2012 is a significant anniversary year for two of Toyah’s albums: It is, of course, the 30th since the release of ‘The Changeling’ (1982) and also the 25th since ‘Desire’ (1987).
Aside from this vague connection there’s a more explicit link for the two albums, the songs ‘Dawn Chorus’ and ‘Moonlight Dancing’. In 1982 Toyah performed the former on BBC1’s 6.55 Special (think The One Show with the added bonus of Sally James) and towards the close of the song added new lyrics that weren’t included on the album version. This “alternative” version of ‘Dawn Chorus’ was never performed again, and it wasn’t until the release of ‘Desire’ five years later that ‘Moonlight Dancing’, which the new lyrics were an excerpt from, was heard again.
‘Moonlight Dancing’ probably didn’t even exist as a fully formed song at this point in time, though both were written by Toyah and Joel Bogen. It’s interesting, though, that these few extra lines from 1982 went on to become part of one of Toyah’s finest singles and forged an ever lasting link between two very different Toyah albums…
A post at ‘Catmachine’, by Chris Limb, on Thursday’s free kindle version of ‘I Was A Teenage Toyah Fan’.
The experiment of making the Kindle edition of my book I Was A Teenage Toyah Fan available free for 24 hours under Amazon’s KDP Select scheme was an interesting one and seems to have been a success in its own way – in 24 hours it was downloaded just shy of 700 times and peaked at number 50 in the Kindle chart.
Whether this translates into a greater visibility of the book in the long run is another matter (I would hope so) but even if it doesn’t one thing I can say is that hundreds more people will have read my book than before. And that, after all, is what it is all about.
Toyah has been confirmed as one of the artists participating in ‘The Marc Bolan 35th Memorial Concert’, taking place at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Saturday 15th September 2012.
Other artists confirmed, so far, are Boy George, Steve Harley, Glen Matlock, Alvin Stardust, Rick Wakeman, Linda Lewis, Andy Ellison, and T.Rextasy. All proceeds from the concert are going to the PRS (Performing Right Society) Charity, for the music members benevolent fund.
Tickets go on sale from 16th April. Stay updated on the concert at the Facebook Event page.
Just a reminder that Toyah, along with Hazel O’Connor and Annabella Lwin, guests on Keith Middleton’s Late Show tonight on ‘BBC Radio’ (various stations: Shropshire, Stoke, WM, Hereford & Worcester and Coventry & Warwickshire).
Keith Middleton Show: BBC Radio (Various): Sat 31st March: 9pm
Keith is joined by Toyah Willcox, Hazel O’Connor and Annabella Lwin (of Bow Wow Wow) for a ‘Punk Extravaganza’. Is there a punk track you haven’t heard for a while? Let Keith know and he’ll do his best to play it…
Listen to the show online as it airs, or via ‘BBC iPlayer’ post-broadcast. (Available for one week only)
There are several live dates confirmed this morning on Toyah’s official website: The ‘Rock & Bike Festival 2012’ in July: This is a non-music appearance. As with last year Toyah will compere. ‘The Greatest 80’s Party Ever’ at Audley End in August, and the Marc Bolan 35th Anniversary Show’ at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in September.
Toyah’s Official Facebook posted this morning that there will be another exclusive live track on The Official Toyah Gigs page at 00.01 on Sunday 1st April: “…as we start the 13 day countdown to the premiere of THE CHANGELING RESURRECTION @ BRIGHTON.“
All the best things come boxed, right? Check out the great “themed” packaging Andi has created for the ‘Anthem’ Toyah doll. You can almost imagine this sitting on a toy shop (or Woolworths’) shelf, Christmas 1981. Click below to view a larger photo. (Thanks to Andi)
We are just about to hit April… and that month is all about ‘The Changeling’, ‘The Changeling Resurrection 2012’ and pretty much nothing else. What else could possibly matter when it’s the 30th anniversary of something so good? Before that, time for a look back to last year’s ‘From Sheep Farming To Anthem’ UK tour: Check out all the news, photos, imagery, press, reviews and gossip at Dreamscape’s ‘FSF-A’ bumper section.
We are thrilled to announce that the much-loved Summer Picnic Concerts at Audley End House and Gardens will go ahead as usual this summer. English Heritage has teamed up with independent concert producers, Portal Events Ltd to deliver a fantastic line-up of musical stars and the concerts will take place from Friday 3rd August to Sunday 5th August 2012.
On Saturday 4th August it’s time to relive your youth with The Greatest 80’s Party…Ever! Hit 80s artists Rick Astley, Jimmy Somerville, Midge Ure, Nik Kershaw, T’pau, Toyah, Wang Chung and Dr and the Medics will wow the crowd into a party frenzy with their famous hit songs including “Never gonna give you up”, “China in your hand” and “Spirit in the Sky”.
Toyah: From punk princess to high priestess of TV, Toyah Willcox is a uniquely gifted performer. Toyah is going to rock Audley End with some of her 80’s classics.
• View the ‘Audley End Concerts’ Toyah info at their ‘Line Up’ page here.
Audley End Picnic Concerts: Jools Holland, Rick Astley and the Royal Philharmonic are among the stars for this year’s open air concerts at Audley End. This summer’s concerts, supported by Heart, take place from Friday 3rd August to Sunday 5th August.
• To win a pair of tickets for ‘The Best 80’s Party… Ever!’ go here and answer the question. Competition closes on 29th April.
Great News! An update this morning, on yesterday’s promotion, from ‘I Was A Teenage Toyah Fan’ Facebook: “The Amazon promotion making the Kindle edition of the book free for a day yesterday went well – just shy of 700 downloads in 24 hours with the book peaking at number 50 in the Kindle charts.”
An actual physical copy is something special though, and a great addition to a book (or Toyah) collection. Visit the I Was A Teenage Toyah Fanwebsite for details on how to buy the book.
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip: BBC2: Thursday 12th April: 6.30pm
Tony Blackburn and Toyah Willcox take to the road with antiques experts Charlie Ross and Charles Hanson. Their journey starts in the historic town of York and ends up with an auction in Stanstead, Essex.
• View all of Toyah’s upcoming TV & Radio appearances here.
Salvaged from eBay for your viewing/reading pleasure. An article from 1983 by ‘Disco 45’. Hardly mind blowing journalism but I thought I’d add it as it’s admirably positive.
Contrary to what a lot of people expected, Toyah Willcox has returned strongly to the charts after an absence from recording of nearly a whole year.
Yes, it’s been that long since ‘Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard)’ was released and became Toyah’s seventh hit single, while around the same time her most recent album, ‘Warrior Rock (Toyah On Tour)’, also came out, and not unexpectedly hit the Top 20 on the day of release. That was her fifth consecutive hit LP, and at the end of last year things were looking very good for the Birmingham girl with the big voice and the huge fan following. At the start of this year she was voted Top Female Singer in both a national newspaper and one of our own music rags, and we all expected a new record to be released to capitalize on that acclaim. But busy Toyah had other ideas, because as every Toyah fan knows, she is highly talented at more than just singing in front of a rock band.
Artist and occasional writer, Matt Soffe is just over a third of the way through his year-long portrait blog, and today’s subject is, none other than, Robert Fripp.
…The guitarists’ guitarist, he pioneered the innovation of tape-looping in rock music (christened ‘Frippertronics’), improvised the guitar solo on Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ and devised the sounds for the Windows Vista operating system. He also married Toyah Willcox, came up with the ‘New Standard Tuning’ for guitar and has, to date, released over 700 records.
About the blog: This blog will run for one whole year, and in that time I’ll post a single portrait every day. Each one of these will be drawn in 10 minutes or less (I use the alarm on my phone – as soon as it beeps I stop, press snooze and move on to another one). 10 minutes, that’s it. In that time I’ll try to achieve two things: A quality drawing and a good likeness. I can’t always guarantee either but I’ll be striving for both!
Following the ‘Cambridge News’ report this morning, various concert and festival websites have updated this afternoon with news articles on the English Heritage Picnic Concerts 2012, taking place at Audley End House, Saffron Walden, Essex in early August. All of the reports mention Toyah as playing.
Sat 04 August: The Best 80’s Party… Ever! with Rick Astley, Jimmy Somerville, Midge Ure, Nick Kershaw, T’Pau, Toyah, Whang Chung and Dr and the Medics.
20 years ago! An interesting and honest interview from This Morning in 1992. Richard and Judy talk to Toyah about Memoirs Of A Survivor, her childhood, privacy, the press, fans, the recent Anthony Clare radio interview, being a parent and more. View the full interview below or at ‘You Tube’ here. Click on the screen caps for larger versions.
Audley End Concerts 2012
Friday 3rd August – Sunday 5th August
We are thrilled to announce that the much-loved Summer Picnic Concerts at Audley End House and Gardens will go ahead as usual this summer. English Heritage has teamed up with independent concert producers, Portal Events Ltd to deliver a fantastic line-up of musical stars and the concerts will take place from Friday 3rd August to Sunday 5th August 2012.
MORE INFORMATION WILL BE ANNOUNCED TOMORROW, FRIDAY 30TH MARCH.
A star-studded line-up including Jools Holland and Rick Astley will entertain crowds at the Audley End Picnic Concerts this summer after they were saved from the axe.
It had been feared the popular concerts would be cancelled after a promoter pulled out, but English Heritage has found another partner – Portal Events. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 9am. This year the concerts will be on three consecutive nights, from Friday to Sunday, August 3-5, rather than consecutive weekends.
On the Saturday, the venue, near Saffron Walden, will rock to an 80s party with Rick Astley, Jimmy Somerville, Midge Ure, Nik Kershaw, T’Pau, Toyah, Wang Chung and Dr and the Medics.
With the very recent discovery of two rare, and fantastic, ‘Desire’ photos now seems as good a time as any to take a look back at some of the imagery from this era. In a 10 year career this was probably the first time Toyah had looked “conventional”. The ‘Desire’ album and related image seems to be more appreciated retrospectively than at the time of release… dive in!
• View the 25th anniversary ‘Desire’ feature at Dreamscape here. (Photography by Carrie Branovan)
From ‘I Was A Teenage Toyah Fan’ Facebook: This is just advance warning of a promotion – the Kindle edition of the book will be available FREE from Amazon on 29 March 2012 (tomorrow) only. The competition to win an ‘I Was A Teenage Toyah Fan – Were You?’ t-shirt is also still open.
Quadrophenia is to show at the ‘San Francisco International Film Festival’ next month. The 55th prestigious festival runs from 19th April – 3rd May.
Tommy (1975) may be Pete Townshend’s most famous rock opera, but Quadrophenia (1979) is his most personal. In the hands of director Franc Roddam, the tale becomes a kitchen-sink drama of near-vérité realism and a timeless tale of teenage alienation and identity. “I don’t wanna be the same as everybody else. That’s why I’m a Mod,” says Jimmy (Phil Daniels), the parka-wearing, scooter-riding London teenager who spends his days at a dead-end ad agency job and his nights grooving to the likes of The Who.
Held each spring for 15 days, the ‘San Francisco International Film Festival’ is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country’s most beautiful cities.
