‘We have had 40 years of practice at what we do’: pop icon Toyah Willcox is ready for the 80s Invasion in Greenwich
They may have ended over a quarter of a century ago but the 1980s will never really die. With its colourful fashion and experimental pop it seems everyone has a soft spot for the decade.
Pop star Toyah Willcox, whose hits included It’s a Mystery and Thunder in the Mountains, will play the 80s Invasion Tour at Indigo2 on March 16 alongside Paul Young, Martika and China Crisis.
She told us: “It is going to be a lot of fun. We have two hours of non-stop hits so I am looking forward to it a lot. I work with China Crisis and Paul Young all the time so we are very much old friends as well as family. I think it is going to be a bit of a giggle.
“We are well practised, we have had 40 years of practice at what we do so the shows tend to be quite sparkling and polished but we do have fun at the same time.” She added: “Eighties music is a phenomena and it seems to go from strength to strength.
“I’ve found this with nearly everything I did in the eighties – my films are the same. They bring new audiences. It must be something about that decade that rang in the changes.
“For me I think it was because songs were pretty epic back then.”
Punk icon Toyah Willcox has just as much attitude now as she did when she burst on to the music scene in the 1980s.
From punk princess to high priestess of TV, 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 busier than ever, shooting four movies this year, and playing Glastonbury. One of her earliest films was the classic 1979 movie Quadrophenia, and almost 40 years on, it’s her starring role in the sequel.
As the first part in an exciting new series of live events producted in conjunction with Dulcet Sounds, Toyah will be performing live at Tribeca on Sunday 16th October. Tickets now on sale at £10 each plus £1 booking fee via https://dulcet-sounds-events.ticketlight.co.uk.
Tickets for next March’s 80s Invasion Tour are now on general sale as of 9am this morning. Paul Young, Martika, Toyah and China Crisis play 15 dates around the UK. Click below to visit toyahwillcox.com for ticket links to every venue. See also tdpromo at Twitter for updates.
Toyah, Paul Young and China Crisis hit Rhyl for 80s nostalgia meltdown
Big names coming to Pavilion after “overwhelming public demand” for 80s revival night, which will also see Martika – of Martika’s Kitchen fame – perform in UK for first time in 25 years
Pop icons Toyah, Paul Young and China Crisis are riding back to North Wales on a wave of Eighties nostalgia. The evergreen stars will bring their ‘Invasion’ show to Rhyl next year and it’s sure to revive memories of punk haircuts, suave suits and timeless tunes.
They’ll be joined by US-based singer Martika – perhaps best known for her No 5 hit ‘Toy Soldiers’ released in 1989 – who will be performing in the UK for the first time in 25 years. Organisers say the show follows this year’s successful concerts and is being staged due to “overwhelming public demand”.
How can I buy tickets?
Paul Young, Toyah, China Crisis, Martika are at Rhyl Pavilion Theatre on Thursday, March 2, 2017. To buy £35.50 tickets ring 01745 330000 or visit www.rhylpavilion.co.uk. Tickets to meet and greet the stars cost £76 but check for availability.
All tickets go on sale tomorrow, (Friday, September 9) at 10am.
Iconic UK singer and actress Toyah has teamed up with award-winning vintage fashion retail website Lovely’s Vintage Emporium to curate and exclusively present some of her personal 1980s wardrobe for sale.
Featuring pieces spanning Toyah’s entire career, the collection is available exclusively online at Lovely’s Vintage Emporium, and has been shot by journalist and the website’s CEO Lynnette Peck. The collection comprises 82 fashion pieces, 18 pairs of shoes and 100 jewellery pieces, prices range from £25 to £1200.
Visit the dedicated section at Lovely’s Vintage Emporium to secure your piece of Toyah history from jackets, skirts, dresses, shoes, jewellery and more.
How to be noticed after 50? Dress like a lady! Eighties punk Toyah Willcox reveals the secrets of her ladylike look
Toyah Willcox was a punk singer in the Eighties, and dressed to match | But at 58 she’s discovered that the best way to be noticed is to be feminine | She demonstrate her newfound love of skirts, dresses and subtlety
By Toyah Willcox For The Daily Mail
Back in my Eighties heyday as a singer, I wouldn’t have been caught dead in anything pretty or ladylike. The only thing remotely pink from this punk era was my hair.
But, at the age of 58, I’ve discovered a style secret which would leave the old rebellious Toyah reeling. The best way for me to be noticed isn’t to be outrageous. It’s to be feminine.
The clothes that made me famous wouldn’t suit me now. And that’s why I’ve decided to get rid of my old wardrobe. Some items are going to the Victoria and Albert Museum. The rest I am selling in aid of charity.
They are joyous clothes, but these days, I have a new look. I still, however, want to be noticed and look exciting.
Iconic singer and actress Toyah Willcox is interviewed by Lynnette Peck about why she is selling her 80s wardrobe and why she chose Lovely’s Vintage Emporium to sell it through.
Some classics – including The Packt – are being dusted down for this Friday’s atmospheric gig at London’s Islington Academy. Support is by Cauda Pavonis and 111. Click below to buy tickets for what is sure to be an unmissable Proud, Loud & Electric gig.
Nineties kids might remember Willcox as ‘Barmy Aunt Boomerang’ on CBBC, but she had a big career in the late ’70s and ’80s with hits like ‘It’s A Mystery’ and ‘I Want To Be Free’. All her old tunes make an appearance, with some new songs too. They’re fun, but tend to interrupt the rather arch, overwrought Russian melodrama and its philosophical inserts about moral superiority, rather than complementing or enlightening it.
The adaptation by Phil Willmott (who also directs and acts in the show) has its merits and although it’s a brisk 90 minutes it feels pacy rather than rushed. All the necessary beats, from heinous act through falling in love and eventual contrition, find their moment and there are some semi-decent bits of acting in there too.
Yet another special screening of Derek Jarman’s The Tempest in 2016. This time debuting in India, at the “Shakespeare on Film Collection”.
Screening of Shakespeare’s The Tempest By British Council India
Wed, 21 Sep 2016: 6:30PM
As part of the Shakespeare on Film Collection, the British Film Institute and British Council present Derek Jarman’s “The Tempest” for the first time to audiences in New Delhi.
Starring Elizabeth Welch & Heathcote Williams, this depiction of Shakespeare’s play is a true representation of colonialism, revenge, retribution and reconciliation.
Toyah guests on ITV’s Lorraine this Friday morning, chatting about next year’s 80s Invasion Tour, and more.
Lorraine: ITV: Friday 9th September: 8.30am
Morning show with a topical mix of entertainment, discussion and showbiz glamour, as well as featuring the latest fashion, food and celebrity gossip.
Listen out for a number of forthcoming Toyah radio interviews, just confirmed by the Breaking Through newsletter. These will be promotion for the 80s Invasion Tour 2017.
Toyah is guesting on Jo Good’s BBC Radio London show this Friday (9th September). The programme begins at 1pm.
There will also be Toyah interviews on BBC Surrey, BBC Hereford, BBC Stoke, Metro Radio, Gaydio and Talk Radio. As well as another visit to Sara Cox’s Sounds of the 80s on BBC Radio 2.
Review | ‘Crime & Punishment’ at The Scoop amphitheatre in London
Dostoyevsky meets steam punk in this bold retelling of the literary classic.
Setting a theatrical performance of Dostoyevsky’s brooding novel Crime and Punishment in a world of steam punk is a brave choice; accompanying it with a soundtrack made up of Toyah Willcox’s classic rock anthems is even braver. The production team at Gods and Monsters Theatre Company have not only attempted this, they’ve pulled it off with all the brazen authority of an axe-wielding Raskolnikov.
The classic Russian tale opens the new season at The Scoop in London, a 1,000-person sunken amphitheatre, and follows Raskolnikov as he justifies the brutal murder of a pawn broker with his belief that it was for the greater good of mankind, that by using the money he steals for good causes he has the right to go above and beyond the law. Directed by Phil Willmott, songs like ‘Love Crazy’ and ‘Who Let the Beast Out’ are intermingled with the tale, fitting surprisingly well with the heavy story and lifting it into a lighter tone that can be enjoyed more readily by all.
Crime and Punishment: A Rock Musical is a semi-jukebox musical, in that Willcox’s back catalogue is raided for some of the numbers, and some brand new songs have been provided specifically for the show. Somehow it all works surprisingly well! The jukebox musical approach can sometimes make a show feel forced, as songs are shoe-horned into a storyline, but everything (bar an inadvertently funny It’s A Mystery) gels really well together. It may help if you are unfamiliar with Willcox’s work, as I am, however the themes in the chosen songs fit the feeling of the scenes in which they are included. Given Raskolnikov’s frustration & revolutionary fervour, rock music is definitely the best way to express these feelings. It’s also impressive that quite a sizeable novel can be condensed into a 100-minute show, that still has a tangible storyline running through it.
Crime and Punishment: A Rock Musical runs at the Scoop (London Bridge City) until 25 September 2016. Entry is free – donations can be made & programmes bought on the day.
• Continue reading at Mind The Blog. Read other reviews of Crime and Punishmenthere.
Talented singer and actor Toyah admits her pop stardom was literally a case of “life imitating art”, coming soon after she was cast in a BBC play as a wannabe pop star who breaks into the Top of the Pops recording studios.
Speaking at the Rewind 80s Festival in Henley-on-Thames, Toyah recalled her first acting break aged 18 in the BBC play Glitter, playing alongside Phil Daniels, who was later to act alongside her again in the cult mod film Quadrophenia.
Toyah said: “I was spotted on the streets of Birmingham around 1973/74 because I had green and yellow hair! A director asked me to come and audition with Phil Daniels, and to play his girlfriend in a BBC2 drama and I got the part.
“The biggest irony was that I was playing a girl who wrote a song and broke into the Top of the Pops studios to sing the song in the studios; so talk about life imitating art!
“I was pretty instantly well known as an actress from the age of 18 and I was very successful as an actress right up until 1981 when I started having hit singles. I was the hottest name in the acting industry after I started at the National Theatre.”
Celebrity Fantasy Homes: Really: Sunday 18th September: 5pm
Celebrities hunt for a new home. Gaby Roslin helps punk-pop princess Toyah Willcox search for a second home, in Richmond upon Thames, with a budget of £650,000.
‘We have had 40 years of practice at what we do’: pop icon Toyah Willcox is ready for the 80s Invasion in Greenwich
Listen out for a number of forthcoming Toyah radio interviews, just confirmed by the 
