Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

Toyah Solo is a new 7 CD + DVD anthology of collected works by Toyah, released 28 February 2020 by Edsel Records

RELEASE DATE: 28 February 2020
CAT NO: TOYAHBOX01
FORMAT: 7 CD + DVD in wallets in 2-piece box with 48 page booklet

An Amazon Exclusive edition features a signed print and is strictly limited to 500 copies.

The first Toyah box set ever features six studio albums (Minx, Desire, Prostitute, Ophelia’s Shadow, Take The Leap!, Velvet Lined Shell) alongside 44 bonus tracks, including rarities, B-sides, collaborations, and several unreleased tracks, plus a DVD of promo videos and a brand new exclusive interview filmed in December 2019.

In 1985, after five studio albums and two live albums with her band, Toyah decided to go solo, and signed to Sony’s portrait label. The album Minx contained two hit singles, Don’t Fall In Love (I Said) and Soul Passing Through Soul, as well as covers of Alice Cooper’s School’s Out and Rare Bird’s Sympathy. 1987’s Desire, featured appearances from Robert Fripp and Ron Wood and Toyah’s cover of Echo Beach, and now contains the previously unreleased outtake “Mesmerised. Prostitute (1988) was an arresting and fascinating departure from the pop formula, a trend continued by 1991’s Ophelia’s Shadow. In 1994, Take The Leap” featured new songs and intriguing revisits of several of her earlier pop hits. 2003’s “Velvet Lined Shell took Toyah back to her guitar punk roots.

Amongst the bonus tracks are Toyah’s collaborations with Tony Banks, Trey Gunn, German band Kiss Of Reality, Family Of Noise and This Fragile Moment. The lavishly-illustrated 48 page booklet features annotation about each album written by Toyah herself. Also featured is an essay on the period covered by the box by Toyah’s official archivist and compiler of this box set, Craig Astley. As Craig says: “eclectic is an often-overused word but is an accurate description of this intriguing and revelatory body of work. From unashamed pop and avant-garde to progressive rock and back to punk, the Common factors throughout are Toyah’s voice and lyrics but moreover, a sense of forging and following her own creative solo path”.

• Continue reading about Toyah Solo at toyahwillcox.com.

A new box celebrating Toyah’s career is on its way • 500 with signed print

Toyah’s solo career is to be celebrated in a new box set due next month from Demon.

Toyah Solo mops up the era from 1985 onwards when Willcox signed as a solo turn to Sony’s Portrait Records and then subsequent EG releases, and comprises of seven CDs and a DVD plus a 48 page book. (If you’re a cursory fan and a bit confused and wondering ‘hang on, wasn’t she always solo?’ it transpires that up until then, Toyah was the name of the band she fronted.)

The box charts the Birmingham post-punk lungsmith’s progression from chart star – with hits such as ‘Soul Passing Through Soul’ and her cover of ‘Echo Beach’ – to increasingly experimental artist and back again, and features the six albums Minx (released 1985) Desire (1987), Prostitute (1988), Ophelia’s Shadow (1991), Take The Leap! and Velvet Lined Shell (both 1994) alongside Remixed, Revisited & Rare 1992-98 which contains updates on some of her biggest hits.

• Continue reading at Super Deluxe Edition.

The fantastic cover art for Toyah’s first ever box set release – Toyah Solo. A new 7 CD/DVD anthology released 28 Feb by Edsel Records. Includes 6 studio album across 7 discs w/ 44 bonus tracks, B-Sides, rarities & collaborations.

The full contents of the aforementioned Limited Edition version of the Toyah Solo box set. Toyah tweeted: Sssooooooo Very Excited! Toyah Solo has been 3 years in the making. It’s a beautiful box set of some of my most adventurous music plus previously unheard material. ENJOY XXXX

The pieces are coming together! Toyah Solo… is coming soon! (28.02.2020 to be precise)

Expect an official release announcement soon on this very exciting collection – An eight-disc set – Toyah’s first ever box set release. The very limited edition signed version has been spotted. Get it before it sells out!

(Amazon Exclusive Signed Edition): Signed Edition, Limited Edition, Box Set, Extra Tracks.

This Amazon Exclusive comes with a print signed by Toyah and is limited to 500 copies. This 7 CD + DVD box set (the first Toyah box set ever) features six albums (Minx, Desire, Prostitute, Ophelia’s Shadow, Take The Leap, Velvet Lined Shell) and 44 bonus tracks, including rarities, b-sides, collaborations, and several unreleased tracks, plus a DVD of promo videos and a brand new exclusive interview filmed in December 2019.

Photo © Toyah Willcox/Dean Stockings – Official Toyah have been sharing archive photos from Toyah’s Solo career era (post 1984) over the past few weeks, including this very rare jigsaw.

Toyah’s first blog of the new decade is available to read at toyahwillcox.com!

Toyah and Hazel’s upcoming joint headlining 2020 tour is selling out fast!

Pointless Celebrities: Challenge: Thursday 9th January: 7pm
Music. A special celebrity music edition of the general knowledge quiz in which four teams try to come up with the answers that no-one else could think of. Presented by Alexander Armstrong and co-host Richard Osman. Featuring Fish and Barbara Dickson, Nick Heyward and Toyah Willcox, Heather Small and Mari Wilson, and Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young. (Photo © BBC)

Kavanagh Q.C.: Drama: Sunday 19th January: 0.00am
A Family Affair. Kavanagh finds himself caught up in a bitter family feud when he represents a frustrated father who has kidnapped his son in a desperate attempt to win custody. On the home front, Kavanagh’s daughter wants to let her boyfriend stay overnight. Directed by Renny Rye. With John Thaw, Holly Aird, Robert Ashby, Toyah Willcox and Lisa Harrow.

• Drama is available to watch on Sky (Channel 143), Freeview (Channel 20), Virgin Media (Channel 130), Freesat (Channel 158), Sky Ireland (Channel 158), Virgin Media Ireland (Channel 164).

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Successful & Happy 2020.

Christmas Eve 2012, Toyah guested on Marlow FM’s Musical Milestones on The Eclectic Light Show. She discussed her life and career and chose six songs along the way. As this aired on Christmas Eve and the station didn’t have a Listen Again function I recorded it and uploaded to Dreamscape a low quality mp3 of the 30-minute special. Click below to listen/download.

Christmas 2012, BBC Radio 4 aired Neil Tennant’s Smash Hits Christmas on 20th December – a real festive pop treat for everyone who grew up in the 1980s. The programme was an interesting look back at the golden years of the UK’s biggest music magazine of the Eighties. Neil recalls the golden days of, the iconic, Smash Hits magazine, when he worked as a writer in their Carnaby Street office.

There were also contributions and memories from founder and legendary magazine maker Nick Logan, editors David Hepworth and Mark Ellen, writers Miranda Sawyer and Sylvia Patterson, and from regular Smash Hits cover girl, Toyah., talking about Smash Hits in general and her Brave New World cover from the Summer of 1982.

Neil Tennant had a life as a journalist before he became famous as a Pet Shop Boy. In fact, it was on a Smash Hits trip to New York that he had his big breakthrough with the record producer Bobby O. Also included is a rare recording from the 1982 Christmas Flexidisc (a message from the stars) and probably Neil Tennant’s first recording – the music for a trailer advertising Smash Hits stickers. (Producer: Susan Marling. A Just Radio Ltd. production for BBC Radio 4). The half-hour programme is no longer available at BBC iPlayer and has also been removed from You Tube. Maybe the BBC will, in their wisdom, one day repeat it.

Missed this great gig review, published in November by Scene Sussex. Here it is now:

Toyah holds court…
Tonight, Saturday 2 November 2019 saw Toyah visit Brighton to play in a new Brighton venue, Chalk. The weather had been awful all day with the Brighton Breeze racking up to 50 mph during the day. Toyah said she had been blown over as she got out of the car after a horrendous drive to Brighton. Those of us outside waiting for the doors to open watched the skies nervously as the rain today really meant business. Thankfully we got in still dry, others were not quite so lucky.

Toyah: The Set
Toyah took a leisurely stroll onto the stage, looking out into the fairly full venue. She was given an enthusiastically warm welcome from the Brighton crowd in this new Brighton venue. And with a huge smile on her face we were off. The first song was a new one and, all things considered, was pretty appropriate considering the weather outside, and couldn’t have been better chosen if you tried, Dancing In The Hurricane. Brilliant track from the new album In The Court Of The Crimson Queen, which is also the title of this tour. Toyahs band is made up of a guitarist, bass player, drums and keyboards. Dancing In The Hurricane had a great rock feel to it and gave the band a chance to warm it up.

• Continue reading at Scene Sussex.

Christmas 1984, Toyah guested on the Pop Quiz Christmas Special on BBC1. The programme aired at 4.15pm on Christmas Eve.

This was the penultimate edition of the original Pop Quiz. There were four series, plus five specials, 48 episodes in total, with Toyah guesting four times. The final Pop Quiz Special aired a few days later on 28th December 1984. Though there have been a number of revivals since.

Pop Quiz was a British television quiz programme that originally aired on BBC1 from 4th July 1981 to 28th December 1984 with a Top of the Pops special on 4th January 1994 hosted by Mike Read. It was then revived from 21st May to 9th July 1994 on the same channel but this time hosted by Chris Tarrant (Toyah also guested on this series, alongside Pete Burns). It was revived again on Red TV from 14th June to 30th August 2008 with Mike Read returning as host. He also hosted two specials on BBC Four in December 2016 and January 2017.

Pebble Seat
The Pebble seat is a stunning and practical garden feature. Arranged with smaller cast stone pebbles it echoes the seaside and when arranged with sculptural planting it creates a very contemporary feel. They are very tactile to touch and surprisingly comfortable.

“When I first saw Darren Rumley’s sculptures I was instantly transported to childhood memories on Lynmouth Beach and reminded of my fascination with pebbles in rock pools. To have such a large scale natural shape in either a traditional garden or a modern garden adds harmony and natural continuity, as well as draws the eye. we have found guests instantly want to interact with the giant pebbles, firstly by touch, then by sitting and talking around them.” TOYAH WILLCOX

• Continue reading at One Artisan.

Toyah guested on last night’s Britain’s Favourite Christmas Carol, which aired on Channel 5. A very festive 90 minutes on the Saturday before Christmas. Here are a few screen caps.

Christmas 2016, Toyah attended a ceremony to be inducted into the Birmingham Walk Of Stars.

Toyah said: “I am thrilled to be receiving a star on the Birmingham Walk of Stars. Having spent my childhood and teenage years in this great city, I developed my love of music and theatre here, thanks to all the great music venues and theatres available within the one city.“

• See news on Toyah attending the Birmingham Walk Of Stars event here and here. (Photo © Birmingham Mail)

Competition Time! Your chance to win Invasion Planet Earth on DVD!

British sci-fi film Invasion Planet Earth comes to DVD on 30 December, and I have three copies to give away. Entering is really easy – see below for details and T&Cs (this is a UK-only competition).

The movie has been a 20-year labour of love for writer-director Simon Cox, who ended up crowdfunding some of its budget. In the film, our planet, already on the brink of a world war, is faced with an alien invasion. Cox has big ideas and he’s painting them on a huge canvas, with the action moving from London streets to Manhattan to space.

• Continue reading/Enter the competition at Caution Spoilers.

Britain’s Favourite Christmas Carol
Channel 5, 6.50pm, Saturday
Countdown shows have fallen somewhat out of fashion since their 1990s heyday, but nobody has ever accused Channel 5 of being ahead of the curve. They’re continuing to resurrect the Saturday schedule-filler with this 90-minute injection of very light entertainment. Feel free to dip in and out of this countdown of the nation’s 20 best-loved Christmas carols that unspools in the usual fashion, by deploying famous(ish) faces to provide humorous or revealing commentary in between clips.

Those expressing their thoughts on Ding Dong Merrily on High et al include Toyah Willcox, radio presenter Katie Thistleton and DJ Pat Sharpe. But what may elevate this special is the addition of musical and historical experts – including Rev Canon Ann Easter, Chaplain to the Queen (no less) – to describe the musical innovations that make particular carols appealing, and to share surprising stories behind some of the classics.

Performances will come both from a raid on the television archives for memorable clips and from choirs nationwide. Of course, television countdowns are no more scientific than a poll of your friends at the pub, but this piece of televisual tinsel should at least put you in a festive mood.

Christmas 1982, Toyah covers a 70’s Christmas classic! The build up to Christmas wouldn’t be complete at Dreamscape without this… I think I’ve mentioned I Believe in Father Christmas every December for the last 20 years, so here we go again…

Toyah covers the Greg Lake 1975 classic (which also features Robert Fripp, Toyah confirmed a few years ago on Toyah’s Christmas at the Zoo) for ITV’s Pop Goes Christmas in 1982. She sounds great, looks amazing and Keith Hale and Joel Bogen are having a right old festive time in the forest of lit up trees. Bravo!

Britain’s Favourite Christmas Carol: Saturday 21st December: Channel 5: 6.50pm
A countdown of the nation’s most beloved carols, as voted for by the British public. A cast of famous faces guide viewers through the results, giving their take on some of the most enduring songs ever written. In between the notes, a team of experts reveal the musical tricks, hidden histories and surprising stories behind these classic carols. Plus, a cast of community and professional choirs from across the UK perform the carols, alongside beloved performances from the TV archives.