Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

Confirmation of the day and time the documentary Fleetwood Mac: A Musical History airs on BBC4.

Toyah is one of a number of celebrity fans – along with Fran Healy, Alan McGee, KT Tunstall and Sian Pattenden – contributing to this 60-minute look at the career of one of music’s most enduring bands. Airing twice in the days just before Christmas.

A Musical History: BBC4: Friday 21st December: 8pm
A Musical History: BBC4: Saturday 22nd December: 1.25am
Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood Mac fan Edith Bowman provides a narrative overview alongside other celebrity fans who all pay tribute to the band in this hit-filled hour. Contributors include KT Tunstall, Travis’ frontman Fran Healy, Toyah Willcox, Sian Pattenden and Emma Dabiri.

On This Day, via the Official Twitter presence of the BBC Archive – 1980: Toyah Willcox introduced Steve Strange, Vivian Stanshall, Derek Jarman and Christopher Biggins to Space Invaders. Nothing about this clip makes any sense…

As well as interviewing a handful of guests she herself chose on the above programme – Saturday Night, Sunday Morning (Series Three, Episode 10) – Toyah, Joel and band also performed two songs. Incredible live versions of Mummies and this…

• Friday Night, Saturday Morning was a television chat show with a revolving guest host. It ran on BBC2 from 28 September 1979 to 2 April 1982, broadcast live from the Greenwood Theatre. The programme was the idea of Iain Johnstone and Will Wyatt, who insisted on a changing presenter every fortnight. Another innovation was that the presenters chose the guests they were to interview. (Info Source: Wikipedia)

From punk princess to cult stage actress, Toyah Willcox is a vibrant performer and an inextinguishable flame. 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 stage/screen actress and music composer.

In a career spanning over 40 years Toyah has amassed thirteen top 40 singles, recorded twenty-four albums, written two books, appeared in over forty stage plays, acted in twenty feature films and presented hundreds of television programmes.

The year 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of her music career as Toyah released her first ever single and album studio in 1979. This concert – with her full electric band– will be a celebratory retrospective including hit singles, album classics and fan favourites.

• Continue reading at the Theatre Royal Winchester.

BBC Media Centre released details of the BBC’s Christmas 2018 TV schedule today – A bumper box of festive treats to enthrall and enchant audiences across the BBC this Christmas season.

Fleetwood Mac: A Musical History
Fellow musicians, journalists and fans celebrate Fleetwood Mac with a selection of their best loved songs.

Fleetwood Mac are the great survivors of British and American rock music. For more than fifty years they’ve overcome break-ups and breakdowns to become one of the most successful bands of all time. They have sold over 100 million records worldwide, with their 1977 smash Rumours accounting for nearly half of those sales.

They have endured, like all great bands, because of the complimentary talents of their members. From Peter Green to Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, the band has contained some extraordinary songwriters. With brilliant musicians on all instruments, they have been able to turn the songs into commercial gold. Above all, the tough determination of the two men who gave the band their name has seen Fleetwood Mac through thick and thin.

Celebrity fans paying tribute to the band in this hit-filled hour include KT Tunstall, Travis frontman Fran Healy, Edith Bowman, Toyah Willcox, Alan McGee, Sian Pattenden and Emma Dabiri.

• Continue reading at BBC Media Centre.

Toyah Willcox to play first headline gig in Edinburgh for 25 years

From punk princess to cult stage and actress, Toyah Willcox has announced she will celebrate 40 years of music at the Liquid Room next year with her first headline concert in the Capital for more than 25 years.

Charismatic, outspoken and impossible to categorise, Toyah played her last full gig in the city in 1982 when she wowed The Playhouse, having previously built her Edinburgh fanbase with gigs in venues such as Tiffany’s and The Odeon in the late 70s and early 80s.

One of the UK’s most iconic household names and now also an award-winning rock legend and well loved stage/screen actress and composer, the concert will also celebrate another milestone in the singers’ life – Toyah turned 60 in May of this year.

• Continue reading at the Edinburgh Evening News.

Who’s Doing The Dishes?: Virgin Media One: Sunday 9th December: 6.40am
Brian McFadden presents the dining challenge. Will it remain a mystery that Toyah Willcox is the celebrity host when she throws a dinner party for four complete strangers?

Most Shocking Christmas TV Moments: 5Star: Sunday 2nd December: 11.30pm
A merry romp through the most inappropriate, outrageous and appallingly atrocious Christmas television turkeys of all time. These are the kind of disastrous, ill-conceived and downright cringe-inducing moments that it’s a wonder ever made it to air. Among contributors ready to dissect the disasters – many of which they were involved in themselves – are Eamonn Holmes, Toyah Willcox, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Anne Diamond, Steve Punt and Mike Read.

Following sparkling reviews and glowing audience feedback from her autumn tour, Toyah has confirmed she will play over thirty live dates in 2019.

The concerts include a 40th anniversary tour of Scotland plus headline solo electric gigs and intimate acoustic shows across the UK. There are also summer festival dates and an appearance with her full band at Belgium’s W-Fest.

Visit the Gigs page at toyahwillcox.com for venue details and links to buy tickets. Further gig dates will be announced and added to the Gigs page in 2019 so stay tuned.

ELECTRIC: 1 Feb: Stockton Arc | 2 Feb: Doncaster Dome | 3 Feb: Cheltenham Tithe Barn | 22 Feb: Leeds Brudnell Social Club | 25 Apr: Edinburgh Liquid Rooms |26 Apr: Dundee Church | 27 Apr: Inverness Ironworks | 28 Apr: Glasgow Ivory Blacks | 26 May: Winchester Theatre Royal | 22 Jun: Newcastle Upon Tyne 02 Academy

ACOUSTIC: 15 Feb: Frome Memorial Theatre | 16 Feb: Halifax Square Chapel Arts Centre (+ Quadrophenia screening/Q&A) | 15 Mar: Aldershot West End Centre | 23 Mar: Otley Courthouse | 29 Mar: Nottingham Ravenshead Village Hall | 5 Apr: Bridgwater McMillian Theatre | 6 Apr: Northampton Roadmender | 10 May: Godalming  St. John’s Church | 24 May: Hornchurch Fairkytes Arts Centre | 27 Jun: Chester Alexander’s Live | 28 Jun: Cardiff Acapela Studio

FESTIVALS / MULTI-ARTIST SHOWS: 8 Mar: Minehead Butlins Alternative Music Festival | 27 May: Darwen Live 2019 | 1 Jun : Let’s Rock Wales Tredegar Park | 2 Jun: Cheltenham Wychwood Festival | 14 Jun: Bali Back To The 80s | 13 Jul: Newark Rock & Bike Fest | 20 Jul: Stockport  Smash Hits On The Pitch RUFC | 26 Jul: Norfolk Holt Festival | 16 Aug: Belgium W-Fest | 21 Sep: Dudley Himley Hall Party In The Park II

• Continue reading, for further info, at toyahwillcox.com. See also Toyah Announces Scottish 40th Anniversary Tour. (Photo © Ian Davis)

Tickets for Toyah’s Thunder In The Highlands 40th Anniversary Scottish Tour are on sale now!

Toyah will be playing Scotland in April 2019. Tickets go on sale next Wednesday… See www.toyahwillcox.com for the gig dates & venues! #Edinburgh #Dundee #Inverness #Glasgow

A surprise guest is confirmed to appear at The SAS Band’s gig at The Brook in Southampton on Wednesday 28th November, featuring Justin Hawkins, Toyah, Patti Russo, Chris Thompson and Tony Vincent. Few tickets remaining… Click below to book.

Quantities of Toyah tour merchandise are now available online at the new official site Toyah Shop, including t-shirts, tote bag, and some very limited handmade by Toyah lyric artworks for Voodoo Doll and It’s A Mystery…

The Pointless Celebrities website has updated the page for next weekend’s quiz show with a great photo of Toyah and, her quiz partner, Sonique. The programme airs next Saturday, 24th November, at 6pm on BBC1. Click below to visit the page at bbc.co.uk. (Photo © BBC)

Phew! Yet more gigs for 2019 have been added to the Official Gigs page at toyahwillcox.com. Click below to browse all of the dates and/or book tickets.

This morning’s Jeremy Vine show is now available to watch on demand at My5. Toyah guested on the two-hour programme, which gave viewers the sublime (Sheep Farming in Barnet, Neon Womb) and the ridiculous (Brexit, Donald Trump). Click on the screenshots to watch the show. It’s likely to be UK only unfortunately. Click here for larger versions of the screenshots.

Toyah guests on Jeremy Vine’s show on Channel 5 tomorrow morning.

Jeremy Vine: Channel 5: Thursday 15th November: 9.15am
Jeremy Vine discusses and dissects the latest news, views and opinions, with co-host Storm Huntley helping on the live phone-ins.

Toyah’s recent interview with Classic Pop magazine is now available to read in full online at the mag’s website – Don’t miss our interview with the fascinating Toyah who tells us all about the new wave of success she’s enjoying…

Next year is already shaping up to be a busy 12 months of live gigs for Toyah.

The Official Gigs page at toyahwillcox.com has confirmed 10 new concerts, both acoustic and electric, for 2019. Tickets for many of the dates are on sale now.

There are six Acoustic, Up Close & Personal dates, at Memorial Theatre, Frome, Somerset (15th February); West End Centre, Aldershot (15th March); The McMillan Theatre, Bridgwater (5th April); Roadmender, Northampton (6th April); St. John’s Church, Godalming, Surrey (10th May); and Fairkytes Arts Centre, Hornchurch (24th May).

There is also four Live in Concert 2019 gigs, at Arc, Stockton on Tees (1st February); Doncaster Dome (2nd February); Brudnell Social Club, Leeds (22nd February), and O2 Academy Newcastle, Newcastle Upon Tyne (22nd June).

Toyah’s four recent Birthday gigs, in Manchester, Bristol, Wolverhampton and London received great reviews and feedback. A ticket to see Toyah onstage truly is a perfect Christmas gift!

• Further info and ticket booking links at toyahwillcox.com.

Toyah makes her fourth guest appearance on BBC1’s Pointless Celebrities later this month, teaming up this time with Sonique.

She was previously been on the quiz show with Cheryl Baker (of Bucks Fizz) in December 2012, Mark King (of Level 42) in August 2014 and Nick Heyward in September 2016.

• Visit the BBC Pointless Celebrities website here.

Pointless Celebrities: BBC1: Saturday 24th November: 6pm
Music (Series 11, Episode 14). A special celebrity edition of the general knowledge quiz in which four teams try to come up with the answers that no-one else could think of. Presented by Alexander Armstrong and co-host Richard Osman. Featuring Glen Matlock, Slim Jim, Barbara Dickson, Ralph McTell, Keith Duffy, Brian McFadden, Sonique and Toyah Willcox.

35 years ago today, 12th November 1983, Toyah’s 14th single, The Vow, entered the UK Singles chart. The single was released on 7″ and 12″ vinyl and was backed with I Explode (by Willcox/Bogen) and extra song Haunted (by Willcox/Simon Darlow).

The Vow, written by Toyah Willcox, Joel Bogen and Phil Spalding, was the final single release by the early 80s Toyah band and final physical single release on Safari Records.

Toyah worked her Love Is The Law/Rebel Run baseball shoulder pads off promoting The Vow everywhere – TV show appearances included Pebble Mill, Did You See?, Pop Watch, Saturday Superstore, Breakfast Time, Razzmatazz, The Saturday Show, Harty, Crackerjack, Judgendbund, TVAM: Good Morning Britain and 60 Minutes.

No official promo video was filmed for the single so ITV’s The Saturday Show and Toyah filmed one. As with every single release during the 80s Toyah had a unique image for The Vow, strikingly different to her recent Rebel Run look.

The Vow was produced by, longtime Toyah producer, Nick Tauber. It peaked at No. 50 and spent seven weeks on the chart.

Somewhere in the Distance, and uploaded to Dreamscape… a really interesting interview with Toyah from BBC Radio London around 15 years ago. This aired just before Toyah appeared on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! She discusses that, religion, Velvet Lined Shell and much more. Click below to listen.