The official promotional poster/flyer for Chilfest 2014 has been released. Toyah plays at the festival, in Tring, on 5th July next year. View a larger version by clicking below, and see Toyah’s complete 2014 Gig Diary here.
• Love Is The Law & More: The remaining tour merchandise, t-shirts and posters, is now available to buy at ‘Burning Shed’ – View here… (Thanks to Brian Marsh)
• Official Instagram: Posted today! A great photo of Toyah, Gabrielle and Leddra Chapman – View here…
• Evesham Journal: Mario and Toyah coming to Marilyn’s: VALE nightspot Marilyn’s is bringing Essex and the 80s to Evesham as it hosts two special events. Heart-throb Mario Falcone, who rose to fame in The Only Way Is Essex and Celebrity Big Brother, will be at the club on Friday (Nov 29). The following night 80s legend Toyah Willcox, who currently lives in Pershore, performs live on Saturday (Nov 30) – Continue reading…
• PROG (Issue 41): Prog 41 goes on sale today, featuring the legend that was Frank Zappa on the cover: Toyah and Robert Fripp are included in the Gift Guide that accompanies this issue… Also a Progmas Gift Guide and Robert Fripp and wife Toyah share their King Crimbo Cake recipe! – More info here…
• MCM Comic Con #1: Generous Toyah raised cash at the event on Sunday, with everyone giving her £1 for a phone pic, and the cash went to St Richard’s Hospice – View the photo at Instagram…
• MCM Comic Con #2: While at the Birmingham event Toyah also bumped into the Terminator. View here…
• Ladies Love The Beatles: According to this Twitter account the long-awaited compilation album of female singer performing covers of Beatles songs, including Toyah, will be released next March.
• St Edmundsbury Council: A host of famous names heading to the Apex next year: In March you can see Julian Lloyd Webber, Fascinating Aida (three Olivier Award nominations and over 10 million YouTube hits!), the charismatic Toyah Willcox – award-winning rock star, much-loved actress and music composer, and Ruby Wax, the comedian, writer and mental health campaigner – Continue reading…
Toyah helped launch the opening of new photography studios on Saturday, as reported today by the Maidenhead Advertiser.
New photography studios launched by pop star Toyah Willcox
Marlow welcomed the launch of a new photography studio on Saturday
The ribbon on the Apollo Photography Studio was cut by special guests Toyah Willcox and the mayor of Marlow, Suzanne Brown, to officially open the business.
The studio in Dean Street offers experts and facilities for contemporary, commercial and environmental photography. Studio manager, Gary Ian, said he was delighted to finally open the doors after a long search for the right premises and offer residents a place to get that perfect portrait.
• Continue reading at the Maidenhead Advertiser. Toyah also tweeted a photo from this on Saturday. View that at the Official Toyah Instagram. (Photo © Maidenhead Advertiser)
Toyah is appearing at the ‘MCM Comic Con and Memorabilia Show’ today in Birmingham, and has already posted a few photos to the Official Toyah Instagram. Click below to view larger versions of Toyah with her Jubilee co-star, the sensational Little Nell, those legendary Star Wars characters and a Pinhead lookeylikey from Hellraiser. Toyah has also met up with Nintendo characters (okay, it’s two blokes dressed as them but anyway…) Mario and Luigi. (Photos © Toyah Willcox Ltd)
• Birmingham Mail: Dr Who and Star Wars pull the crowds to Birmingham Comic Con and Memorabilia Show: Birmingham-born pop star and actress Toyah Willcox, who played Monkey in Quadrophenia, was joined by fellow cast members Phil Daniels, who played Jimmy, and Daniel Peacock, who took the role of Danny, to celebrate the ultimate mod movie, based on The Who’s 1973 rock opera – Continue reading…
Uploaded to the Smash Hits Archive exactly 30 years since originally being published, the latest issue of ‘Smash Hits’. This one includes full-page songwords for ‘The Vow’. Click below to view.
Celebrity fans of the Time Lord hop into the Tardis to revisit their favourite memories.
Toyah Willcox, singer and actress
When Doctor Who was made into a cinema film in 1965 as Dr Who and the Daleks with Peter Cushing as the Doctor, I insisted on going. The problem with seeing a horror film in public when you are only seven years old is that it’s unforgivable to show fear.
Even the opening sequences of mist-covered marshlands surrounding the Daleks’ city had me frozen to the spot. I remember wanting to slide down the seat and hide but I was flanked by my parents who were all too ready to laugh at my fear. So I sat, wide-eyed and as petrified as those on-screen forests, for two tortuous and exhilarating hours… which kept me in full supply of nightmares for a good month.
• Continue reading at bt.com.
An Evesham nightspot is bringing Essex and the 80s to the Vale with two very special club nights.
The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE) and Celebrity Big Brother star Mario Falcone will hold a meet and greet at the club next Friday (November 29) before 80s legend Toyah Willcox performs live the following night (Saturday).
Toyah is an 80s icon with a career spanning 30 years that includes eight Top 40 singles and more than 20 albums. General Manager Richie Ross said: “We’re heading into the festive season with bang this year and can’t wait to welcome Mario and Toyah to Evesham”.
• Continue reading at the Evesham Observer.
A couple of recent press reports on next year’s Chilfest from ‘Hemel Today’.
• New acts and Tring location announced for next year’s Chilfest – but are you ‘tempted’ to go?: Heaven 17 and Go West are the two latest acts confirmed as performers at next year’s Chilfest – and it will be held at a Tring location… Post-punk comedy vaudevillians Bad Manners, It’s a Mystery singer Toyah Willcox and Scottish rock band Big Country will also be appearing. Tickets are due to go on sale in mid-January – Continue reading…
• Jason Donovan will be at Chilfest: Other confirmed performers are post-punk comedy vaudevillians Bad Manners, It’s a Mystery singer Toyah Willcox and Scottish rock band Big Country – Continue reading…
• Toyah tweeted on Tuesday to confirm the type of set she will be playing: “Just letting u know that Chilfest, Tring on the 5th July is the full TOYAH band…..loud n’ proud“.
The date of the first showing of A Very Vintage Christmas, a newly filmed special for 2013’s festive season, and the third consecutive year of Toyah celebrating Christmas at ‘Vintage TV’, has just been confirmed, as well as repeats for Toyah’s Vintage Christmas and Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo.
This year there is the added bonus that ‘Vintage TV’ now stream their music channel at their website, so viewers who previously couldn’t watch the Toyah special because they don’t get the channel as part of their subscriptions package will be able to do so online this Christmas!
Toyah’s Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Saturday 30th November: 11.00am
Toyah’s Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Sunday 15th December: 7.00pm
Toyah’s Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Tuesday 17th December: 4.00pm
Toyah’s Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Monday 23rd December: 9.00pm
Snuggle down by the fire with the family as punk princess, Toyah Willcox, introduces some of the finest Christmas videos of the 20th Century, sprinkled with a generous handful of fun festive facts.
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Monday 2nd December: 9.00pm
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Wednesday 4th December: 10.00am
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Friday 6th December: 12.00pm
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Saturday 7th December: 3.00pm
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Monday 9th December: 9.00pm
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Wednesday 11th December: 2.00pm (Pt 2)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Friday 13th December: 11.00pm (Pt 2)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Saturday 14th December: 11.00am (Pt 1)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Sunday 15th December: 9.00am (Pt 1)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Monday 16th December: 1.00pm (Pt 1)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Wednesday 18th December: 5.00pm (Pt 1)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Wednesday 18th December: 8.00pm (Pt 2)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Friday 20th December: 11.00pm (Pt 1)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Saturday 21st December: 4.00pm (Pt 2)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Sunday 22nd December: 11.00pm (Pt 1)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Monday 23rd December: 4.00pm (Pt 2)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Christmas Eve: 8.00pm (Pt 1)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Christmas Day: 9.00am (Pt 2)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Christmas Day: 5.00pm (Pt 1)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Christmas Day: 11.00pm (Pt 1)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Friday 27th December: 8.00pm (Pt 2)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Saturday 28th December: 3.00pm (Pt 1)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Sunday 29th December: 2.00pm (Pt 2)
Presenters Toyah Willcox and Wizzard’s Roy Wood are cosying up by the fireplace with two guest artists on our new show as they talk Christmas and sing favourite festive songs.
Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo: Vintage TV: Thursday 5th December: 7.00pm
Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo: Vintage TV: Sunday 8th December: 9.00am
Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo: Vintage TV: Sunday 8th December: 7.00pm
Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo: Vintage TV: Thursday 12th December: 5.00pm
Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo: Vintage TV: Thursday 19th December: 8.00pm
Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo: Vintage TV: Saturday 21st December: 11.00am
Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo: Vintage TV: Monday 23rd December: 9.00am
Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo: Vintage TV: Boxing Day: 5.00pm
Cosy up with family and friends as Toyah Willcox brings you 30 of the finest Christmas songs and a sprinkling of festive stories, surrounded by an extraordinary variety of creatures great and small.
There’s also an article on Toyah at the ‘Vintage TV’ website, with all the confirmed live dates for 2014, and Toyah is also mentioned a couple of times in their November Podcast/Blog update. View here.
NB: All the screen caps included in this post are taken from Toyah’s first Vintage Christmas from 2011.
• Toyah Live 2013: Toyah is rounding off yet another busy year of live tours, concerts, festivals and PAs with two appearances at Marilyns Nightclub in Evesham, Worcestershire. The first PA is on Saturday 30th November, and the other, which just might possibly be Christmas related, takes place on Thursday 19th December – View a larger version of their Toyah promo at their website…
• The Great British Alternative Music Festival: Toyah plays this festival twice next year, in March and October. Also playing in March are Bad Manners, The Damned, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Gene Loves Jezebel and many more – View further info here…
• Toyah Live 2014: Tickets for next year’s gigs are already being received. Here’s kenbob’s for the Holmfirth Picturedome, where Toyah plays a Crimson Queen/Greatest Hits… Live! gig in February – View here…
• Official Gigs: View Toyah’s, already very full, live diary for 2014 at The Official Toyah Willcox Website…
• All Messed Up: Featuring Phil Spalding on guitar (yup guitar, not bass) All Messed Up play a charity concert at Mr Kyps, Poole on Tuesday 10th December – View further info here and get your tickets here…
• The Changeling (Import): A random photo at Twitter – But a pretty magnificent one nonetheless – View here…
• Here & Now Cruise: Toyah performing ‘Echo Beach’ on the Oceana during a 12 day cruise to the Mediterranean in late October. Toyah was only onboard for two days between Barcelona and Gibraltar, playing two shows – View the clip here…
Added a few more photos of Toyah from the Love Is The Law & More gig at The Fleece, Bristol on Halloween, including this fantastic shot below. View a larger version of this, and more, at Dreamscape’s LITL & More Gallery. (Thanks to Angus Turner for the photos)
Toyah talks Doctor Who, in a new article by the Birmingham Mail/Sunday Mercury, ahead of its 50th Anniversary episode this weekend. (Text originally published in Behind The Sofa)
Brummie chart star turned stage singer Toyah Willcox admits that she can’t wait for Saturday’s big Doctor Who special.
Brummie chart star turned stage singer Toyah Willcox admits that she can’t wait for Saturday’s big Doctor Who special. Because she’s TURNED ON by the telly Time Lord, who’ll be played in the 50th anniversary adventure by no fewer than three actors.
Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt will all appear as incarnations of Britain’s best-loved sci-fi star – and viewers may also be treated to fleeting glimpses of all the other Doctors who have graced the Tardis over the years.
And that’s great news for Toyah, 55, who was born in Kings Heath. “When I was a ratty pubescent teen I started to find the whole concept of Doctor Who highly erotic,” she admits. “And I still do!” The singer says that the show played a big part in her Second City childhood. “Haven’t we all hidden behind the sofa when Doctor Who was on the telly?” she asks.
• Continue reading at the Birmingham Mail/Sunday Mercury.
Toyah filmed the new video by The Blockheads yesterday, playing a nurse. Also appearing are Wilko Johnson, Lee Thompson from Madness, The Slits, Topper Headon from The Clash and many others. Toyah tweeted: “Fun day making video with Blockheads…a bit of an epic……not being myself but someone else“, and @gavb, who originally tweeted the on-set photo, said: “Normal day at home today; we have Toyah Willcox dressed as a nurse in the front garden“. (Photo © Gav B)
As mentioned in updates last week, Toyah headlines the opening night of Whitby Goth Weekend next year. The festival takes place over 25th – 27th April 2014 and also includes New Model Army, Alexa De Strange, Cold in Berlin, The Last Cry and many others. Tickets are now on sale from their website. There will also be regular updates over the coming months at the Facebook page.
‘Chilfest’ announced the first three music acts, one of which being Toyah, for their 2014 festival taking place in July. Hemel Today reported the news on Friday.
First three acts to perform at next year’s Chilfest music festival are announced
The first three acts at next year’s Chilfest have been confirmed as post-punk comedy vaudevillians Bad Manners, It’s a Mystery singer Toyah Willcox and Scottish rock band Big Country.
The two-day music festival was staged for the first time in Tring in the summer, and attracted big names ranging from teen pop sensations Little Mix to Spandau Ballet crooner Tony Hadley. Organiser Steve Butcher said the 2014 event may go on for three days, but the location has yet to be decided.
• Continue reading at Hemel Today.
A still from the new film, Three Sides Of The Coin, a psychological thriller by RTS Films which Toyah was on set last week filming. The film also stars Colin Buchanan, best known for playing Pascoe in BBC1’s Dalziel & Pascoe, and in the lead role as Emma, Jo Woodcock (pictured with Toyah), best known for roles in Torn and Tess of the D’Urbervilles. View a larger version of the photo here. (Photo © Cydson Racing/Jo Woodcock)
A few Toyah bits & pieces included in the latest issue of ‘Smash Hits’, November 10 – 23, 1983, uploaded to the Smash Hits Archive exactly 30 years since originally being published.
Singles: Reviewed by Mark Steels TOYAH: The Vow (Safari) Not yer classic rock ballad but enough folksy guitar bits and flowery keyboard patterns to get a whole forest of peace-signs pointing skywards at next year’s Reading Festival. Laurence Olivier will love it – View at the SH Archive…
Bitz: Toyah’s latest single, “The Vow” precedes a massive British tour – her first since her pre-Christmas jaunt in ’82 – that takes her through November and December. See Dates for details – View at the SH Archive…
Dates: Includes a Love Is The Law photo of Toyah and the full tour dates for the Rebel Run Tour – View at the SH Archive…
• The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive: There’s now a full transcript of Toyah’s ‘The Bridge’ radio interview, which aired in October, at Lärwi’s, always fantastic, Toyah Archive – View here…
• Official Instagram: It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… Toyah tweeted a photo of the scene outside her office on Friday, as her local town’s Christmas tree was erected – View here…
• Re:Union #1: Toyah played the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen in August to help celebrate the, now gone, Aberdeen University Union. Finally, a photo of Toyah from that night has surfaced online – View it here…
• Re:Union #2: Browse all of Dreamscape’s news on Toyah at Re:Union earlier this year here…
• Wader: Weekend Guitar Trio, Toyah Willcox, Jan Bang – Live At Kings Place: A short article on Weekend Guitar Trio – Read here…
• A Life On Shuffle: Toyah, and ‘Rebel Run’, is included in the latest post at this blog: The video opens with a close up of Toyah’s eyes, which are the most beautiful eyes the pop industry has ever seen, it’s not difficult to see why so many teenage boys had her picture on their bedroom wall – Continue reading here…
• Brighton Gay Radio: On Friday afternoon (or is it evening now we are into mid-November?) from 5 to 6pm BGR played a full hour of Toyah, in their “Diva Of The Day” slot. This is the second time they have dedicated this hour to Toyah.
• Gorgonetta: For All Your Gorgoning Needs: Color pic of Toyah Willcox sporting artful post-punk hair – View here…
There has been speculation and rumours a-plenty since Toyah first mentioned the possibility in her blog earlier this year. Breaking Through has now confirmed Crimson Queen/Greatest Hits… Live!
The news which many Toyah diehards have been waiting for. The 2014 gigs will focus on Toyah’s most recent solo album alongside the newly introduced Love Is The Law material plus a smattering of well-loved and known classics. CRIMSON QUEEN/GREATEST HITS…..LIVE! will run across the whole of 2014 as a long series of gigs rather than concentrated month tour. There will be more dates added throughout 2014 but there are already so many dates for your diary.
The Crimson Queen/Greatest Hits… Live! first gig is on 21st February in Holmfirth, and over the following five months will play Nuneaton, Bury St. Edmunds, Wimborne, London, Hastings, Wakefield, Blyth, Isle of Man, Kent and Norwich. More dates are expected to be added to this over the coming months.
• Full details on all of these dates at the Official Gigs page. Tickets are already on sale for some of the dates.
As mentioned on Sunday, the latest Breaking Through, Toyah’s Official Newsletter, has been mailed out to subscribers. The ‘Winter 2013’ issue contains a veritable feast of Toyah news and info. Here’s a summary of what’s included:
• Toyah Live 2014: Numerous dates announced for throughout next year, including Crimson Queen/Greatest Hits… Live! (see our seperate news post on this); Acoustic, Up Close & Personal; plus other dates, including PAs and festivals, and a performance at Rock Choir at Birmingham Symphony Hall in July. View the full itinerary at Toyah’s Official Gigs page.
• Festivals 2014: Toyah will play a number of festivals and multi-artist concerts next year, including the Great British Alternative Music Festival; Whitby Gothic Weekend; Let’s Rock The Moor, and Chilfest.
• The Humans: Will be touring the West Coast of America between the 9th and 16th April 2014. Venues and further details on this are to be confirmed at a later date.
• Music News: Toyah, Chris Wong & Tim Rose are to record two acoustic songs in January 2014 for future broadcast by the music channel ‘Vintage TV’; Toyah and Simon Darlow have begun writing the follow up to Toyah’s most recent album In The Court Of The Crimson Queen.
• Official News: Following the great response last Christmas, Toyah’s Official Website will be bringing visitors another advent calendar this December; and expect another significant announcement about Toyah in the New Year.
• Subscribe: For full info on all of the above, and to receive future issues of the newsletter, sign up to ‘Breaking Through: The Official Toyah Mailing List’ here. (Photo by Dean Stockings © Toyah Willcox Ltd)
According to the official MCM Comic Con website Toyah will be a guest, as part of a Quadrophenia Reunion, at the Birmingham NEC memorabilia event on Sunday 24th November.
MCM Birmingham Comic Con and Memorabilia, Britain’s biggest collectors’ event, both come to the NEC on 23-24 November, and we’ve got a great line-up of film and TV guests waiting to meet fans, host panels and sign autographs. Special Guests attending the show this year include:
QUADROPHENIA REUNION: Stars Phil Daniels (Jimmy); Toyah Willcox (Monkey) and Daniel Peacock (Danny) celebrate the ultimate mod movie, based on The Who’s 1973 rock opera.
TOYAH WILLCOX: Singer, Quadrophenia, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Teletubbies, Kavanagh QC, Brum, Maigret, Cluedo, Minder, Quatermass (Autograph; Photoshoot; *Appearing: Sunday only)
UPDATE: 18.11.2013: Toyah tweeted yesterday to confirm she will be appearing at this event on Sunday.
