Toyah, along with Nick Heyward, Altered Images, and Curiosity Killed
 The Cat, will play 20 venues throughout the UK over the month of
 October 2004.

By all accounts, and we're not biased, on the first few dates Toyah  has been
 the act receiving the most positive response. Possibly because she is great at
 working an audience and a complete professional onstage!

Echo Beach 
Thunder In The Mountains 
Jungles Of Jupiter 
It's A Mystery 
Sweet Child 'O Mine 
I Want To Be Free 

There is also the possibility that another classic, much-loved, Toyah single may
be added for later dates of the tour. So, something else to look forward to.

Echo Beach 
Thunder In The Mountains 
Jungles Of Jupiter
Rebel Run
It's A Mystery 
Sweet Child 'O Mine 
I Want To Be Free 

An almost-full Sands was up dancing and singing. That sort of thing just doesn't happen in Carlisle.

Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot of Curiosity Killed The Cat fame kicked off the gig, surprising quite a few as he brought us Back Down To Earth with an impressively strong voice.

Predictably it was Clare Grogan of Altered Images who got the night jumping – spiky, hilarious and scatty, with enormous stage presence.

The music spoke for itself, journeying through Dead Pop Stars, See Those Eyes and the excellent Insects before a raucous rendition of Happy Birthday.

Toyah came out with the sole intention of having fun, treating us to a version of Martha and the Muffins’ Echo Beach and Guns’n’Roses' Sweet Child of Mine before bouncing energetically through her own hits Thunder In The Mountains, I Want To Be Free and It’s A Mystery.

Nick Heyward was a chilled out headliner in comparison, but impressed enough people to have pairs of undies thrown his way, took a couple of phone calls on stage and invited a few fans up to dance through Blue Hat For A Blue Day.

From Boy Meets Girl to Fantastic Day, he was as polished as a brass horseshoe. And just as lucky, judging by the amount of female attention he got.

by Mark Campbell
The Cumberland News
22nd October 2004

Small but perfectly reformed

It's a funny thing, nostalgia.

For some the 1980s conjure up grim images of yuppie greed, spiralling dole queues and Little and Large being on TV on a regular basis.

But for others it was a magical era when Live Aid fed the world, the Dons were kings of Europe, and they got their first snog behind the bike sheds.

Howling winds and horizontal rain meant leg-warmers, ra-ra skirts and deeley-boppers were replaced by sensible winter woollies, but a hardy band of mainly thirtysomethings turned out at the Music Hall last night to pay homage to the decade that taste forgot.

"He's older and uglier, but still talented," boomed an unseen voice as Ben Volpierre-Pierrot kicked off the Best of the 80s gig.

In tribute to his host city, the Curiosity Killed The Cat frontman swapped his trademark backwards beret for a tartan "bunnet".

There were gasps when the smoothie singer doffed his hat to reveal a shock of cherubic curls.

"Only kidding," he winked as he chucked the wig to one side exposing his shaven scalp.

Ben may now be a dead ringer for REM frontman Michael Stipe, but he still had the girls screaming as he crooned the hits Misfit, Name and Number and Down to Earth.

Unbelievably, Clare Grogan looked younger than when Altered Images were top of the pops.

The baby-voiced Glaswegian vocalist looked genuinely chuffed to be on stage in Aberdeen.

She beamed: "This is the first time I've sung these songs in front of a Scottish audience in 23 years.

"Last time I was in Aberdeen I fell off stage, so will you catch me if I take a flyer again?"

Dozens of grown men, transformed once again to drooling teenagers, would have been happy to oblige.

By the time Happy Birthday rang out, Clare and the audience were clearly having a ball.

At one point she sighed girlishly: "Ooh, that's gorgeous. You're singing my songs in a Scottish accent."

Not to be outdone, one-time punk princess Toyah Willcox made an entrance to rival her many pantomime appearances.

Striding out in a velvet basque and thigh-high boots she quipped: "Has anyone seen my dress?"

She belted out rocking covers of Echo Beach by Martha and the Muffins and Sweet Child o' Mine by Guns 'n' Roses.

As the audience sang along to her angst-ridden anthem I Want to be Free, Toyah confessed: "I feel a bit of a fraud. I wrote this song when I was 12 and now I'm 46."

The nostalgia night was completed by Haircut 100 frontman Nick Heyward, who had the crowd dancing in the aisles to Love Plus One and Fantastic Day.

Wild applause at the end means it is only a matter of time before the Best of the 90s tour starts snaking round the country.

by Marc Horne
Aberdeen Evening Express
20th October 2004

Big hairdos? Check. Dayglo stilettos? Check. Ra-ra skirts? Check.

You guessed it, the decade that taste forgot reared its ugly head again last night, as the Best of the 80s Tour rolled into the Playhouse.

Hard

The acts on the bill were former punk princess Toyah Willcox, Altered Images star Clare Grogan, Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot of Curiosity Killed The Cat fame and Nick Heyward.

Volpeliere-Pierrot kicked off the gig, and the 40-year-old singer had the hardest task of all in warming up the crowd.

A former teen pin-up, he still had the dance moves, and although his voice remains strong, he appeared fairly spaced-out during his 20-minute set.

After sensing the audience wasn't warming to his songs, the lanky six-footer took it upon himself to jump down into the audience to try to rouse the crowd. And when that didn't make any odds, he showed his annoyance by mumbling "there's nothing happening here" and leaving the stage.

But it was nothing compared to the antics of Nick Heyward.

The former Haircut One Hundred frontman wandered on wearing a brown cord jacket and red scarf combo, looking more biology teacher than pop star. He then spent the majority of his time spouting some nonsense about a failed relationship, his bandmates' star signs and dolphins... the oddness of it all was only topped when he held aloft a huge sword and started screaming "freedom".

Fortunately, though, the girls were on hand to restore some sanity to the proceedings.

First up was Clare Grogan of Altered Images, and despite this being her first time on an Edinburgh stage for 23 years, the Scottish singer had the crowd dancing in no time.

Charisma

Her charisma is enormous for such a small lass, and her raucous rendition of Happy Birthday rolled back the years.

Looking 20 years younger in a red Parisian showgirl's costume, thigh-high black suede boots and matching gloves, Toyah kept the tempo high with her upbeat renditions of It's A Mystery, Thunder In The Mountains and Echo Beach, before an unlikely cover of Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine showed she still likes to rock.

Listening to the banter from the crowd on the way out, they all seemed to agree that Toyah and Clare Grogan were the stars of this 80s revival show.

As for Nick Wayward and Ben Whatshisname? Couldn't they have gotten Kajagoogoo or Tears For Fears instead?

by Gary Flockhart
Edinburgh Evening News
21st October 2004

Four of the decade's biggest pop acts reunited for a cracking evening of nostalgia. Curiosity Killed
The Cat kicked things off and lead singer Ben Volpierre-Pierrot - wearing one of his trademark silly
hats - moonwalked across the stage and jumped into the crowd during Name And Number.

Altered Images' Clare Grogan was up next and her shocking pink frock and girly singing - especially
during See Those Eyes and Happy Birthday - took the crowd back to when they were 17 and
wearing leg-warmers.

Toyah - decked out in a tasselled, gold-coloured short skirt - still boasts a good singing voice and
the men in the audience swarmed to the front of the stage as the 42-year-old belted out I Wanna Be
Free and It's A Mystery as she did 20-odd years ago.

Last but not least, Nick Heyward of Haircut 100 performed hits such as Boy Meets Girl and Whistle
Down the WInd to end a great trip down memory lane.

by Barry Gordon
Sunday Mail
31st October 2004