Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

An award-winning county music festival which switched to an online format because of social distancing measures has been hailed a huge success after it raised more than £13,000 for a Worcestershire-based hospice.

Woo Fest, which was streamed live to homes and gardens around Worcestershire and beyond on Saturday (4th July), featured a mix of live and pre-recorded sets from big-name performers including Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Grant Nicholas, from Feeder, and Toyah Willcox as well as local acts.

Hosted by Richard ‘Hursty’ Hurst and BBC Hereford & Worcester’s Nina Das Gupta, the free-to-view festival has raised £13,245.57 so far with music-lovers donating as they watched.

Luke Simons, festival organiser, said: “We’ve been blown away by everyone’s response to a virtual festival here in Worcestershire. We had 92 individual musicians in 24 sets – across a range of genres – keen to give our wonderful county a brilliant day and support the care St Richard’s provides locally at the same time”.

• Continue reading at strichards.org.uk.

Toyah reveals the final vinyl by Toyah & The Humans, Live At Scala London. The album features Robert Fripp as guest human with Toyah, Bill Rieflin and Chris Wong. It’s out now on translucent purple vinyl (as are We Are The Humans (orange vinyl), Sugar Rush (olive vinyl) and Strange Tales (red vinyl). Click below to watch. (Screenshots from a video that is © Toyah Willcox)

Info from Saturday’s third instalment of Toyah At Home, which aired at Toyah’s official You Tube channel.

• It’s A Mystery: from Toyah’s second EP was the song of the morning. She talked about her reaction when first hearing the song, written by Keith Hale of Blood Donor, and how it ultimately changed her life.

• The Humans: “It’s Humans day!!” said Toyah, and a very quick look at all of the Toyah & The Humans releases – Four vinyls and a great box set. Toyah mentioned Bill Rieflin wanted to call it “The Humans’ Greatest Hits”.

• Derek Jarman: Toyah talked about her experiences working with the late writer/director on the films from her early career; Jubilee and The Tempest.

• The Tempest: Detailed discussion on working on this film. Lots of memories from Toyah, including two wonderful keepsakes Derek Jarman gave her at the end of filming, and playing Miranda as a wild child. Toyah said: “The Tempest for me was one of the most important films of my career“, and her introduction to Shakespeare.

• Making Movies in Los Angeles: Toyah talked about relocating, or more to the point not relocating, to the USA for acting work, and whether her younger self would have done so now if she had the opportunity.

• Glastonbury: The experience of playing the legendary festival (in 2016) but never attending it as a festival-goer!

• Most Haunted: Toyah chatted about the various haunted homes she has stayed in, and the activity generated within them.

• In The Fairground: Interesting chat about the song from the 1981 EP Four More From Toyah; its origins, what the lyric is about, and how it relates to today.

• In The Fairground: Toyah said: “I listened to that and thought, wow this track, it’s really nice. I could probably sing it a lot better now than I did back then. Back then we were on tour, we had to deliver for Christmas. It was 1981 and was pretty much made in between live shows, and I think I could develop that now much better for the acoustic show“.

• New Studio Album: by the Toyah band of now? There are a number of obstacles, including geography, finances, the ongoing pandemic, but “It’s a possibility” Toyah said.

• Telepathic Lover: Live archive footage of this great song from Four From Toyah: Birthday Edition EP and 2019’s In The Court Of The Crimson Queen album. Toyah said: “One of my favourite songs live. I just love the groove and when we’re on stage, this is the Toyah band at their best. It’s absolutely fabulous“.

• Ask Toyah: Toyah said “Please keep those questions rolling in. It’s really good to do this. I love, I love It, I love it! They are wonderful!“.

• Toyah at Home: This week’s show was promoted on Toyah’s official Instagram with a rare Four From Toyah era photo (directly above).

• See you next week for Toyah At Home #4.

A number of people have asked what would it sound like if Toyah and King Crimson’s music came together. In this week’s sunday lunch, it’s no longer a mystery.

And that’s a wrap! A massive thanks to everyone involved in today’s Virtual Woo Fest. An incredible day of music only possible through an incredible human effort at the current time. And supported by our incredible Worcestershire community raising £12,896. Thank you from us all.

NB. Since this post the total was updated again.

Your Virtual Woo Fest donations continued into the small hours taking us to an incredible. £13,245.57!

• Continue reading at St Richard’s Hospice at Twitter.

Toyah’s July 2020 blog is available to read at toyahwillcox.com.

A lengthy new article, on the ever-enduring Quadrophenia, published today by The Independent as part of The Indy Film Club.

How Quadrophenia immortalises and scrutinises mod culture

It’s an indelible part of Brighton’s history but, as Clarisse Loughrey writes, the 1979 adaptation of The Who’s rock opera is really concerned with a search for identity

Brighton residents know the sound well – the stentorian rattle of engines, as a fleet of Vespas and Lambrettas zip down the promenade. It feels odd for a moment, as if there’s been a rip in the space-time continuum and a little of the Swinging Sixties has trickled out. But it’s tradition here. On sunny weekends, mod aficionados gather in the city to fraternise, evangelise, and compare the number of mirrors on their scooters. Brighton was a favoured hang-out spot for the original mods, who’d travel down from London to the south’s seaside resorts, eager to ruffle the feathers of middle-class daytrippers.

Trouble came in the form of the rockers, their rivals. It was like the Capulets versus the Montagues – divided not by blood, but by the way someone might wear their hair. The mods (short for “modernist”) embraced continental style, with their crisply tailored suits and Italian scooters. To protect said suit while on said scooter, parkas became a staple. The girls wore miniskirts, as popularised by Mary Quant. The rockers, meanwhile, were bikers. Their “tough guy” attitude complemented their black leather jackets, Doc Marten boots, and Elvis pompadours.

There were clashes. The most infamous of these took place in Brighton over the Whitsun weekend (18-19 May) in 1964. A small group of rockers were corned on the beach. Police tried to intervene, but it quickly spiralled into chaos. And though, in hindsight, it’s clear the press blew events out of proportion, it’s become an indelible part of the city’s history – due largely to the fact it was immortalised in 1979’s Quadrophenia.

The film, a loose adaptation of The Who’s 1973 rock opera, stars Phil Daniels as Jimmy, a disgruntled London teen. At home, his parents treat his non-conformity as a curse. At his mailroom job at an advertising firm, he’s just another drone. And so he throws himself head-on into the hell-raising, dandyish, amphetamine-fuelled world of mod culture. It becomes his entire identity. When he ends up at the centre of the Brighton brawls and gets arrested, the adrenaline sends him heavenward – only for a moment, before disillusionment sets in and he starts to spiral.

• Continue reading at The Independent/Culture (registration may be required).

Check out Dreamscape’s newly updated Features section.

NOW 80s’ mammoth 10-hour Who Won Wot? 1980 – 1989 aired yesterday, hosted by Mark Goodier. The first artist played from 1981 was Toyah, with the Thunder In The Mountains video. Mark said: “We begin 1981 with a 4ft 11 pop star who had the biggest hair of the entire decade, here’s the Most Fanciable (as voted by Smash Hits magazine readers) Toyah Willcox with Thunder In The Mountains“. Click on the screen caps to zoom.

Following last night’s four-hour Let’s Rock Lockdown Fest 2, which Toyah contributed live performances of Dance In The Hurricane and I Want To Be Free to, comes today’s Virtual Woo Fest 2020.

The Next Woo Fest – Virtual Woo!

Normal Woo Fest is cancelled due to Covid-19 however we have moved to an online festival will which will take place on 4th of July.

Supported by the wonderful DRP Group at their studios in Hartlebury. The day will run in a similar way to Comic Relief with free to air viewing but with different donation opportunities to St Richard’s Hospice. The day will include both live and pre-recorded performances from many great musicians including the odd celebrity!

Virtual Woo Fest – bringing the festival to your homes and gardens

Woo Fest music festival is an award winning multi-genre music festival for all ages that raises funds for St Richard’s Hospice, Worcester, England. It’s set in a beautiful location near Upton upon Severn and has gone from strength to strength since its launch in 2015 raising over £57K with every single penny from every ticket going to the hospice

It has grown from a small festival of friends and family to the first festival on the calendar for many new friends.

• Visit the official Woo Fest website. Watch today’s virtual Woo Fest by clicking here or below. See a larger version of the festival flyer.

Toyah gives a sneak peek at the first ever vinyl release of the Toyah & The Humans album Strange Tales. Pressed on translucent red vinyl, the album was released yesterday. Click below to watch. (Screenshots from a video that is © Toyah Willcox)

An archive Toyah interview has been re-published today by The Guardian.

Toyah Willcox, the thinking man’s punkette – archive, 1980

3 July 1980: “No one can rip me off. I’m too much of a bitch,” the self-confessed megalomaniac tells Robin Denselow

Four years ago, Toyah Willcox left a “very boring all-girls public school” in Birmingham with only one O level, in music, and a whole heap of bad reports. At 14 she’d been banned from art, her favourite subject because her paintings were too erotic. She got into fights, confused the teachers by making her own clothes and “by wearing a Dr Spock haircut with the back of my head shaved. I was a very paranoid kid and I hated every minute of it.”

Today, at 22, Toyah is being hailed as a sort of Thinking Man’s Punk, and is certainly the most impressive female all-rounder to have emerged in the latter days of the new wave. Earlier this year she won considerable acclaim for her part as Miranda in Derek Jarman’s exquisite film version of The Tempest. Her acting career had already included everything from Jarman’s punk celebration Jubilee, to Quatermass, and Quadrophenia.

• Continue reading at The Guardian.

A digital deluxe version of Toyah & The Humans debut album, We Are The Humans, was also released today. See download/listen links here or click below for direct link to Amazon.

Toyah’s Sack The Stylist?! Top 30: NOW 80s: Sunday 5th July: 6pm
Toyah’s Sack The Stylist?! Top 30: NOW 80s: Sunday 12th July: 6pm
Pop legend Toyah brings 30 memorable videos featuring a cavalcade of clothing calamities from superstars including Bowie, Madonna, Adam Ant and many more in this crazy countdown!

Watch Let’s Rock Lockdown Fest 2 this evening at You Tube. Toyah is playing, along with Fuzzbox, Hazel O’Connor, Go West, Hue and Cry, Chesney Hawkes, Carol Decker/T’Pau and many others. All raising funds for a great cause.

Happy Humans Day! – Toyah & The Humans Day to be more specific! The Noise In Your Head box set is released today, as are the albums We Are The Humans, Sugar Rush, Strange Tales and Live At Scala London. All on gorgeous colour vinyl. Click below to see Dreamscape’s second “Releases” feature page of 2020, focusing on Toyah & The Humans.

Toyah unwraps the first ever vinyl pressings of We Are The Humans (translucent orange vinyl) and Sugar Rush (translucent olive vinyl). Both of these are released tomorrow. Click below for links to all Toyah & The Humans new releases. (Screenshots from videos that are © Toyah Willcox)

A new Elle photo feature which includes Louise Brooks, Hedy Lamarr, Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot, Diana Ross, Debbie Harry, Farrah Fawcett, Siouxsie Sioux and Toyah.

The Best Vintage Hairstyles You Never Knew Existed

Haircuts from yesteryear reign supreme for their innovation, technique, and skill to make these larger than life styles stand the test of time. From blunt bobs to abundant afros, we’ve rounded up some of the best curls, cuts, and swirls from the 20th century in order to discover the best hairstyles from the past.

1985: Feathered Bangs – English musician Toyah Willcox’s feathered and uneven bangs became almost as much of a symbol of punk rock as her fiery orange hair colour. (NB. This is 1980 not 1985!)

• Continue reading at Yahoo News!/Elle.

An award-winning county music festival, taking place virtually this summer because of social distancing measures, has secured new big-name acts including Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Grant Nicholas, from Feeder, and Toyah Willcox.

Woo Fest, which will be streamed live to homes and gardens around Worcestershire and beyond on Saturday (July 4), will feature a mix of live and pre-recorded sets and will be hosted by Richard ‘Hursty’ Hurst. Previously confirmed performers include Nigel Clark from Dodgy, Andy Bennett, formerly of Ocean Colour Scene, Nick Parker and a host of Woo Fest regulars.

The family-friendly festival, which donates every penny to St Richard’s Hospice in Worcester, was set up in 2015 by Luke Simons and his sister, Ria, in memory of their dad John. Last year Woo Fest was named Best Small Festival at the UK Festival Awards in London.

• Continue reading at Worcester Observer.

Get ready for Noise In Your Head. Toyah & The Humans new retrospective five-disc box set – three studio albums, live concert CD, live concert DVD + 40-page booklet – is released this Friday. Pictured below is the regular box set (without signed print) which is still available to order here. Watch Toyah unbox the set by clicking here.