Squalls". Danny Cottar, came to Athens from Key West, Florida and played lead guitar on a few of the songs that Time Toy performed, but mainly anchored the band with his bass guitar. He later played in a band called "Toy Boat". Danny and Paul did most of the harmonic construction of the tunes, while Bryan Cook fit words to the music. Robby McMahan was a longtime Athens resident when the band came together; he was a DJ and announcer on local commercial radio station WRFC-AM but provided solid drumming and added colorful, laugh-provoking vocalizations interjected at odd moments. Time Toy employed improvisation, da-da absurdity, and solid rock and roll in their songs. As the Athens audiences tended to become more mainstream, Time Toy unleashed surprises such as the performance of an occasional cover song from the British invasion of American rock and roll. On other occasions, they might perform a sappy pop song starting out with a straight representation but turning a bubble-gum song on its head: making it a vehicle for thrashing guitars in the finale. College radio was o