Babes in Toyland

Minneapolis-based riot grrrl/punk band, formed in 1987.

Kat Bjelland plays guitar and sings, Maureen Herman plays bass, and Lori Barbero plays drums and sings. Originally Michelle Leon played bass, but she left after the second album.

Discography:

Spanking Machine

• Swamp Pussy
• He's My Thing
• Vomit Heart
• Never
• Boto
• Dogg
• Pain in My Heart
• Lashes
• You're Right
• Dust Cake Boy
• Fork Down Throat

To Mother

• Catatonic
• Mad Pilot
• Primus
• Laugh My Head Off
• Spit to See the Shine
• 1 (Ripe)
• The Quiet Room

Fontanelle

• Bruise Violet
• Right Now
• Bluebell
• Handsome and Gretel
• Blood
• Magick Flute
• Won't Tell
• Quiet Room
• Spun
• Jungle Train
• Pearl
• Real Eyes
• Mother
• Gone

Painkiller

• He's My Thing
• Laredo
• Istigkeit
• Ragweed
• Angel Hair
• Fontanellette (Live at CBGB's)

Nemesisters

• Hello
• Oh Yeah!
• Drivin'
• Sweet '69
• Surd
• 22
• Ariel
• Killer on the Road
• Middle Man
• Memory
• S.F.W.
• All by Myself
• Deep Song
• We Are Family

Victor Herbert’s 1903 operetta Babes in Toyland wove together various characters from Mother Goose nursery rhymes into a musical-- mainly because librettist Glen MacDonough wanted to cash in on the Wizard of Oz phenomena sweeping Broadway that year. Kids (Little Jane, Little Allen) swept away to a fantastic land with fantastic settings (the Floral Palace of the Moth Queen, the Garden of Contrary Mary, etc) allowed for lots of spectacle to bring the audiences in.

Most people know it from movie versions- either the 1934 Laurel and Hardy version AKA March of the Wooden Soldiers (which includes almost none of Herbert's songs or book), or the 1961 Technicolor remake from Disney featuring Ray Bolger, Tommy Sands, and Annette Funicello. A 1986 made for television version featured Drew Barrymore, Pat Morita, and Keanu Reeves. Herbert's title song "Toyland," occasionally shows up as a Christmas carol on Holiday compliations.