Jason Donovan and the Human League were among the acts performing at the Flashback to the 80s concert at Clumber Park at the weekend.
With their picnics, bottles of wine, cans of lager, umbrellas, fold-up chairs and fancy dress, thousands of people ventured deep into Clumber Park for the Flashback to the 80s concert on Saturday night.
With a line-up boasting Toyah, Jason Donovan, Five Star, Marc Almond and Human League, it promised to transport people back to a different age.
Toyah was superb, belting out a mix of her songs and cover versions, and she compered the night. Toyah clearly still has it.
Five Star don’t. As far as I could tell, it was more like one out of Five Star; she gave it a good go to be fair, but kept on shouting Come on Nottingham. She couldn’t hear me shouting back that we were about 23 miles from Nottingham and people were as likely to have come from Sheffield or Spalding as they were Nottingham.
• Continue reading at the Derbyshire Times.
Many thanks to those who have been sending photos from some of the recent gigs. I’m not being ungrateful by not adding them, just need to find some spare time to do so. Also Andrew’s In The Fairground website will be updated at some point. The site was never intended to be regularly updated – there were many in the first year just to get it “established”, but Andrew has created more spectacularly awesome Toyah art over the last year which will be added.
A news update today, from toyahwillcox.com, on Toyah’s forthcoming, and by the look of the photos published so far – retrotasticjustslightlyexciting – appearance on The One Show on BBC1
Look out for a special appearance by Toyah on The One Show scheduled for broadcast week of Monday 14 September… but may be subject to change.
Here is an exclusive sneak look at Toyah in hair & make-up for the filmed segment.
• Continue reading at The Official Toyah Willcox website. Here is “Four From The One Show” photos of Toyah!! (Photos © Toyah Willcox/Sean Chapman)
Toyah will be guesting on Dermot O’Leary’s Saturday afternoon show on BBC Radio Two in a couple of weeks.
Dermot O’Leary: BBC Radio Two
Saturday 5th September: 3pm
Dermot hosts Saturday Sessions from Richard Hawley and Editors and chats to Nigel Kennedy and Toyah Willcox.
Toyah Willcox, 5 Star and Jason Donovan at Flashback Festival: Review and pictures
It was the rain that dominated the second day of pop nostalgia at the 80’s Flashback Festival at Clumber Park, but whilst this packed crowd donned waterproofs and brollies, their enthusiasm for good 80’s music was not in any way dampened. The regular compere for the Saturday night slot, Clive Jackson, the Doctor from Doctor & The Medics was unfortunately unable to attend. Toyah Willcox took up the mantle and did a great job keeping the party going.
Soul II Soul hogged the sunshine and had the crowd on their feet with their hits including, Keep On Movin’ and Back To Life before handing the stage over to Toyah for her set. With a huge back catalogue of hits, she did not disappoint with old tracks such as Good Morning Universe and I Want To Be Free. Covers included a sterling performance of Guns ‘n’ Roses Sweet Child Of Mine, before finishing with It’s A Mystery.
• Continue reading/View Photo Gallery at the Nottingham Post. (Photos © Kevin Cooper/Nottingham Post)
Aaaaaaaah! has its world premiere at FrightFest 2015 on Friday 28th August at VUE West End, Leicester Sq (with a Director/Cast Q&A, including Toyah). It will also show at Picture House Central, London on Friday 4th September (this also has a Q&A which includes Toyah), End Of The Road Festival, Dorset on Saturday 5th September and Mayhem Film Festival, Nottingham which runs between 15th – 18th October. Director Steve Oram will also participate in Q&As at these two festival screenings. There is also the, just announced, LA premiere (see below)
FrightFest said: “Oh, and wait until you see Steve (SIGHTSEERS) Oram’s AAAAAAAAH!, which we guarantee will World Premiere to a sea of open-mouthed astonishment.”
An interesting new interview with, Toyah’s former PR person, Judy Totton.
Getting the right publicity for concert tours and festival appearances is a skill, and, despite the open internet field provided by Facebook and Twitter, some directed guidance and good old common sense remain valuable assets
Who are you?
Judy Totton of Judy Totton Publicity. I’m based in London and work in the UK, though I do have media contacts overseas. I promote big events, charity shows, companies and theatre, as well as artists releasing albums or touring. Some of my current clients are Bill Wyman, who has just released his first UK solo album in 33 years, Joan Armatrading on her last big world tour, Andy Fairweather Low and his band The Low Riders, Joe Brown and Paul Brady. I’ve represented many artists from all genres over the years and been involved with big festivals including Blenheim Palace and 11 years of Castle Donington Monsters of Rock.
How did you end up where you are now?
I started out in music publicity at Magnet Records. After two years there I joined CBS where I worked with a wide variety of artists from The Jacksons to ABBA, with John Cooper Clarke, The Only Ones, The Vibrators and many more in between. By the late 1970s Epic records was being split away from CBS and a lot of internal changes were happening. I wasn’t sure what to do, and it was artist agent Ian Flukes who suggested I set up my own company.
That was 1979. John Cooper Clarke and The Only Ones came with me and within a month I was approached by Status Quo. Toyah soon followed and then Haircut 100 and Orange Juice. From there I never looked back.
• Continue reading at PSN Europe.
Friday Flashback was a great day of 70s music yesterday at Clumber Park, Worksop in Nottinghamshire. It’s Day Two today and a whole roster of 80s pop legends will play.
The Human League, Marc Almond, Jason Donovan, Five Star, Toyah, Soul II Soul – Hosted by The Doctor, of Dr & The Medics.
What better way is there to spend a long summer evening than listening to your favourite performers in the picturesque location of Clumber Park? For 70’s and 80’s enthusiasts this is must but the atmosphere caters for everyone and by using our many years of experience, we ensure that Flashback keeps getting better and better!
Flashback is a picnic event to which you can bring along your own food and drink, so either sit back and relax or dance the away whilst listening to our fabulous artists. This year you can really make a weekend of it with our fabulous new twist 70’s v 80’s.
Pre-sales have now finished, however general admission tickets are available on the gate each day priced at £45 per person.
• Stay updated via the Flashback Festival Twitter. Browse all of our Flashback 2015 news.
Aaaaaaaah! will have its Los Angeles premiere at SpectreFest 2015 on 19th October.
SpectreVision Unveils Lineup For 3rd Annual Genre Film Festival
SpectreFest 2015, the third horror film festival from SpectreVision, will open with the horror comedy Cooties which stars SpectreVision’s Elijah Wood and close with Avishai Sivan’s Tikkun which won top honors this summer at the Jerusalem Film Festival. In fact, it won Best Actor, Best Israeli Feature, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. Attendees to SpectreFest will also see the Los Angeles premiere of Michael Madsen’s The Visit, which is shot documentary-style but tells the fantastical story of how the government deals with mankind’s first contact with aliens.
• Continue reading at Deadline. Visit SpectreFest at Twitter.
Flashback Festival: Toyah Willcox, Boney M and The Human League among acts at Clumber Park
A star from the 1980s with a career spanning more than 30 years has promised she will be singing all of her fan-favourite songs at this weekend’s Flashback Festival.
Toyah Willcox, 57, is one of the performers at the festival at Clumber Park, on Saturday.
The two-day event, which starts on Friday, will feature a host of artists from the 1970s and 1980s for the sixth retro music festival.
Rock and pop singer Toyah said: “I have played the festival five or six times before and it is one of the prettiest venues I have performed at. I would like to shoot a music video there.”
Toyah put her band together in 1977 and went on to have 13 top 40 singles, recorded 20 albums, and has toured live across the world. She said over the years her audience has grown and now she plays to bigger crowds than when she did in the 1980s.
• Continue reading at the Newark Advertiser. Further info @ toyahwillcox.com.
• Mearns Leader: Toyah to serve Stonehaven well: Eighties pop icon Toyah Willcox is the latest chart star to play in Stonehaven in a long list that includes Simple Minds and The Human League. The former punk princess – whose biggest hit was It’s A Mystery – is to take the stage at Stonehaven Town Hall on September, Friday 18 and Saturday 19 – Continue reading…
• Through The Magic Door: Festival Fun at Cropredy 2015: For example this year a few of the highlights were The Proclaimers, Toyah Willcox, and some of the new ones we enjoyed were Ahab and Katzenjammer – Continue reading…
• We Are Folk: Toyah setting the stage on fire at Cropredy – Continue reading…
• Newark Advertiser: Are you heading to Clumber Park for the Flashback Festival? – Continue reading…
• Daily Mail: Talkin’ about his generation: Phil Daniels relives his iconic role in Quadrophenia as he’s reunited with the Mod scooter he rode in the film… over 30 years later: The film also starred other emerging British talent, such as, Ray Winstone, Toyah Wilcox, Lesley Ash and Philip Davis – as well as Sting. But while the iconic film is ingrained in a whole generation’s collective mind, its star can barely recall filming it. ‘All I can remember about the film is working really hard. We shot it all in six weeks and we did the end first,’ Phil confessed – Continue reading…
• Paul Nicholson @ Twitter: Toyah and the boys at Eastbourne Bandstand last week – Continue reading…
• Fused: Cropredy Festival > Review: An interesting overview of last week’s festival, with some equally interesting photos, and even a few lines on Toyah: “Toyah Willcox. The latter named must surely keep an aging portrait in her attic and delivered an energetic punk-pop set with spasmodically operatic vocals which she reckoned have “5 years left” – Continue reading…
Punk princess rocks town hall for two nights steady
Eighties pop icon Toyah Willcox is to perform in a North-east town, playing two gigs in two nights. The former punk princess is to take the stage at Stonehaven Town Hall on September 18 and 19.
The event is being organised by music shop owner Chris Stirk. He said: “These revival gigs usually turn out to be great nights out with the acts giving their all and the crowd bopping along. “Toyah is a uniquely gifted performer. She is charismatic, outspoken and one of Britain’s iconic household names. She is an award- winning rock legend, as well as a much-loved actress and music composer and we are delighted she is the latest big act to come to Stonehaven.”
Chris was keen to add any money made from the concerts goes into community projects , and at the end of the year any surplus funds go to a local charity. Toyah had hit singles It’s A Mystery, I Want to Be Free, Brave New World and Be Proud, Be Loud (Be Heard). Tickets are available from Ma Simpson’s music shop in Stonehaven.
• News Source: Aberdeen Evening Express. Buy tickets here.
Jubilee will play at the BFI London On Film 2015 season next month. “London’s stories brought to life through a century of extraordinary filmmaking.”
Jubilee (UK, 1978) + Punk Can Take It (UK, 1979)
Queen Elizabeth I and her occult aide Dr John Dee time travel to a dystopian London in Derek Jarman’s homage to punk.
Monday 28 September: 20:30 – NFT2 | Tuesday 29 September: 18:00 – NFT3 | Thursday 01 October: 18:15 – NFT2
Directed by Derek Jarman. With Jenny Runacre, Nell Campbell, Toyah Willcox (106 min, Digital). Jarman re-imagines London’s punk years as a future dystopia where big business rules and marauding killers dominate the streets. Queen Elizabeth I and her occult aide Dr John Dee, who time-travel using esoteric magic, give witness to the shocking depravity, while abrasive punk rock numbers are delivered by Jayne County and Adam Ant alongside a Brian Eno score.
• Continue reading/further info at the BFI website.
Worksop: Flashback Festival is set to go this weekend at Clumber Park
Now into its sixth year, the Flashback Festival returns to Clumber Park in Worksop this weekend with a celebration of the best of the 70s and 80s.
The weekend kicks-off tonight (Friday) with the best of the 70s, headlined by disco legends Sister Sledge. The line-up also consists of Boney M, The Real Thing, Hot Chocolate and Odyssey.
The following day sees the return of all things 80, headlined by Sheffield band The Human League. The line-up also includes Soft Cell frontman Marc Almond, Jason Donovan, 5 Star and Toyah.
• Continue reading at the Worksop Guardian.
It’s no mystery: Toyah will take to stage for two Stonehaven Town Hall gigs
Toyah Willcox is the latest chart star to play one of the north-east’s most popular music venues.
The former punk princess is to take the stage at Stonehaven Town Hall on September 18 and 19.
The gigs follow her successful recent appearance at Scone’s Rewind festival alongside other greats from the 1980s – including Bananarama, Jimmy Somerville, Kim Wilde and Nik Kershaw.
The event is being organised by music shop owner Chris Stirk, who has also booked ska band Bad Manners, led by Buster Bloodvessel, for October and Scottish hard rock group Nazareth for next April. She has already brought rockers Big Country to the town hall and was also responsible for a highly-acclaimed version of the musical Hairspray being put on there, with auditions about to start for a stage version of the hit movie Fame.
Chris, who also organises the popular open-air charity music festival Party in the Park, said: “These revival gigs usually turn out to be great nights out, with the acts giving their all and the crowd bopping along.”
• Continue reading at The Dundee Courier.
The lovely Toyah Willcox has blogged briefly about her role in “The Afternoon of the Living Dead” for Doctors. This makes me very happy. Go and take a peek at Toyah’s Blog.
• Continue reading at Scriptuality.
There’s a repeat airing of Toyah’s Electric Ladies on Vintage TV at the end of the month. Toyah wrote and presented the 60-minute programme, which was first shown in March.
The full Electric Ladies playlist: Chaka Khan (I Feel For You); Debbie Harry/Blondie (Atomic); Cher (If I Could Turn Back Time); Celine Dion (My Heart Will Go On); Bjork (Human Behaviour); Annie Lennox/Eurythmics (Love Is A Stranger); Grace Jones (Pull Up To The Bumper); Janet Jackson (That’s The Way Love Goes); Wendy James/Transvision Vamp (Baby I Don’t Care); Whitney Houston (I Wanna Dance With Somebody).
Toyah’s Electric Ladies: Vintage TV: Monday 31st August: 1pm
The princess of punk shines the light on those iconic female artists through the years who have inspired and made their own mark.
As the bells from St Mary the Virgin rang out at 4pm on Thursday so too, on a sloping swathe of Oxfordshire farmland half-a-mile away, did a fiddle, an acoustic guitar and a mandolin. The sky was filled with threatening white-cum-greyish clouds and a mild drizzle descended but Fairport Convention were already in full flow.
The bass heavy, Eighties, jazz-funk of Level 42 was not up my particular alley. And neither, did I think feel, would be a revival of Toyah’s hits from the same era. But the sassy blonde pixie-warrior-princess delivered a breathless show which even included some pogoing. “Here I am, 57 years-old and I’m still singing the punk stuff,” she gasped between numbers. And singing it pretty well, too.
• Continue reading at the Swindon Advertiser.
Toyah guested on Kat Orman’s show on ‘BBC Radio Oxford’ yesterday. The interview is available to listen to at BBC iPlayer, and will be for the next month.
Toyah Willcox and the Wallingford superhome: Kat meets Mike Bicknell from Wallingford. Ten years ago Mike, who was a keen runner, almost lost his leg in a road accident. Plus Kat finds out about a house in Wallingford that has qualified for “Superhome” status and talks to one of the headlines acts from this weekend’s Fairport’s Cropredy Convention Toyah Willcox.
• Toyah’s interview, which took place backstage at Cropredy on Saturday, begins at approximately 46m 30s into the programme and runs for around 9 minutes (plus a play of I Want To Be Free). Toyah talks about her early life and school days, rebellious teenage years, what influenced her imagery: “I wanted to be completely different, almost genderless“, visiting Oxford, Aaaaaaaah!, and her set at Cropredy.
Punk princess of the 1980s, Toyah Willcox, is one of the star names appearing in this year’s Trowbridge Arts Festival taking place in October.
Actress, pop icon and TV presenter Toyah will bring the festival to a starry close in an Up Close and Personal performance at Trowbridge Civic Centre on Sunday November 1.
Festival director Andrew Bryant said: “We are absolutely delighted Toyah has agreed to close this year’s festival.
“She is a legendary and much-loved performer and has followed a fascinating career path. She is a name we have been keen to add to the festival for a long time. After last year’s sell-out performance by Hazel O’Connor we would advise people to purchase tickets as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
“This will be a very special night for Trowbridge.”
• Continue reading at the Gazette & Herald.
Toyah was “Artist Of The Day” at the Cottingham Folk Festival website yesterday.
