Toyah made her first live appearance on New Year’s Eve 1977, fronting Ninth Illusion in Swiss Cottage, London. There were only two gigs under this name. Rechristened TOYAH, their first gig was at Finchley Christ College Disco in April 1978, followed by a string of dates through the rest of that year. The debut TOYAH tour was ‘The Resurrection ’79 Tour’, starting on 27th March 1979, at London Dingwalls, playing 12 dates throughout the UK in March and April. This tour visited some legendary live venues: Factory, Manchester, Eric’s in Liverpool, Tiffany’s in Edinburgh and Music Machine, Camden. The line up was: Toyah (Vocals), Joel Bogen (Guitar), Mark Henry (Bass), Steve Bray (Drums), Pete Bush (Keyboards). (Thanks to toyahwillcox.com)
Just a reminder that the epsiode of Kavanagh Q.C. in which Toyah had a guest role, ‘A Family Affair’, originally broadcast on ITV in 1995, airs again today on ITV3.
Kavanagh Q.C.: ITV3: Tuesday 24th April: 11.25am
Kavanagh Q.C.: ITV3 +1: Tuesday 24th April: 12.25pm
A Family Affair (1995). Kavanagh finds himself caught up in a bitter family feud when he represents a frustrated father who has kidnapped his son in a desperate attempt to win custody. On the home front, Kavanagh’s daughter wants to let her boyfriend stay overnight. Directed by Renny Rye. With John Thaw, Holly Aird, Robert Ashby, Toyah Willcox and Lisa Harrow. Also showing on ITV3 HD.
• Prosceneium: Calamity Jane: This set for Calamity Jane was originally built for the highly acclaimed professional tour starring Toyah Willcox.
• A new ‘Blackpool Pride 2012’ flyer has been released, with Toyah included. View it here.
• Time Out London: Time Out Says: Last year she celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of her most successful album ‘Anthem’ and tonight she’ll be celebrating 30 years since the release of her second best-selling LP, ‘The Changeling’. Wilcox will be performing prime cuts from the 1982 record, as well as other material.
• A random, but funny, reminiscence about the 12″ picture disc of ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ is included the latest blog by ‘Married To The Moz’. View here.
• Let’s Get Better Terms: It’s Jubilee Time Again: Jarman knows what he is doing visually, and enjoyed gardens (with or without plastic flowers), wastelands, and also had an eye for the beauty of people like Toyah, Jordan, Jack Birkett, Helen the dwarf and many others.
Just a preview of a few more of Damon’s photos from last night’s gig. All of these and more, plus all the others I’ve received from the London, Bristol and Brighton gigs, will be added to the new ‘TCR 2012’ page at Dreamscape’s Gallery – Coming Soon! (Thanks to Damon King)
More fantastic shots of Toyah. These will all be added to the gallery. (Thanks to Damon King)
An am-aaz-ing shot of Toyah from last night’s gig. Click to zoom. (Thanks to Damon King)
Timeline wise this one is slightly tricky. Little Girls Don’t, made by ‘ITV Playhouse’, looks like it could have been filmed in either 1977 or ’78, but the credited date on the programme is 1980. To confuse matters more this didn’t air until March 1981. I’m plonking it in 1979 for now…
As I’ve received so many photos from the first three ‘Changeling Resurrection’ gigs the only sensible option is to collect them together, all in the one place. Like this. So… I’m going to add a dedicated TCR page at Dreamscape’s Gallery: A resurrection for The Resurrection! It’ll probably take a few days to complete. Stay tuned for a preview of some of Damon’s photos…
Return later for more photos from last night, by the wonderful Damon King. In the meantime click below to view all of ‘The Changeling Resurrection’ London news and photos… so far!
Fantastic photos of Toyah onstage last night at Bush Hall, London. ‘The Changeling Resurrection’ certainly made its mark on the capital! Please click on each of the below to view larger versions. (Thanks to Greg Fowler for the photos)
An amazingly positive post-gig response for last night’s London concert, the third date of ‘The Changeling Resurrection’ tour. Footage from the gig has already been uploaded to ‘You Tube’. View a selection here and here.
Official footage from last night’s sold out gig will be available at toyahwillcox.com soon.
A lovely tweet from Toyah, summing up what last night’s London ‘Changeling Resurrection’ gig meant to her: “Thank u 2 u all. That was a highlight of my life! The Packt sent shivers down my spine.”
Andrew York’s stunning art, celebrating ‘The Changeling Resurrection 2012’ playing London (it’s sold out dontcha know!). Andrew generously created this Toyah masterpiece especially for Falling To Earth, helping us to mark the occasion in style! Toyah tweeted late this afternoon: “At last! At bush hall! Very busy. There’s 2 film crews in tonite. Can’t wait 2 rock“. Fitting that, the incredible, ‘The Changeling’ is finally being celebrated as it always should have been.
This evening, as Londoners mark the album’s 30th with Toyah, I’ll be consoling myself by ploughing through my new Doctor Who: Revisitations 2 box set (a pressie from a brilliant mate – Thanks Mark!). Please click above to view a larger version of the “Toyah Takes London” art, and here for a version without text. (Thanks again to, the amazingly talented, Andrew and to Dean Stockings/Sean Chapman for the wonderful photo/imagery • Original photo © Toyah Willcox/Dean Stockings | Art by Andrew York • View more from the shoot at toyahwillcox.com)
Yet more exciting ‘Changeling Resurrection’ news on this, already, very exciting day!
Two film crews are at Bush Hall, London tonight. One is there there to capture some exclusive footage to be made available at a later date @ toyahwillcox.com.
Thousands will be raised for disadvantaged children at a fundraising Eighties concert next month. Let’s Rock the Moor, on Saturday, May 12 is set to be the second biggest Eighties event in the country, with the proceeds going to worthy causes.
The line up includes Billy Ocean, Go West, Heaven 17, Toyah and Modern Romance, and will be hosted by Pat Sharp. Tickets are £24 for adults and £14 for children aged three to 12. Visit www.letsrockthemoor.com for details.
• Continue reading, at the ‘Maidenhead Advertiser’, here.
A few “Lee-tastic” photos of Toyah from Wednesday night’s gig in Bristol. Please click on each of the photos to view larger versions. (Thanks to Lee Jones – I love the centre one, Lee!)
• View more great photos from the Bristol ‘TCR’ gig here.
‘The Changeling Resurrection’ good news keeps coming: Tonight’s gig at Bush Hall. London is now officially confirmed as Sold Out! Fantastic news for Toyah. What a night it will be! Doors open 7pm. First support starts 7:05pm. Toyah is on stage at 9.15-10.45pm approx. Venue curfew is 11pm.
An exciting time for everyone heading to Bush Hall tonight for ‘The Changeling Resurrection’ London concert. Toyah tweeted yesterday: “Waiting to play Bush Hall tomorrow is like waiting for Christmas morning! I wanna play now!“. Return, if you can, later to view amazing Toyah art created, by Andrew York, to mark tonight’s gig. I’ve named it “Toyah Takes London”. (preview below – Original photo © Toyah Willcox/Dean Stockings | Artwork by Andrew York)
Quadrophenia, as with Jubilee, is a film that has grown in popularity in the decades since its’ release. Starring Phil Daniels, who gives an incredible performance as, central character, Jimmy, the film boasts one of the most famous and iconic movie “line up” promotional photos, instantly recognisable and used on various posters over the years. Toyah plays Monkey alongside Leslie Ash, Mark Wingett, Phil Davis, Ray Winstone and numerous others. It’s worth noting that Quadrophenia and Jubilee, films focusing on punk and Mods, are two of the biggest “youth” movies of the 1970’s. Toyah has the distinction of appearing in both.
Safari Records’ late 70s/early 80s timeline of Toyah dates the band signing to the label as January 1979, though their “Our History” implies it may have been late 1978: In 1978 a Melody Maker postage stamp picture of Toyah together with a small but glowing review of one of the very few gigs that her band had ever played led us to a leaky rehearsal space under Waterloo Bridge, where we saw the band and they signed with Safari who then were pleasantly surprised to learn of Toyah Willcox, actress, her performances in ‘The Corn is Green’ (starring Katherine Hepburn), ‘Jubilee’, ‘Quadrophenia’ and her current casting as Miranda in Derek Jarman’s forthcoming ‘The Tempest’.
One Of These Nights I’m Gonna Get An Early Day aired in October 1978. Toyah has a small role in this, playing a character called Fran, a groupie. This was a 30 minute play from the ‘Premiere 2’ series. Also stars Michael Gambon, Bryan Marshall & Janine Duvitski.
