Toe the line of athletics where it describes runners poised at the starting line, and in the context of behavior where the miscreant is expected to "toe the line." The first published use in a political context was in March 1826, where Willie Mangum of the United States House of Representatives proposed that "every member might 'toe the mark'." The behavioral use also stems from around that time. The term continues to be used in the context of cross-country and track and field running, although sometimes also symbolically in bicycle races to be at your mark along the starting line before a race.
1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?) whole collection of records, sampling tons of stuff and putting it all together, and it ... was a real rush of excitement, when we were doing it... When we put that record out, we knew what we were doing was illegal, but we thought it was gonna be such an underground record, nobody would ever hear about it. So the first thing that shocked us is that British rock papers gave a big review. "1987" is built around samples of other artists' work, "to the point where the presence of original material becomes questionable". The album is raw and unpolished,