The Toys got them work doing background vocals for several recording artists. At a talent show in Brooklyn they met Eddy Chase, who in turn introduced them to manager Vince Marc and songwriter/recording executive Bob Crewe. The group became the Toys, and landed their first recording contract on Crewe's DynoVoice Records. Marc introduced them to songwriters Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell. Linzer and Randell wrote most of the songs they recorded. They took a piano piece from a Bach exercise book ("Minuet in G major" by Christian Petzold), put a Motown bassline to it, and "A Lover's Concerto" was born; the song
Minute by Minute (The Doobie Brothers song) describes the song as a soulful, mid-tempo, piano-driven song that he compares to Motown songs. Most of "Minute by Minute" is in the key of C major, but the bridge is in E minor and the last refrains are in G major. "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide" praises McDonald's "suave vocal mastery" on the song. "Spin"s Rich Stim describes the sound of the song as "phlegmatic". "Minute by Minute" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Song of the Year but lost to the Doobie Brothers' prior single, "What a Fool Believes". Co-writer Michael McDonald was surprised by the