• The Northern Echo: Acoustic, Up Close: The once rebellious, wild woman of the British mainstream pop scene with her dangerously pink hair and fire in her eyes, Toyah Willcox still oozes charisma. I wonder if she and David Bowie had the same hairdresser? – Continue reading…
• Live 2016: There are still a number of gigs and appearances taking place through the remainder of October – See Toyah’s Official Gig page…
• Kaleidoscope Man: Tanks vs Aliens – Let Battle Commence!: Finally, after 4 years of dreaming and planning, I am delighted to tell you that we’ve finally completed the one part of the movie I was truly terrified about doing. The tanks vs aliens battle scenes – Continue reading…
• Sounds Of The 80s: Toyah chose Voodoo Doll as her 80s b-side on BBC Radio 2. There’s still time to listen to the show at BBC iPlayer…
• Great Yarmouth Film Festival: Toyah guested at this event at the end of September, introducing Quadrophenia.
‘Of current artists, I love FKA Twigs. She blows me away’: Punk queen Toyah Willcox reveals her cultural favourites
Which former punk queen’s taste ranges from Bilbo Baggins to Bill and Ben, from Henry V to Half A Sixpence? It’s a mystery no more…
My movie magic
Growing up in Birmingham, my mum would take my sister, brother and me to see musicals like The Sound Of Music, Half A Sixpence, or My Fair Lady at the big theatres. They were very formative cinematic experiences.
A film I can watch over and over again is the 2007 Sean Penn-directed movie, Into The Wild. I am passionate about hill-walking, and going off into nature on my own.
Quadrophenia: Sky Select HD: Saturday 15th October: 9.35am Quadrophenia: Sky Select HD: Thursday 20th October: 6am
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 Select HD is on Sky Channel 312)
Sounds Of The 80s: BBC Radio 2:
Friday 16th Sep: 10pm/Wed 21st Sep: 3am
Sara plays the hits of the 80s and Toyah chooses one of her 80s b-sides. Plus we take a look at the top five singles from this week in 1987.
Legendary rocker Steve Harley headlined Secret World’s first ever music festival.
Steve and his band Cockney Rebel, were joined by inspirational punk rocker Toyah Willcox and a host of Somerset bands for the inaugural Music in the Meadow one day festival.
Secret World Wildlife Rescue in East Huntspill, near Highbridge was packed on Saturday, September 10 for a day of fantastic live music and activities. Visitors have been flocking to events at Secret World for many years, but it’s usually for a chance to get close to wildlife.
All the money raised from Music in the Meadow will go towards Secret World’s work to rescue, rehabilitate and release injured and orphaned wildlife.
Hot on the heels of Pointless Celebrities at the weekend, comes another gameshow guest appearance for Toyah, next weekend, on a celebrity edition of ITV’s The Chase.
The Chase: Celebrity Special: ITV:
Sunday 18th September: 6.30pm
Bradley Walsh hosts the quiz show as four celebrities take on the Chaser. Singer Toyah Willcox, ex-footballer John Barnes, writer Germaine Greer and heavyweight boxer Audley Harrison pit their wits against one of the country’s finest quiz brains in the hope of winning thousands of pounds for their chosen charities.
Hard to believe, I know, but my hair was once orange. Bright orange. It wasn’t meant to be. It was supposed to be blonde, but the dying process failed miserably, hence the Tangoed mullet. It was July 1982. I was 18 and stupidly excited as I had front row tickets to see Toyah a couple of days later at the Playhouse. The ‘hair-don’t’ proved serendipitous; when Toyah bounced on stage we appeared to have shared the same bottle of dye.
That was my introduction to the force of nature that is Toyah Willcox.
…Towards the end of that Playhouse gig, the front two rows ended sitting cross-legged up on stage as the elfin star danced around us belting out the classic Ieya.. actually, it might have been Danced … or maybe even Race Through Space, my favourite.
Great article, by Liam Rudden, in yesterday’s Edinburgh Evening News (see above), which also solved the longtime “mystery” of this photo – “No stranger to Edinburgh, one of Toyah’s earliest visits was in May 1978, when she caught up with Colin Chisholm of Bilbo Baggins (pictured) for the premiere of Jubilee.” – Thanks Liam
Clips previewing the rock musical Crime & Punishment, currently playing at The Scoop Theatre in London: I Want To Be Free, Angel & Me (with new additional lyrics), Love Crazy, It’s A Mystery, Come, We Are, and the new Willcox/Darlow song Who Let The Beast Out. See our C&P news for links to reviews and other info on the production.
The cast are: Alec Porter, Rachel Delooze, Zac Hamilton, Angela Laverick, Reuven Gershon, Jasmeen James, Steve Graney, Aran MacRae, Lizzie Frain, Phil Willmott.
Following her success in last year’s outdoor concert in a town park, Eighties pop punk princess Toyah is returning to Aylesbury but this time she will be indoors, at the Waterside Theatre as part of the 80’s Invasion Tour.
Joining her on stage will be fellow 80s stars, Luton’s Paul Young, Liverpool’s China Crisis and from America, Martika.
Toyah wowed the crowds during her outdoor gig, and sang with as much energy and passion as in her heyday, so she’s sure to be a hit on the Waterside stage.
Secret Diary Of A Call Girl: Sony TV: Wednesday 14th September: 10.30pm Series One. Episode Eight. After falling out with her agent, Belle meets two women who run a company called Diamond International who invite her into their books. Starring: Billie Piper, Toyah Willcox, Aleksandar Mikic, Jamie Sives, Aislinn Sands and Scarlette O’Harlette. (Also airing on Sony TV + 1)
Kavanagh Q.C.: ITV Encore: Wednesday 14th September: 2.35pm Kavanagh Q.C.: ITV Encore: Thursday 15th September: 7.05am A Family Affair (1995). 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.
Looking for something fun to do in London this week? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered – from pop-ups to sherry evenings, here’s how to spend your week in the capital:
Thursday: 7. For a Free Production: Open Air Theatre
Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, with songs by the legendary Toyah Willcox and her song-writing partner, Simon Darlow. London’s Free Open-Air Theatre Season offers 40,000 free tickets for great theatre within the heart of London. Running since 2003, this is still London’s only ‘free to all’ annual festival of theatre.
Pointless Celebrities: BBC1: Saturday 10th September: 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.
Toyah plays the new Music In The Meadow festival today – An event for a great cause, raising funds for the Secret World Wildlife Rescue, an organisation who provide a 24/7 service, 365 days a year to rescue sick, injured or orphaned wildlife. Read more about this here.
Today’s festival is headlined by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, with Toyah supporting and a host of local bands, including Daytona, Storm, A Cunning Plan, Twerzels and Luna-C, also playing. It’s going to be a great day of music and fundraising.
Event organiser Keith Weston said, “There’s a real buzz in the air about Music in the Meadow, tickets are selling well and we can’t wait to welcome music lovers and families to this all-day event on 10 September.”
• Further information on Music In The Meadow 2016here.
WISE WORDS: Toyah Willcox Shares Her Idea Of Perfect Happiness
Toyah is joining Paul Young, Martika and China Crisis on tour in 2017.
For the latest in our WISE WORDS interview series – where stars from a whole range of fields share the important life lessons they’ve learned along the way – we’re posing some of the big questions to TOYAH WILLCOX.
Next year finds her joining the roll call for the 80s Invasion Tour. As she prepares once again to take to the road, she talks to HuffPostUK about some of the harder lessons she’s learned along the way, and what brings her greatest happiness…
What do you do to switch off from the world?
I love walking and I love being in big, wide-open spaces like hill tops or relatively easy to climb mountains. I just get everything I need from silence and being outdoors. It allows me to think and clear my mind. I like being very active and I can walk up to around eight miles a day every day.
How do you deal with negativity?
I don’t! I don’t deal with negativity at all! I think we’re naturally more tuned to hearing negativity than positivity and I find that aspect endlessly fascinating, that I can pick up two pages of glittering reviews and just one bad sentence is what you’ll remember. I think that says a lot about the human psyche, so the way I try and deal with it is I remind myself that most negativity has been expressed in passing and it isn’t held permanently. Someone that is negative is flippant and has just released a sentence and moved on to something completely different. I just don’t allow it to have a solid existence, I don’t allow it tangibility.
Quadrophenia: Sky Select HD: Monday 12th September: 1.45pm Quadrophenia: Sky Select HD: Wednesday 21st September: 11.15am
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 Select HD is on Sky Channel 312)
Toyah was interviewed on Jo Good’s BBC Radio London show earlier today.
Toyah talked playing live, her eclectic career, playing Peter Pan in the 90s, Trafford Tanzi in the 80s, working at The National Theatre, looking after her voice, living at Reddish House, her favourite memory from the early 80s (The Old Grey Whistle Test, Christmas Eve 1981), the 80s Invasion Tour 2017, tonight’s gig at the Islington O2, Crime and Punishment at The Scoop and more.
Toyah also performed live versions of I Want To Be Free and It’s A Mystery.
• The Northern Echo: Acoustic, Up Close: The once rebellious, wild woman of the British mainstream pop scene with her dangerously pink hair and fire in her eyes, Toyah Willcox still oozes charisma. I wonder if she and David Bowie had the same hairdresser? – Continue reading…
