Toy Soldiers (song)
Encyclopedia
"Toy Soldiers" is a song by Martika
appearing on her eponymous debut album
in 1989 as a ballad. The single was a number-one hit in the United States. It was sampled by Eminem
in his 2004 single, "Like Toy Soldiers
". The song's subject matter concerns drug abuse and how it can devastate the lives of the user and those who care about them.
, including the Black Eyed Peas's Stacy Ferguson, Rahsaan Patterson
, Renee Sands
, as well as later cast members Jennifer Love Hewitt
and Devyn Puett
, as backup vocalists.
in the U.S. and New Zealand while reaching number five in both the United Kingdom and Australia. When it spent its first week at number one, it had leapt over Madonna
's "Express Yourself" and kept that song from reaching the top spot. On Billboard's year-end chart for 1989, "Toy Soldiers" placed number 29. It was Martika's only number-one single in the U.S., and her highest-ranking single in the United Kingdom. The single was certified Gold in the United States by the RIAA.
In March and April 2009, VH1 ran a countdown of the 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s. "Toy Soldiers" placed at #67 on the countdown despite the fact that Martika had three other Top 40 hits: "More Than You Know" (#18); "I Feel the Earth Move" (#25); and "Love ... Thy Will Be Done" (#10).
12" Single
18th season
episode "G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)
" the music playing during the assault course is "Toy Soldiers".
The song was also featured in an episode of Cold Case 2nd season episode "The Sleepover" the chorus of the song is played during the episode and at the end of the episode.
Martika
Martika is an American pop singer-songwriter and actress. As a singer she released two internationally successful albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s, selling over four million copies worldwide.-Early life and career:Martika entered mainstream show business in an uncredited role as one of the...
appearing on her eponymous debut album
Martika (album)
Martika is the title of the debut album by former child actor and Teen pop singer Martika. It was released on CBS Records in 1988.- Background :...
in 1989 as a ballad. The single was a number-one hit in the United States. It was sampled by Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
in his 2004 single, "Like Toy Soldiers
Like Toy Soldiers
"Like Toy Soldiers" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his fifth album Encore. The song samples 1989 song "Toy Soldiers" by Martika and the title theme from 1972 film The Hot Rock...
". The song's subject matter concerns drug abuse and how it can devastate the lives of the user and those who care about them.
Personnel
Martika is the only one who sings throughout the song, although she is joined on the chorus by some of her former castmates from Kids IncorporatedKids Incorporated
Kids Incorporated, is an American children's television program that was produced from 1984 to 1993. It was largely a youth-oriented program with musical performances as an integral part of each and every storyline....
, including the Black Eyed Peas's Stacy Ferguson, Rahsaan Patterson
Rahsaan Patterson
Rahsaan Patterson is an American singer and actor, best known for portraying "The Kid" on the popular 1980s television show Kids Incorporated. He is a native of The Bronx, New York. He was named after '60s jazz saxophonist Rahsaan Roland Kirk...
, Renee Sands
Renee Sands
Renee Ilene Sandstrom , an American singer and actress better known by her stage name, Renee Sands. She is best known for appearing as Renee on the 1980s children's television show Kids Incorporated.-Career:...
, as well as later cast members Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt is an American actress, producer, television director and former singer-songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated...
and Devyn Puett
Devyn Puett
Devyn Puett is a former American child actress and singer who was active in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She is best known for portraying the character of "Devyn" in the 1988 and 1989 seasons of the long-running children's television show Kids Incorporated. As a singer, Puett was featured in...
, as backup vocalists.
Chart success
The song spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in the U.S. and New Zealand while reaching number five in both the United Kingdom and Australia. When it spent its first week at number one, it had leapt over Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's "Express Yourself" and kept that song from reaching the top spot. On Billboard's year-end chart for 1989, "Toy Soldiers" placed number 29. It was Martika's only number-one single in the U.S., and her highest-ranking single in the United Kingdom. The single was certified Gold in the United States by the RIAA.
In March and April 2009, VH1 ran a countdown of the 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s. "Toy Soldiers" placed at #67 on the countdown despite the fact that Martika had three other Top 40 hits: "More Than You Know" (#18); "I Feel the Earth Move" (#25); and "Love ... Thy Will Be Done" (#10).
Formats
7" Single- "Toy Soldiers" - 4:52
- "Exchange Of Hearts" - 4:15
12" Single
- "Toy Soldiers" - 4:52
- "It's Not You're Doing" - 4:11
- "Exchange Of Hearts" - 4:15
Chart performance
| Chart (1989) | Peak position |
Total weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart (ARIA ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... ) |
5 | 20 |
| Canadian Adult Contemporary Chart | 9 | 2 |
| Canadian Top 30 Retail Sales Chart | 3 | 13 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 4 | 17 |
| Dutch Singles Chart (Mega Single Top 100 Mega Single Top 100 The Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales and legal downloads and composed by MegaCharts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Dutch Top 40 and the Mega Top 50. The difference is that these charts also include airplay data.The list is... ) |
22 | 11 |
| German Singles Chart | 5 | 20 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 3 | 6 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart (RIANZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... ) |
1 | 14 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart (VG-lista VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... ) |
2 | 13 |
| Swedish Singles Chart (Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... ) |
4 | 6 |
| Swiss Singles Chart (Media Control AG Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... ) |
3 | 17 |
| UK Singles Chart (The Official Charts Company UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... } |
5 | 13 |
| U.S. Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
1 | 20 |
Cover and Translated versions, sampling, etc.
- British rock band My VitriolMy VitriolMy Vitriol are an alternative rock band from London, England. The band name, which is often misinterpreted, is taken from the novel Brighton Rock by Graham Greene...
released a cover of "Toy Soldiers" on the B-side of their 2007 EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
A Pyrrhic Victory. - EminemEminemMarshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
's Encore album features samples from "Toy Soldiers" in a song titled "Like Toy SoldiersLike Toy Soldiers"Like Toy Soldiers" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his fifth album Encore. The song samples 1989 song "Toy Soldiers" by Martika and the title theme from 1972 film The Hot Rock...
". The subject of the Eminem song is markedly different from the Martika song, concerning violence and murder linked to rap music rather than drug addiction. - British hip hop group N-DubzN-DubzN-Dubz are a British hip hop group from Camden Town, London. The group consists of members Dappy, Tulisa Contostavlos and Fazer.N-Dubz were previously signed to Polydor Records before joining All Around the World Records...
's 'Shoulda Put Something On' also samples the song. - Martika herself recorded and produced a spanish version of "Toy Soldiers" renaming it "Como Un Juguete", though it did not see the same success from that of the original english version.
Appearances in other media
In The SimpsonsThe Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
18th season
The Simpsons (season 18)
The Simpsons 18th season aired from September 10, 2006 to May 20, 2007. The season contained seven hold-over episodes from the season 17 production line. Al Jean served as the Showrunner, a position he has held since the thirteenth season....
episode "G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)
G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)
"G.I. ", or "G.I. D'oh!", is the fifth episode of The Simpsons eighteenth season and first aired November 12, 2006. It was written by Daniel Chun and directed by Nancy Kruse, while Kiefer Sutherland makes his first of two guest appearances this season. Maurice LaMarche does additional voices...
" the music playing during the assault course is "Toy Soldiers".
The song was also featured in an episode of Cold Case 2nd season episode "The Sleepover" the chorus of the song is played during the episode and at the end of the episode.