Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

Toyah Looks Forward to Getting Up Close & Personal at St George’s Hall

There are very few musicians and singers around who are instantly recognisable by their first names alone. Adele, Kylie, Madonna and, also, Toyah spring immediately to mind, with the latter set to appear at Liverpool’s St George’s Hall Small Concert Room venue on March 24th.

Known for her outlandish costumes, punk hairstyles, outspoken views and full on gig experiences, Toyah’s Acoustic, Up Close & Personal show, however, will be a completely different occurrence altogether. “I can’t tell you how well it works because it is all about the songs and all about the harmonies,” the It’s A Mystery singer explained.

“I have the two most amazing guitarists and backing vocalists with me, Colin Hinds from China Crisis and my permanent guitarist Chris Wong, and the sound we create is just so dancey and happy it makes for a really, really enjoyable show. I also use a lot of personal photographs and tell the stories behind the songs. Not too many, because it is still a music driven show, but it is very funny and incredibly irreverent.”

• Continue reading at Purple Revolver.

Galaxy of stars lined up for this year’s Grassington Festival

All roads will lead to Grassington in June, with a galaxy of stars lined up for the village’s two-week art and cultural festival. The opening night on June 17 promises a crowd-pleasing mix of Frank Sinatra songs performed by brothers Patrick and Gregory Kane from Hue and Cry alongside their own hits and newer material.

British rock group The Stranglers promise a showstopper of an evening on Friday, July 1, and finally, closing the festival on Saturday, July 2, will be the infamous Last Night Party with Marc Almond, supported by Toyah Willcox.

• Continue reading at the Craven Herald & Pioneer.

Once known as the High Priestess of Punk, actor and singer Toyah Willcox will be in Oxted later in the year.

Birmingham born Toyah will be at the Bluehouse Festival in the town’s URC Church on October 21 to talk about the music industry.

The Bluehouse Festival will run from October 16-30 and the organisers are putting together a mix of entertaining events and thought-provoking authors and speakers throughout the event.

The Festival will be closed by Emma Johnson who is an outstanding British clarinettist and won the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition. For further information and to go on the mailing list please contact thefestival2016@hotmail.com or telephone on 01883 712893. Tickets will be on sale from Tuesday, August 9.

• Continue reading at Oxted Today.

Toyah Live At The Water Rats aired last night on Vintage TV. The set-list was: Good Morning Universe, Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard), Thunder In The Mountains, Every Scar Has A Silver Lining, Echo Beach, Sensational, Ieya, It’s A Mystery, Bird in Flight, Danced, Latex Messiah (Viva La Rebel in You), I Want To Be Free.

Dawn Chorus and Come were also played at the gig on 23rd February, but these weren’t broadcast. The concert is repeated this weekend, on Easter Sunday.

Live At The Water Rats: Vintage TV: Sunday 27th March: 7pm
New! The prolific, multi-talented Toyah Willcox brings a mesmerising performance to this historic venue.

Will Brand manage a 20-mile-a-day hike from the Humber Bridge to Liverpool? Does it matter who pulled the trigger if your father is gunned down? And would you trust Neil Morrissey with your life?

Plus: the Who’s rock opera Quadrophenia.

Quadrophenia (Franc Roddam, 1979), 12.15am, ITV4
Roddam’s screen version of the Who’s rock opera is an excellent recreation of a seedy, sultry, angry time – the mods v rockers seaside clashes of 1964. Phil Daniels leads the way as Jimmy, a pill-popping rebel on a scooter, and there are vigorous performances from Ray Winstone, Leslie Ash, Sting and Toyah Willcox. Plus, of course, Pete Townshend’s explosive music.

• Continue reading at The Guardian.

TOYAH UNPLUGGED BROADCAST ON VINTAGE TV

Toyah Willcox played an intimate unplugged concert at the legendary London venue The Water Rats in February. The show was staged especially for a new Vintage TV special Live At… which will receive its premiere broadcast on Tuesday 22 March at 20.00.

The gig spanned early punk favourites including Neon Womb and Danced to hit singles It’s A Mystery and God Morning Universe through to recent material from Crimson Queen. The set also took in cult classics like Bird In Flight and the first time in 14 years the song Every Scar Has A Silver Lining had been performed in a new acoustic arrangement.

Tune in and get unplugged! Vintage TV is available on Freeview 242, Sky 369, Virgin Media 343 and Freesat 505

• Continue reading at The Official Toyah Willcox website. (Photo © Tom Pilston)

1980s music stars set to perform in Brean at special event this weekend

Several music stars from the 1980s will be performing at a special festival in Brean this weekend.

They include Toyah Willcox, Limahl from Kajagoogoo, Carol Decker from T’Pau… Tickets for the event cost from £15 per person. Call 01934 744958 for more details.

• Continue reading at Burnham-On-Sea.com. Toyah will play an acoustic set at “Yesterday Once More” – More details at the Official Gigs page.

Toyah’s sister has just returned home after sailing the Atlantic.

Visit Toyah’s Twitter to see a photo of this brave and adventurous lady.

Toyah is the cover star of the latest issue (#3, March/April 2016) of Discover Cardiff, which also includes a three-page feature on her inside – Punk Princess To High Priestess Of TV – based on the bio from toyahwillcox.com.

Toyah Willcox is a uniquely gifted performer. Charismatic, outspoken and impossible to categorise, she is one of Britain’s iconic household names – an award-winning rock legend as well as a much-loved actress and music composer.

Toyah is one of our most versatile and popular personalities whose vibrance and energy has won over many audiences in a career spanning thirty-nine years.

The Acoustic, Up Close & Personal tour, now in its third successful year of delighting audiences up and down, and indeed in and around the UK, plays the Acapela Studio in Cardiff on Friday 3rd June.

• Read the full feature here. More info on/book tickets for the Cardiff Acoustic date here. Keep an eye on Toyah’s Official Gigs page – You just never know where the tour will stop off at next!

A rare interview with Toyah, from Norwegian TV in 1981, has recently been uploaded to You Tube by Retro-Pop Norwegian Video Clips – Click on the screen caps to watch.

Aaaaaaaah! will be screened at the LOCO Film Festival 2016, the UK’s only international comedy film festival. It takes place between Wednesday 20th April and Sunday 1st May at BFI Southbank, London and other selected cinemas. Toyah will attend the Aaaaaaaah! screening on Saturday 23rd April. More info by clicking below.

Toyah’s blog for March 2016 is now available to read at toyahwillcox.com.

Dreamscape’s News Archive has been updated to include links to the last few months of news posts – Click below to plough through 192 months of Toyah news, info, features, trivia…

24 influential women who make you proud to be from the Midlands

On International Women’s Day here’s a look at some of those who inspire us from Birmingham and the West Midlands

Toyah Willcox: from Kings Heath, is a singer with a career spanning more than thirty years. Known for her shocking hair and individual style.

Willcox has enjoyed eight Top 40 singles, released over 20 albums, written two books, appeared in 40 stage plays and 10 films. She has also presented numerous television shows. Between 1977 and 1983 she fronted the band Toyah, before going solo. She has a star on the Kings Heath Walk of Fame.

• Continue reading at the Birmingham Mail. (Photo © Birmingham Mail)

Aaaaaaaah! is being screened at the Indie-Lincs International Film Festival 2016 this Friday.

What strikes you most upon viewing Aaaaaaaah! for the first time, is that as a viewer, you become very accepting, very quickly of the crazed way in which the story plays out. Perhaps writer/director/actor Steve Oram forces this acceptance; the film in many ways is a wild and frenzied ambush upon its audience, which is by no means a bad thing.

The script — translated into grunts and shouts — tells a tale of monkey-like humans enacting their elemental thoughts and desires upon one another. With performances from a frankly spectacular cast, it’s difficult to not enjoy this seemingly mind-boggling viewpoint on an alternative modern day life.

Aaaaaaaah! will be screened at Indie-Lincs 2016 on Friday 11 March; between 19.00 and 21.30 in a screening with Jake Hovell’s I Could Eat a Horse, Cristian Sulser’s Scrabble and Mark Brocking’s The Barber’s Cut.

• Continue reading at Eyes on Screen. Visit the Indie-Lincs Film Festival website.

Another couple of airings of, the brilliant, Quadrophenia later this month.

Quadrophenia: ITV4: Fri 18th March: 0.15am
Quadrophenia: ITV4: Fri 18th March: 11.45pm
The Who wrote and produced this energetic story of a young man disillusioned with his life in 1960s London. Phil Daniels excels as the alienated anti-hero Jimmy Cooper. Director: Franc Roddam. Starring: Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Toyah Willcox, Philip Davis, Mark Wingett, Sting, and Ray Winstone.

• View all of Dreamscape’s recent Quadrophenia news updates here. Amazing to consider this movie was released 37 years ago now.

As the punk princess of the 80s, Toyah Willcox rode the new wave that swept across the music scene, with huge hits including ‘I Want to be Free’, ‘It’s a Mystery’ and ‘Thunder in the Mountains’.

There’s been no stopping her since, and she brings her energy, passion and acoustic versions of all her classic songs to a sold-out show in front of an incredible crowd in a new Vintage TV Live At… (Tuesday, 22nd March, 8pm). See the incomparable artist in action at iconic London venue The Water Rats. It’s no mystery why she’s still so popular!

Live At The Water Rats: Vintage TV: Tuesday 22nd March: 8.00pm
Toyah. See the incomparable artist in action at iconic London venue The Water Rats. Toyah performs an incredible set. It’s no mystery why she’s still so popular!

Debbie Harry and Toyah Willcox feature in vintage photos

When punks ruled the world: Fascinating 70s photos capture hell-raiser fans at riotous Debbie Harry gigs as they surfed a wave of rebellion

• Amateur photographer Derek Ridgers used to blag his way into gigs in the 1970s London punk scene

• Described himself as a ‘mild mannered, bespectacled office worker in the middle of a punk mosh pit’

• Many of his photos have never been seen before, while some have featured in sell-out books

• Derek’s book, Punk London, 1977, will be released this May to coincide with movement’s 40th anniversary

A striking series of black and white photographs has offered a rare insight into London at the height of the 1970s punk movement. From Adam Ant shirtless on stage, to a young Debbie Harry entertaining riotous crowds, the images – most of which have never been seen before – offer a glimpse into an era when rebellion ruled the music scene.

They were all taken in between 1976 and 1978 by Derek Ridgers, a man who, at the time, claimed he ‘wasn’t really a photographer’ but simply borrowed a friend’s camera and blagged his way into gigs – snapping what would become known as the first wave of punk culture.

It now forms a collection of more than 130 vintage photographs, which Derek has finally decided to publish this year – in a book entitled Punk London, 1977 – to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the movement in 2016.

Punk London 1977, by Derek Ridgers, is available from May 1, 2016 from Carpet Bombing Culture

• Continue reading at the Daily Mail.

Not sure what’s going on with Top Of The Pops: 1981 at BBC Four. Despite being advertised as appearing on last night’s re-airing Toyah didn’t feature in the programme, which was half the length of a usual 40 minute show.

BBC Four even tweeted about Toyah appearing yesterday: “You may need a bigger TV screen for tonight’s Top of the Pops ’81 at 7.30pm http://bbc.in/1So8Hk5  @toyahofficial” (though obviously that isn’t how Toyah would have looked on the show!!). Maybe we will have better luck with next week’s, Toyah is listed as appearing in that too, though I think that may be the IWTBF promo video rather than a studio performance.

Midge Ure, Toyah and many more coming to North Devon

Some of music’s biggest names are coming to North Devon this year.

The series of EX39 concerts kicks off with none other than Midge Ure at Devon Hall, Bideford College, on Saturday, May 28. Peter Howarth of The Hollies comes to Hartland Parish Hall on July 2, while Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri perform at the Allardice Hall, Parkham, on September 16.

Princess of punk Toyah is at Devon Hall on October 14 and Brit award-winner Beverley Craven at Hartland on October 28.

The concerts have been organised by independent promoters Rowan Burton and Ian Cann. Ian said: “I have owned a cottage near Woolsery for many years and love North Devon. Devon Hall is a wonderful facility. We are chuffed to get Midge Ure performing our first concert there and indeed he is performing with the superb India Electric Co.”

For the full line-up and tickets, go to www.ex39.net or call 0333 666 3366.

• Continue reading at the North Devon Gazette.