Thursday, October 1, 2026
Music from one of the defining girl groups of the 1960s came to Eisenhower Park when Barbara Harris, an original member of The Toys, took the stage for a noontime concert Aug. 12.
Harris performed at the park’s Parking Field 1 as part of Nassau County’s summer concert programming, giving Long Islanders an opportunity to hear a performer whose career stretches back more than six decades.
Harris is best known as a member of The Toys, the New York-based pop trio that rose to national prominence in the mid-1960s with “A Lover’s Concerto.”
Harris began singing in churches before moving to Queens when she was 11. While in high school, she sang with a group of young performers that eventually evolved into a trio with Barbara Parritt and June Montiero. The three became The Toys and signed with DynoVoice Records.
The group found its biggest success in 1965 with “A Lover’s Concerto,” written by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell. Drawing its melody from the classical “Minuet in G major,” the song climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold more than 2 million copies.
The Toys followed the hit with “Attack!,” which reached the Billboard Top 20 in 1966.
During their years together, The Toys appeared on popular television music programs including “Hullabaloo” and “Shindig!” and toured with singer-songwriter Gene Pitney. They also appeared in the 1967 film “It’s a Bikini World,” performing “Attack!”
Although the original group disbanded in the late 1960s, Harris continued performing, carrying the music that first brought The Toys national attention to audiences decades later.
Her Aug. 12 appearance at Eisenhower Park offered Nassau County concertgoers a midday dose of 1960s pop and a chance to hear music from one of New York’s homegrown vocal groups.
