Our Classic Toyah collection is growing by the week. Celebrating Toyah’s unique past with rare pictures, memorable photo sessions, retro press and more! Take a look…
Boating enthusiasts from across the country will head to Evesham this weekend for the annual river festival.
The festival, which is being held on Saturday and Sunday, has added significance this year as it is the 50th anniversary of the River Avon being opened to the sea.
Famous faces such as Timothy Spall, David Suchet and Toyah Willcox are expected to attend and stalls and entertainment will be on the riverside throughout. One of the highlights comes on Saturday evening with the eye-catching illuminated boat parade and fireworks display.
• Continue reading at the Evesham Journal.
Most, if not all, Toyah fans know that Toyah appeared in a Smirnoff print advert in 1980… But have you ever saw the full four-page magazine feature? If you’d like to… Check back later…
An update, from Toyah’s Official Facebook, on the King’s Heath ‘Walk Of Fame’ set list vote. The, two-set, gig takes place on Monday 16th July at The Hare & Hounds:
BLUE MEANINGS and ELUSIVE STRANGER are in the lead…. but will it stay that way?! … get voting……
Two rare-ish photos of Toyah from 1981. The first is a great shot from the ‘Melody Maker’ cover feature, “Toyah Unmasked”, photo session, and the other is a fantastic live image from the ‘Anthem Tour’. Please click on each to zoom. (Thanks to Lärwi & Andi)
I’ll be adding more rare Toyah photos over the coming weeks so do please make a return visit as there are some great shots to come | View all of our recent Classic Toyah posts.
An interesting, very rare, interview with Toyah from 1981. This was originally published by Finnish music magazine ‘Suosikki’.
FIERCE REDHEAD TOYAH SAYS: “I’M CRAZY ABOUT RABBITS!”
Now I have seen her, today’s hottest rock singer in the world, Toyah (Willcox). Compared to this tiny redheaded whirlwind rest of the female singers- and some men- look like salt statues. Toyah is 145 centimetres of pure sex appeal and energy!
After the concert Suosikki Magazine got an exclusive interview with Toyah, an honour not bestowed on many publications in the world. Markku Fagerlund asked the questions and Toyah answered. At the same time Toyah read the latest issue of Suosikki and liked it so much she sent the readers a special message: “Keep going strong!”
Toyah Willcox is a 23 year old multi-talented artist who has this year finally reached the top. Her latest album “Anthem” has been well received in most European countries (it’s number 2 in the UK at the moment) and her gigs have been massively successful.
As well as being a famous singer Toyah is an actress. We’ve been able to admire her sexy persona in “Quadrophenia”, “Jubilee”, “The Corn Is Green” and various TV series including “Radioetsivä” (Shoestring) which aired also in Finland.
• Read the full interview at Dreamscape’s Press Archive. (Thanks again to Lärwi for this rare interview and for taking the time to translate it for Dreamscape News’ visitors)
Pure speculation, but…
Something that Toyah said in the This is Derbyshire interview (see post below):
Next year I have accepted one of the biggest tours of my career. We are doing 30 dates in the spring and 30 in the autumn.
Could this 60-date tour be marking what will be the 30th anniversary of the fantastic ‘Love Is The Law’ album and the ‘Rebel Run’ UK tour?
I guess we will just have to wait to find out, but interesting all the same.
‘Love Is The Law’ is an album, and Toyah era, that truly deserves to be properly celebrated!
A new interview with Toyah, from This is Derbyshire.
Frustrated biker Toyah here to judge dream machines
The only thing stopping Toyah from hitting the road astride a motorbike is her husband.
“He (musician Robert Fripp) said he would leave me if I ever bought a bike,” she says. “When I was in my 30s I wanted a chopper Harley and he wouldn’t let me have one.
“Then he said that if I bought one he would get one – and he’s as blind as a bat. So there’s no way I would let that happen. It got down to as strong as he would leave me if I bought one. So it’s an unfulfilled ambition.”
But at least the singer and actress gets the chance to get close to some genuine dream machines when the Rock and Bike Fest comes to Elvaston Castle in July.
• Continue reading at This is Derbyshire.
• Jelly, the band which includes Stevie Bray of the original Toyah (Sheep Farming/Blue Meaning) line up, play their very first gig this weekend: The gig is at the The Water Rats, Grays Inn Road, Kings Cross. Visit the events page at Facebook for more info and details on how to be added to the guest list. Check out Jelly’s Facebook page for links to some of their songs.
• A full transcript of Toyah’s recent ‘Radio Chorley’ interview at Blackpool Pride is now available at The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive.
• Kevin Tucker’s brilliant Mermaid Days website, photos and memories of Toyah in Trafford Tanzi at the Mermaid Theatre in 1983, has been resurrected as a Facebook group. The site ran for a number of years through the Noughties and it’s great to see it return.
• A Quadrophenia Club Night, in association with Falkirk Steeple Scooter Club, is taking place at Falkirk Town Hall on Saturday 18th August. You’ll be in for a great night of non-stop entertainment starting with the the screening in magnificent Blu-ray of Quadrophenia (first time on a Falkirk cinema screen for 33 years!!) and then dance the rest of the night away in a re-creation of the legendary Goldhawk Club where Alex Carnaby will be playing all the authentic sounds of the sixties, Truly not to be missed! View further info and ticket details here. (Thanks to Mark Leonard)
Jersey.com have republished their 2008 winter holiday feature with Toyah and Robert.
Toyah Willcox and husband Robert Fripp took a short break in Jersey. It’s the first time she’s been back since a childhood visit. The island seems to have grown up with her.
I was seven years old when I took my very first plane on my very first trip abroad – to Jersey. Okay, I know that Jersey is perceived as being a part of Britain. But where in the Albion isles do you find turquoise seas and the French hopping just 14 miles across the water on day trips?
Forty-three years later and one hour and 10 minutes from Birmingham Airport and I am back in Jersey, a lot older and wiser.
• Continue reading at Jersey.com.
This time exactly 30 years ago Toyah were halfway through ‘The Changeling Tour’. 4th July 1982 saw the band play the first of two nights at Bristol’s Colston Hall before they headed up north and to Scotland. Thanks to Andi Westhorpe for sharing this rare photo from the tour.
Click on the photo for a larger version | Visit Dreamscape’s The Changeling 30 website | View all of our The Changeling Resurrection news, photos and reviews, plus news, so far, on The Changeling Resurrection II. There’s also The Changeling: The Complete Songwords.
Check back to Dreamscape News soon for a brilliant, and rare, 1981 interview with Toyah, courtesy of our very good friend Lärwi, from Finnish pop magazine ‘Suosikki’ (similar to the UK’s ‘Smash Hits’): Toyah is 145 centimetres of pure sex appeal and energy…
Toyah Willcox has confirmed a special autumn 2012 tour, which will celebrate the 30th anniversary of “The Changeling”, & “Warrior Rock”, following a highly acclaimed run of spring dates which saw five-star reviews and sold out shows. She will be performing her classic second album The Challenging and a number of her top 40 hits.
19th Sep 2012: 07:30pm until 10:00pm
Silence, or Silence Little Bitch (thanks to Toyah’s ‘Elocution Lesson’) is an excercize in smudging I am very proud of. The video did not turn out as I had hoped… (© Andrew Macklin)
Another new review of Jubilee, this one from Death Rattle. Includes some good screenshots: Toyah Willcox (Mad) went on to be somewhat of a New Wave icon. Please click below to read.
Three from the 80s: The ‘Anthem Tour’, 1981; Toyah and Hazel O’Connor at The British Rock & Pop Awards, 1982; and Toyah, Maril Wilson and Kim Wilde at the launch of ‘Just Seventeen’ magazine, 1983. Please click on each to zoom. (Thanks to Andi)
Toyah is pictured in Vintage TV’s July Newsletter. She will guest on a future edition of The Janice Long Review Show.
Here at Vintage TV HQ things are hotting up – even if summer’s not arrived outside!
The Janice Long Review Show makes a stellar debut
After a star-studded debut on the 24th June, BBC Radio 2 DJ, Janice Long, will continue to welcome a list of legends to her panel show throughout July. Every Sunday night at 8.30pm join guests including punk princess Toyah Willcox, Grammy-winning producer Trevor Horn, and singer-songwriter Katie Melua as they discuss classic albums of the 20th century.
The forthcoming one-off gig at Birmingham King’s Heath Hare & Hounds is going to be a special night for Toyah celebrating her induction on the KH Walk of Fame. It’s also going to be a special night for fans who can help choose selections for the set list. Pick your favourite song from the following choices and the most popular 2 will be performed. One song in each of the 2 sets on the evening
A full career-spanning retrospective with classic Toyah songs from the albums SHEEP FARMING, BLUE MEANING, ANTHEM, THE CHANGELING, LOVE IS THE LAW, VELVET LINED SHELL and CRIMSON QUEEN plus CLASSIC SINGLES & RARE B-SIDES……… plus the chance for fans to vote for 2 songs to be performed on the night!
Vote for either Elusive Stranger, Blue Meanings, Masai Boy, Pop Star, Waiting or Our Movie at Toyah’s Official Facebook.
A photo of Toyah is included in a new article, on May’s ‘Let’s Rock The Moor’ festival, from Glow Magazine.
LET’S ROCK THE MOOR – THE MAKING OF MEMORIES
Sometimes, you hear a song and in a flash it takes to to a special time or place. Like an aural photograph, you can close your eyes and remember every detail. Since the early eighties, when I started getting into music, the best times were school disco’s, recording the charts on your tape recorder and spending pocket money on 7″ singles. Each song had its own memory.
Take a small village in Berkshire, 7500 party-goers and 8 of the biggest bands of the 80′s, and you end up with a huge melting pot of memories. My memory’s burst into life with Toyah, so many memories through the whole of the 80′s.
• Continue reading at Glow Magazine. View all of our Let’s Rock The Moor news.
This has been one of my favourite Toyah photos ever since I saw it in a magazine exactly 30 years ago in Summer 1982. I tried rescanning it over the weekend and Andrew York has, yet again, worked his magic to restore it. Click to view a larger version.
• Toyah will be the first star on it in a fortnight’s time, and the inauguration of the King’s Heath ‘Walk of Fame’ Commemorative Music Plate took place last Wednesday in the town. The ‘Walk of Fame’ has been brought about by the collaboration of the Birmingham Civic Society and Birmingham Music Archive together with the City Council.
• Gig Junkies: King’s Heath Walk of Fame Commemorative Music Plate – 27th June 2012: Wednesday June 27th, 2012 saw a nostalgic bustle of Birmingham’s silver-haired rock n’ rollers gathering outside what is now ‘Cash Converters’, York Road, Kings Heath. But, not so long ago it was the legendary Ritz Ballroom…
• Birmingham Mail: Plaque unveiled in King’s Heath: It may now be a pawnbrokers – but this Birmingham store’s 21st century appearance belies its rich musical heritage…
• Sun Dried Sparrows: Quadrophenia, my first time.
