PJ Crook, Nick Park and Toyah Willcox donate paintings for Gloucester exhibition in aid of LINC
A star-studded line up of exhibitors including Nick Park, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and Toyah Willcox feature in a pop-up exhibition this weekend in Gloucester. The event, at St Michael’s Tower, has been organised by Bishop’s Cleeve artist PJ Crook in aid of LINC.
Nick Park has donated a Wallace & Gromit painting which was created especially for the exhibition.
Toyah Willcox has contributed two watercolours and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, who is also a patron of LINC with PJ Crook, has donated a large Caryatid drawing framed in a magnificent gold frame.
The exhibition takes place on Sunday, May 1 and Bank Holiday Monday, from noon until 6pm each day with tea and cakes.
• Continue reading at the Gloucester Citizen.
Toyah was included alongside Blondie, Iggy Pop, Culture Club, Kate Bush, Simon & Garfunkel and a host of music icons in one of the Daily Mail’s daft, and badly photoshopped, photo features yesterday…
Phil Collins broke new ground when he re-released his back catalogue of albums earlier this month — complete with recreations of the classic covers using up-to-date photographs of his face. Collins, 65, seems to have weathered fairly well since he first stormed the charts as a solo artist 35 years ago, barring a few inevitable wrinkles.
So we wondered how some of our other music legends would fare if their albums were given the same treatment. Obviously, the music stands the test of time, but what about their faces…
It’s a mystery: Toyah Willcox, 57, just needs make-up to recapture her eighties look
• Continue reading at the Daily Mail.
Tony Hadley, The Stranglers, Lindisfarne and the SAS Band with Roger Taylor of Queen have been confirmed as headliners for this year’s Wickham Festival.
The Spandau Ballet frontman Tony tops the bill on the opening night on August 4, with The Stranglers and Bruce Foxton’s From The Jam as the main attractions the next day.
Spike’s All Stars Band with a line-up including Queen drummer Roger Taylor, Marillion lead singer Fish, Madeleine Bell and solo artist/actress Toyah Willcox will appear on Saturday. They will be supported by the Trevor Horn Band. Also on the bill are the Oysterband plus Chas & Dave.
Lindisfarne close the four-day event on Sunday with back-up from Steeleye Span, Hayseed Dixie and the Red Hot Chilli Pipers.
Festival organiser Peter Chegwyn said: “We are thrilled with this year’s line-up which has something for everyone. It reflects our rapidly-growing reputation locally, nationally and internationally with fans coming from the USA, Canada and Australia. We have a fantastic array of bands who will provide fantastic entertainment.”
• Continue reading at The Portsmouth News. Check out all of Toyah’s confirmed festival appearances for 2016, plus her other upcoming live dates, at toyahwillcox.com.
More airings for Quadrophenia, with two of Sky Movies channels ahowing the classic 1979 film over the coming fortnight.
Quadrophenia: Sky Greats HD: Sunday 1st May: 10pm
Quadrophenia: Sky Select HD: Thursday 5th May: 10pm
The Who wrote and produced this energetic story of a young man disillusioned with his life in 1960s London. Phil Daniels excels as the alienated anti-hero Jimmy Cooper. Director: Franc Roddam. Starring: Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Toyah Willcox, Philip Davis, Mark Wingett, Sting, and Ray Winstone. (Sky Greats HD movie channel is on Sky Channel 304 / Sky Select HD is on Sky Channel 312)
Toyah tweeted a photo of herself and longtime collaborator/former Toyah band member, Simon Darlow, this afternoon: “Oooooh fab new track with Simon Darlow“. (Photo © Toyah Willcox)
Don’t trust that meme: Prince’s death at 57 was no music industry average
After the tragic and untimely death of Prince, an internet meme took flight claiming that the singer died ‘at the average age of death for American pop stars’. This is not really true and, insofar as it contains a germ of truth, it is not useful.
A better way would be to compare people who were born in the same year, but you could only do that once they were all dead. Prince was born in 1958 and died at the age of 57. Barring an outbreak of bubonic plague or an unusually methodical serial killer, it is most unlikely that the average age of death for musicians born in 1958 will turn out to be 57. Other pop stars born in 1958 include Ice-T, Madonna, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Neil Finn (Crowded House), Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue), Toyah, Simon Le Bon, Joan Jett, Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), Nik Kershaw, Belinda Carlisle, Paul Weller, Bill Berry (REM), Mark King (Level 42), Michael Jackson and Andy Gibb (Bee Gees). Of these, only Jackson and Gibb are not still with us. In fact, nearly all of the celebrities born in 1958 are still alive.
• Continue reading at The Spectator (Health).
• Southern Daily Echo: All Star Line-Up Confirmed For Wickham Festival: Spike’s All Stars Band with a line-up which will include Queen drummer Roger Taylor, Marillion lead singer Fish, Madeleine Bell and solo artist/actress Toyah Willcox with a chance of other top names also making a guest appearance – Continue reading…
• Virgin Media: Shakespeare in pop: It’s 400 years since Shakespeare died! Yes, a rum anniversary (23 April 1616), but one which allows us to celebrate his input towards music culture… The Tempest: You would think with something like The Tempest, that the goths would be all over that, but no: only the Deftones and not-that-spooky-just-a-bit-darkish Pendulum have co-opted it for a title. One of Toyah’s pre-pop jobs was a role as Miranda in Derek Jarman’s interesting film version from 1979 – Continue reading…
• Vodzilla: Shakespeare 400: BFI brings the Bard’s films to VOD: With Saturday 23rd April marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, the UK is going into overdrive celebrating the Bard, and the British Film Institute is no exception. This month, the BFI presents Shakespeare on Film, a UK-wide series of 300 special screenings and events celebrating the enormous impact the playwright’s life, work and legacy has had on cinema – Continue reading…
• Flickering Myth: Aaaaaaaah! Still: Toyah Willcox as Barbara – Continue reading…
• Lou Reviews: Shakespeare 400 in images: Heathcote Williams as Prospero and Toyah as Miranda in the 1979 film of ‘The Tempest’ – Continue reading…
A great review, by nerve, of Toyah’s Acoustic, Up Close & Personal date at St. George’s Hall, Liverpool last month.
It’s No Mystery
Toyah Willcox strode onto the stage looking resplendent in a kaleidoscopic Oriental smock above a gold long sleeved top and in thigh length boots over black pants. Her frizzed blood red hair of her prime, now a less outlandish strawberry blonde, complementing her attire. She joined both her duo guitar and vocals backing, Colin Hinds and Chris Wong, before thanking the 80 – 90 strong audience for coming out on such a miserable rainy night. Visibly thrilled and gobsmacked to be at such a venue, she enthused ‘we usually play grotty clubs’.
Also on stage was a laptop and video screen, which she used to project key images of her varied acting and singing careers when appropriate. But it was the songs that the crowd had primarily come to see and hear Toyah perform, and when she launched into Good Morning Universe the memories started flooding back. Now 56, her voice was not as visceral as it once was, but came over loud and clear.
• Continue reading at nerve. Browse Toyah’s Official Gigs page for info on forthcoming Acoustic, Up Close & Personal dates.
Toyah and Sophie Anderson in a scene from forthcoming film Kaleidoscope Man. Artist Angie Cox recently tweeted the photo, saying: “My painting will be in Kaleidoscope Man. Toyah Willcox and Sophie Anderson talking about my painting in this scene“.
Director/creator of Kaleidoscope Man, Simon Cox, also updated the blog on the film’s official website at the end of last month.
A comprehensive article on yesterday’s Shakespeare 400 event has been published by The New Criterion.
Shakespeare 400 at the Victoria & Albert
The day ended on a warming note: a strong cup of tea, a ginger biscuit, and a genial chat between the poetry editor Paul Keegan and the singer/actress Toyah Willcox, who played Miranda in Derek Jarman’s film of The Tempest (1979). Willcox’s costume of rags is held by the V&A, and was too delicate to be released for this symposium. The film has aged similarly: part camp period piece, part inspired dismantling of the play. Jarman, Willcox recalled, started with “design.” He broke the final image of the play into its components, and then reconstructed them in his fashion. If he did not build a smoothly working machine, at least its coughs and rattles add to the chorus of interpretations and images.
While filming Jarman’s Tempest, the cast and crew chose to sit out a snow storm in their remote set, a derelict abbey. “It was fantastically wild,” Willcox recalled of working inside a real tempest. “We were living the dream.”
• Continue reading at The New Criterion.
Toyah expressed her disbelief at the news of Prince’s death on Thursday. Toyah and Robert Fripp were just as shocked by the sudden passing of the music legend as the rest of us. I love a lot Prince’s work, though admittedly mostly his 80s stuff – Around The World In A Day and Sign O’ The Times are two of my favourite albums. Such a huge talent.
Quadrophenia: Sky Greats HD: Sunday 1st May: 10pm
The Who wrote and produced this energetic story of a young man disillusioned with his life in 1960s London. Phil Daniels excels as the alienated anti-hero Jimmy Cooper. Director: Franc Roddam. Starring: Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Toyah Willcox, Philip Davis, Mark Wingett, Sting, and Ray Winstone. (Sky Greats HD movie channel is on Sky Channel 304)
Only two days until Aaaaaaaah! is screened at LOCO 2016, with Steve Oram and Toyah in attendance and participating in a Q&A.
Toyah pays tribute to wonderful Victoria Wood, who passed away yesterday, aged 62. Here at Dreamscape there is much sadness at the loss of a comedy genius who helped make many of us laugh time and time again.
• Shakespeare 400: Celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death with the stuff that dreams are made on. Hosted by the V&A and led by Shakespeare scholar John Pitcher (St John’s College, Oxford), we invite you to a festival of art, poetry, music and on-stage discussions devoted to his final, and most magical play, The Tempest – Continue reading…
• Penguin: A Guide To Shakespeare: The Tempest, directed by Derek Jarman (1979) – A wonderfully high camp, punk take on Shakespeare’s last play, Jarman’s adaptation stars the poet Heathcote Williams as Prospero and a young Toyah Willcox as Miranda. The music is extraordinary, perfectly encapsulating Caliban’s famous, ‘Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises / Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not’ and the film is a visual feast. Watch this if you like… epics, beautiful cinematography – Continue reading…
• My Favourite Things: British punk singer, Toyah Willcox as Miranda in Derek Jarman’s 1979 film version of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest – Continue reading…
• Toyah At The V&A: Toyah is a panel guest at the forthcoming Shakespeare 400 at The V&A: A One Day Festival, taking place on 22nd April 2016. Further information/Book tickets at the V&A website. More details also at toyahwillcox.com.
As well as Aaaaaaaah! being screened at the LOCO Film Festival 2016 on Saturday 23rd April, Steve Orman and Toyah will also be in attendance for a post screening Q&A at the BFI National Film Theatre 1, South Bank, London.
It’s long been rumoured that the Toyah band’s debut TV appearance was on Pebble Mill at One sometime in late 1978 – That now appears to be a myth…
Flashback to 12 April 1979… Toyah make their first music appearance on UK television on Granada’s What’s On, a cultural round up programme. The TV spot captured Toyah and the band performing Race Through Space inside ‘Mayhem’, Battersea some three months before any music was released on vinyl.
• Visit the Official Toyah Facebook and Instagram pages for more photos and info. (Thanks to Official Toyah)
As part of the three-day Cleethorpes Rock Festival another headline act has been announced for Sunday August 21.
This fantastic live rock music festival will see the fabulous punk princess Toyah Willcox take to the stage at the Meridian Showground.
Cleethorpes Rocks Festival, Sunday August 21 2-10pm, gates open 1.30pm. Early bird tickets only £21, on a first come first served basis.
Tel 01472 349222 or online www.cleethorpesrocks.co.uk or www.solidentertainments.com
• Continue reading at the Cleethorpes People. Visit the Cleethorpes Rocks festival website here.
Dreamscape’s Toyah news for March 2016 has now been archived. Click below to browse the past – Now over 16 years of retro Toyah news, updates and info
Rock legend Toyah Willcox announced as latest Cleethorpes Rocks act
Another top act will Rock Cleethorpes this summer.
Toyah Willcox will take to the stage at the Meridian Showground on Sunday, August 21 as part of the three-day Cleethorpes Rocks festival.
In this lively and energetic concert with her full live Electric band, you can expect to hear hit singles, Good Morning Universe, Thunder In the Mountains and It’s a Mystery alongside classics, Neon Womb, Danced and Ieya. Early bird tickets are only £21, on a first come first served basis.
• Continue reading at the Grimsby Telegraph. Visit the Cleethorpes Rocks festival website here.
Craig Astley, Manager of The Official Toyah Willcox website, was featured in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph, in an article on the People’s History Of Pop.
Craig Astley: 37, Communications Officer
Photo of himself, aged four, with Toyah Willcox, backstage at Newcastle City Hall, December 1983
“I latched on to music at a really young age. It was on TV shows like Swap Shop. I was drawn to how energetic and colourful Toyah was. My mother took me to the concert but I was so small I had to have cotton wool in my ears as it would have been too loud. It was near christmas and I’d taken a card to the gig. Our seats were close to the sound engineer and my mum asked him to give my card to Toyah. He said, ‘Why don’t you give it to her yourself?’ and let us backstage. I can remember that moment, burned in my memory. Years later I started running Toyah’s website. Now I look after her artwork and tour merchandise and manager her archive. She’s now a friend I see through the eyes of a fan.”
• Read more on the People’s History Of Pop. (Photo © Official Toyah – See a larger version of the article at Toyah’s Official Twitter page).
