Christmas 2012, BBC Radio 4 aired Neil Tennant’s Smash Hits Christmas on 20th December – a real festive pop treat for everyone who grew up in the 1980s. The programme was an interesting look back at the golden years of the UK’s biggest music magazine of the Eighties. Neil recalls the golden days of, the iconic, Smash Hits magazine, when he worked as a writer in their Carnaby Street office.
There were also contributions and memories from founder and legendary magazine maker Nick Logan, editors David Hepworth and Mark Ellen, writers Miranda Sawyer and Sylvia Patterson, and from regular Smash Hits cover girl, Toyah., talking about Smash Hits in general and her Brave New World cover from the Summer of 1982.
Neil Tennant had a life as a journalist before he became famous as a Pet Shop Boy. In fact, it was on a Smash Hits trip to New York that he had his big breakthrough with the record producer Bobby O. Also included is a rare recording from the 1982 Christmas Flexidisc (a message from the stars) and probably Neil Tennant’s first recording – the music for a trailer advertising Smash Hits stickers. (Producer: Susan Marling. A Just Radio Ltd. production for BBC Radio 4). The half-hour programme is no longer available at BBC iPlayer and has also been removed from You Tube. Maybe the BBC will, in their wisdom, one day repeat it.
Christmas 1982, Happy Christmas From The Stars, a “Free Christmas Record (12 Minutes of Festive Fun)”, was attached to the December 9-22, 1982 issue of Smash Hits magazine. The festive flexi-disc featured numerous pop stars – Abba, ABC, Adam Ant, Bananarama, Bucks Fizz, Captain Sensible, Culture Club, Duran Duran, Funboy Three, Haircut 100, Imagination, The Jam, Madness, Mari Wilson, Musical Youth, The Piranahs, The Police, Steve Strange, Toyah, Ultravox – sending readers Christmas greetings, messages and Yuletide tunes.
Click below to listen – Toyah arrives at the Christmas 1982 Pop Star Party at 4.46, in-between Martin Fry of ABC and Steve Strange of Visage. Too-de-loo!! Part One is available here.
Christmas 2011, Toyah was featured in the Winter 2011/Issue 10 of The Magical Times magazine. With a wonderfully festive cover image and an exclusive “fairytale” interview with Toyah inside! – Toyah Willcox speaks about fairies!
The pages of issue 10 are set to shine a splash of colour and a magical sparkle to your winter season…!
Inside this edition we present an exclusive interview with 80’s punk princess Toyah Willcox, who shares with us her spiritual experiences and why she believes that fairies do exist!
Kyle Gray writes about Angels and Ascension, Kit Berry speaks about her journey to Stonewylde and Laura Daligan explains to us how we can welcome the goddess Aphrodite’s loving energies into our everyday life.
Toyah is interviewed in the latest issue of Classic Pop Presents… The New Romantics – Special Edition. The 132-page magazine, which is available in four cover variants with Spandau Ballet, Steve Strange, Duran Duran and Boy George covers, was published last week. Click here or below to order online. Here’s a preview of the two-page Toyah Q+A feature. (Thanks to Minna)
Catching up… Toyah is the cover star of the August issue of Let’s Talk magazine, with a great three-page interview feature inside.
Age is just a concept to Toyah as she celebrates 40 years in music
As Toyah Willcox celebrates more than 40 years as a top music draw with a performance at Holt Festival, she tells Rachel Banham about her show, why she belives that age is just a concept and how a Norfolk beach is one of her favourite places in the world.
“I’ve had a new album out this year called In The Court Of The Crimson Queen which has has national radio play, so we’re featuring the new material, but we also do the hits as well so the hits like It’s A Mystery, Good Morning Universe. I Want To Be Free, Thunder In The Mountains.. there are quite a few,” she says.
“I could actually just do the whole set of singles! It’s very high. So everyone is welcome.”
NB: Let’s Talk is a lifestyle magazine covering East Anglia, from North Essex to the “bump” that is the north Norfolk coast.
• Let’s Talk magazine is on sale now, in the aforementioned areas above, as well as online.
Toyah, along with In The Court Of The Crimson Queen co-creator Simon Darlow, is interviewed in the new issue of Classic Pop magazine (May 2019, Issue 52) in a four page feature entitled “Long Live The Queen”.
After more than 40 years in the music business, Toyah Willcox is as creatively hungry as she was in her teens. Classic Pop chats to the high priestess of punk and her long-time collaborator, Simon Darlow about their bold reimagining of 2008 album In The Court Of The Crimson Queen, and why the material deserves a second outing… Here’s a preview of the fab looking feature.
• Classic Pop, Issue 52 is on sale now – or very soon will be. (Thanks to Minna for the preview)
Another new In The Court Of The Crimson Queen cover for Toyah – Your Weekend, the Press & Journal supplement, published in Northern and Highland Scotland, including Aberdeen, Inverness and Moray. The print feature included in Your Weekend is previewed below.
• The Press & Journal: Return Of The Crimson Queen – It’s no mystery as to why Toyah Willcox, who recently celebrated her 60th birthday, looks and sounds amazing. “I don’t drink, I don’t overeat, I drink lots of water and en route to shows I travel alone so I don’t have to speak to anyone,” said Toyah — This feature was previously published online earlier this week. See here.
Toyah was also interviewed in Friday’s Express, which only appears to have been available in the newspaper’s print edition as it hasn’t been published online, so far.
• The Express: Music: My Six Best Albums – Toyah Willcox, 60, is a pop star and actress whose eight Top 40 hits include It’s A Mystery and I Want To Be Free. Her latest album, a new version of In The Court Of The Crimson Queen, is released today…
Toyah is the cover star of Issue 47/April 7th 2019, digital magazine Scene Alba, with a one-page interview inside + another new In The Court Of The Crimson Queen photo.
Toyah’s album In The Court Of The Crimson Queen is out 12 April. She plays gigs at Edinburgh Liquid Room (25 April), Dundee Church (26 April), Inverness Ironworks (27 April) & Glasgow Classic Grand (28 April).
We did a quick fire Q&A with her where she had to give us the answer that first came into her head.
What got you into music?
The Sound Of Music. The Movie.
First song you heard that really moved you?
Fly Away Peter Fly Away Paul… Cliff Richard… I was 7 yrs old.
Last lie you told?
My lies usually start with: “That’s really interesting… Thank you”.
• Continue reading Toyah’s interview with Scene Alba online here.
In The Court Of The Crimson Queen is reviewed in the latest issue of Classic Pop magazine (Issue 51, April 2019)
Issue 51 of Classic Pop is on sale now!
Available from WHSmith, Tesco, independent newsagents, Tesco Ireland and Easons, the new issue of Classic Pop is on sale now!
This month, we have an exclusive interview with Bananarama‘s Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward as they return with their first new studio album in a decade. We also meet iconic duo Hall & Oates before their UK arena tour and talk to Gary Numan as part of our look into the superfan phenomenon.
Our packed new album reviews section includes Bananarama, Edwyn Collins, Toyah, Andy Bell and The Chemical Brothers. On the reissues front, we revisit New Order‘s debut Movement plus re-releases from Prince, Kate Bush, R.E.M, David Bowie and more.
Christmas 1982.Happy Christmas From The Stars, a “Free Christmas Record (12 Minutes of Festive Fun)”, was attached to the December 9-22, 1982 issue of Smash Hits magazine. The festive flexi-disc featured numerous pop stars – Abba, ABC, Adam Ant, Bananarama, Bucks Fizz, Captain Sensible, Culture Club, Duran Duran, Funboy Three, Haircut 100, Imagination, The Jam, Madness, Mari Wilson, Musical Youth, The Piranahs, The Police, Steve Strange, Toyah, Ultravox – sending readers Christmas greetings, messages and Yuletide tunes.
Click below to listen – Toyah arrives at 4.46, in-between Martin Fry of ABC and Steve Strange of Visage. Too-de-loo!! Part One is available here.
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…
Toyah is referenced in a make-up photo feature in the October 2018 issue of the Malaysian edition of Marie Claire magazine.
Blush it out like a crimson queen a la Toyah Willcox with this eye-popping colour on your cheeks. Spread the colour evenly over the apple of your cheeks for s flushed healthy look that is youthful and earm. Finish with a red tinted lip-balm on the lips.
Toyah is included in Classic Pop magazine’s Poparazzi feature in their latest issue – No. 46 with Spandau Ballet on the cover.
READERS SHARE THEIR FAVOURITE PHOTOS AS THEY GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH SOME OF THE BIGGEST NAMES IN PLANET POP
Toyah Willcox with Zak Jenkinson
“This photo of Toyah and myself was taken when my old band The Silent Age supported her at Corporation in Sheffield, in September 2012, on the Changeling Resurrection Tour.
“My first ever gig was seeing Toyah at Sheffield City Hall on the same album tour back in 1982 and I’ve been a massive fan ever since, so it was a dream come true to be supporting her 30 years later.
“She was so lovely to us all and came to chat with the band in our dressing room before the show, signed lots of vinyl and talked about how excited she was at the third album by The Humans that she was in the middle of writing, and then wished us good luck for the gig. It was such a fantastic night – I think this photo captures it perfectly.”
• Classic Pop magazine, Issue 46 is out now. See Dreamscape’s original post on The Silent Age supporting Toyah, back in 2012, here. (Thanks to Zak Jenkinson)
Issue 44 of Classic Pop magazine, which includes a six-page Toyah feature, is on sale now. See below for a (non readable) preview of this.
Get your copy in-store for just £5.99. Alternatively, you can buy a digital issue at the Classic Pop website. Available in-store from WH Smith, Tesco, Tesco Ireland, independent newsagents, Eason and selected McColls.
In the latest issue we speak to Soft Cell‘s Marc Almond and Dave Ball as they prepare for their farewell gig at the O2 in London and release a career-spanning boxset, Keychains & Snowstorms. We also take a look at their Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret LP in our Classic Album feature.
Elsewhere, we have an exclusive interview with the world’s biggest record producer, Mark Ronson, catch up with The Proclaimers who return with their politicised new album Angry Cyclist and talk to Level 42‘s Mark King about his life in pop’s funkiest band.
This month, we look back on the glory days of house music and Toyah tells us how she brought the punk aesthetic to the pop world.
Look out for the next issue (44, September 2018) of Classic Pop magazine. It includes a six-page interview feature on/with Toyah. The magazine is published in around a week’s time, so not long to wait. In the meantime click below to browse our previous updates on Toyah in Classic Pop.
There’s only a few weeks until Toyah plays the Jack Up The 80s Festival and the Isle Of Wight County Press have made her the cover star of their Weekender supplement (Friday July 20, 2018 issue), with a one page interview feature inside.
In the court of the crimson queen
Eighties music remains popular because it tells relevant and grounded stories everyone can associate with.
That’s according to Toyah, one of the decade’s most iconic stars, who is returning to Jack Up The 80s this Summer.
The 80s revival started in around 2000 and has kept a lot os artists busy ever since, such is the appeal of the 80s sound, which arks back to a time before grunge, rave and grime.
Toyah does four shows a week, all year round, and this will be the second time she has been at the island’s most fluorescent summer event. “Jack Up The 80s has grown since I was last there and I’m looking forward to coming back,” she told the County Press.
Toyah is interviewed in the latest issue of Woman’s Weekly magazine (Issue dated 5th June 2018).
The article reveals Toyah and Robert Fripp are being filmed for a documentary.
What biscuit would you like to dunk?
I’m non-wheat, non-dairy, so the only biscuits I eat are Nairn’s oatcakes. They do a low sugar, dark chocolate variety.
Do you think there’s pressure to look a certain way in the industry?
It’s incredibly important to look and be fit. There is pressure, yes. I think if I didn’t look the way I look, it would affect what I do and how I choose my work, but I go wholeheartedly with that. My shows are very energetic, and even the acoustic show’s a bit like a marathon because of how much I sing. I have a strict, 1,800-calorie-a-day rule, but that’s all you need. I never feel hungry, I never feel deprived and I fully respect my body is a machine.
Airing on BBC radio for the first time since it was originally broadcast in December 2012, Neil Tennant’s Smash Hits Christmas includes an interview with Toyah during this fascinating 30 minute special, discussing ‘Smash Hits’ in the early 1980s and also the memorable and iconic ‘Brave New World’ cover issue.
Neil Tennant’s Smash Hits Christmas:
BBC Radio 4 Extra: Sat 23rd Dec: 7.30am/5.30pm | Xmas Eve: 5.30am
Neil Tennant had a life as a journalist before he became famous as a Pet Shop Boy. In fact, it was on a Smash Hits trip to New York that he had his big breakthrough with the record producer Bobby O.
Here, 30 years after his first stint on pop’s most successful and inventive magazine, Neil recalls the golden days of Smash Hits. We hear from founder and legendary magazine maker Nick Logan, editors David Hepworth and Mark Ellen, writers Miranda Sawyer and Sylvia Patterson, and from regular Smash Hits cover girl, Toyah.
We also sample a rare recording from the 1982 Christmas Flexidisc (a message from the stars) and probably Neil Tennant’s first recording – the music for a trailer advertising Smash Hits stickers.
Producer: Susan Marling. A Just Radio Ltd. production for BBC Radio 4.
Check out a new collection of scans of Toyah in Smash Hits – “the 80s Pop Bible” – All of the magazine’s Toyah features, songwords and clippings published between 1979 and 1985 – brought together by The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive.
Christmas 2012, BBC Radio 4 aired Neil Tennant’s Smash Hits Christmas on 20th December – a real festive pop treat for everyone who grew up in the 1980s. The programme was an interesting look back at the golden years of the UK’s biggest music magazine of the Eighties. Neil recalls the golden days of, the iconic, Smash Hits magazine, when he worked as a writer in their Carnaby Street office.
featured in the Winter 2011/Issue 10 of The Magical Times magazine. With a wonderfully festive cover image and an exclusive “fairytale” interview with Toyah inside! – Toyah Willcox speaks about fairies!
Catching up… Toyah is the cover star of the August issue of Let’s Talk magazine, with a great three-page interview feature inside.
Toyah, along with In The Court Of The Crimson Queen co-creator Simon Darlow, is interviewed in the new issue of 
Another new In The Court Of The Crimson Queen cover for Toyah – Your Weekend, the Press & Journal supplement, published in Northern and Highland Scotland, including Aberdeen, Inverness and Moray. The print feature included in Your Weekend is previewed below.
Toyah is referenced in a make-up photo feature in the October 2018 issue of the Malaysian edition of Marie Claire magazine.
Toyah is included in Classic Pop magazine’s Poparazzi feature in their latest issue – No. 46 with Spandau Ballet on the cover.
Toyah is interviewed in the latest issue of Woman’s Weekly magazine (Issue dated 5th June 2018).
