Forever a member of the exclusive Mononymous Club, Toyah is perhaps best known to most today as a TV personality appearing on quiz shows and umpteen celebrity reality programmes.
To others she will always be remembered as the once wild woman of British mainstream pop who in the early Eighties broke the mould for female singers who previously only sang songs about unrequited love. Starring roles in iconic films Quadrophenia and Jubilee cemented Toyah’s reputation as being bold and rebellious further still.
Gigging consistently since the beginning of her career the interestingly titled latest tour, Songs From The Intergalactic Ranch House, named after her original fan club, is a retrospective celebration spanning the 1979 release of her debut album, Sheep Farming in Barnet through to her last solo studio album In The Court Of The Crimson Queen.
• Continue reading at the Bristol Post.
Great photos of Toyah, by longtime friend of this site Chris, from last night’s Songs From The Intergalactic Ranch House date at the The Fleece, Bristol. Click below to view larger versions of these, and more, at Dreamscape’s Gallery. (Thanks to Chris | Photos © Chris Cox)
Fab shots of Toyah from Friday’s Songs From The Intergalactic Ranch House date at The Brook, Southampton. Toyah is holding the full set of the fanzines which my good friend Merx presented her with at the gig. Click below to view larger versions at Dreamscape’s Gallery. (Thanks to Merx | Photos © Merx)
Choccywoccydoodah: Watch: Thursday 11th December: 8.30pm
Choccywoccydoodah: Watch: Sunday 14th December: 8pm
Series 5, Episode 13. Star-studded version of the show about the ultimate chocolate shop. (Thanks to Gina Glockler | Photo © Toyah Willcox)
Following a great gig last night at The Brook, Southampton, the penultimate date of Toyah’s Songs From The Intergalactic Ranch House UK Tour takes place tonight at The Fleece in Bristol. There’s been such a good response to this tour and the setlist. The final date is next Saturday at the O2 Academy, Islington. Click below for details.
Toyah is included on the, just released, Smash Hits 80s Annual 3CD Set.
‘It’s A Mystery’ is track 14 on the second CD of the 66 song collection, released by Warner/Universal Music.
Other artists include: Wham!, Bananarama, Duran Duran, Adam & The Ants, Madness, Soft Cell, Kim Wilde, The Human League, Dexys Midnight Runners, The Specials, Belinda Carlisle, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Yazoo. Echo & The Bunnymen, Tears For Fears and many more.
• View the full tracklist here, and a larger version of the cover here. The CD is available to buy at Amazon.
Christmas gets well and truly underway over at Vintage TV very soon…
Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo: Vintage TV: Friday 21st November: 9am
Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo: Vintage TV: Tuesday 25th November: 11.30pm
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.
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Saturday 22nd November: 8pm
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. (Part 1)
A Very Vintage Christmas: Vintage TV: Sunday 23rd November: 11pm
Snuggling up by the fireside with Toyah Willcox and Roy Wood for some Christmas chat and festive songs are pop rock act The Feeling and Imagination’s Leee John. (Part 2)
The Vintage TV Sessions: Vintage TV: Friday 21st November: 11pm
Five great acts sing two songs apiece at our Vintage TV Sessions: indie rockers The Struts, punk princess Toyah Willcox, singers Judie Tzuke and Josephine, and Nik Kershaw.
It’s the first signs of Christmas over at Vintage TV, with Toyah’s 2012 festive special, Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo, airing on 21st November. No doubt Toyah’s Vintage Christmas (2011), and last year’s A Very Vintage Christmas will also air on the channel over the festive season. I’ll keep you posted!
Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo: Vintage TV: Friday 21st November: 9am
Cosy up with family and friends as Toyah Willcox brings you a selection of fine Christmas songs and a sprinkling of festive stories, surrounded by a variety of creatures great and small.
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip: Yesterday: Friday 21st November: 8am
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip: Yesterday: Friday 21st November: 2pm
DJ Tony Blackburn and punk rocker Toyah Willcox take to the road, scouring the shops of York and Pickering in the hope of finding some poptastic period pieces to flog at auction.
Just added to Dreamscape’s Gallery, a great selection of photos from the Birmingham and Leeds dates of the Songs From The Intergalactic Ranch House UK Tour. Click below to view these and more. (Thanks to Tony Ames, Mark Rogers & Ray Sears for these great photos)
The latest date of Toyah’s Songs From The Intergalactic Ranch House tour takes place tonight, at The Haunt in Brighton. To mark the occasion here is a great photo of Toyah from last month’s first date of the tour in Birmingham. Browse our news, so far, on the IRH Tour. Click below for info and ticket links. (Thanks to Craig | Photo © Craig Astley)
Our Toyah news for October has now been added to the News Archive. Click below to browse.
As the end of the year gets closer more Toyah dates for 2015 are appearing online. The latest is at the Soundstock Music & Comedy Festival, taking place in Chelmsford on 2nd and 3rd May 2015. Click below to visit the festival website, but please bear in mind that this date hasn’t been officially confirmed as yet.
View our recent news on other 2015 Toyah dates at Lowdham Book Festival and Here and Now Stamford.
The Vintage TV Sessions: Vintage TV
Friday 14th November: 11pm
Bringing you all the atmosphere, excitement and intimacy of a live gig for your viewing pleasure are our Vintage TV Sessions. And we are very proud to present, from the brilliant Bedford pub in Balham, five more awe-inspiring acts performing two songs each. Taking the stage are singer songwriters Leddra Chapman and Newton Faulkner, Gabrielle of ‘Dreams’ fame, northern indie collective The Jar Family and our dear friend, the late glam rocker Alvin Stardust. Our own Toyah Willcox is your host.
Toyah has answered a couple more interesting fan questions for “Ask Toyah”.
• Visit the Official Toyah Willcox Website to watch. View earlier “Ask Toyah” questions/responses here.
Toyah’s November blog is available at The Official Toyah Willcox Website. Click below to read.
For 15 years, Jonathan Sale interviewed the famous about their school years for a column in ‘The Independent’. Here’s what he discovered about how triumph or failure, diligence or dissent, shaped their working lives.
… Dragon James Caan flogged leather jackets from his father’s shop during break – and added a mark-up that his dad didn’t know about. Toyah Willcox was one of several who thought that their first day at school was a one-off; they didn’t realise that you went back the next day, and the day after and…
• Continue reading at The Independent.
Celebrity Fantasy Homes: Really: Saturday 15th November: 5pm
Celebrity Fantasy Homes: Really: Thursday 27th November: 12pm
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.
Today, 35 years ago, the movie Quadrophenia was released.
…and did you know…? “Monkey” was Toyah Willcox who you might know as TOYAH from the New Wave scene in the 80s. She is still quite a beauty.
The opening scene at the beach and the scooter ride… “Can you see the real me?”
• Continue reading at This Is Indie.
The Joy Of The Guitar Riff: BBC4: Saturday 15th November: 10.30pm
Lauren Laverne narrates a documentary tracing the ebb and flow of the guitar riff over the last 60 years of popular music, from Chuck Berry through to the White Stripes. The guitar riff is the DNA of rock ‘n’ roll, a double helix of repetitive simplicity and fiendish complexity on which its history has been built. With riffs and stories from an all-star cast including Brian May, Dave Davies, Hank Marvin, Joan Jett, Nile Rodgers, Tony Iommi, Robert Fripp, Johnny Marr, Nancy Wilson, Kevin Shields, Ryan Jarman, Tom Morello and many more.
