Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

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).

New Toyah gigs for 2016 are being announced almost every other day at the moment, including this one, at Chelmsford City Racecourse on Friday 22nd July, with Rick Astley and Paul Young.

Three iconic 80’s acts guaranteed to get you singing and dancing the night away.

Rick Astley comes to Chelmsford following a 2016 sold out tour. His 1987 song “Never Gonna Give You Up” was a No.1 hit single in 25 countries. Rick has sold more than 40 million records worldwide.

Paul Young has been a major figure in the music scene since the 80’s with hits such as “Wherever I Lay My Hat” and “Come Back and Stay” two of his early hits. Paul will be performing all his hits.

Toyah in a career spanning more than 30 years, has had eight top 40 Singles including “It’s a Mystery”, “I Want to be Free” and “Echo Beach” to name a few!

• Continue reading/More info/Book tickets here.

Toyah’s blog for April 2016 is now available to read at toyahwillcox.com.

It’s no mystery that Toyah Willcox can’t wait to get back to Rewind

With her dramatic hairstyles and funky clothes, Toyah was the ultimate punk princess of the 1980s. Her unique style and incredible musical talent made her one of the leading rock legends of the era.

And now for the second year in a row, she is returning to Tayside to perform at this year’s Rewind Scotland 80s festival at Scone Palace.

Speaking to the Tele, Toyah revealed just how much she is looking forward to coming back to the area. “Rewind is a joyous occasion and I am really looking forward to coming to Scone once more,” she said. “However, I’m hoping to have a slightly easier time than last year.”

Toyah presented last year’s festival over the entire weekend — announcing the acts and leading the audience over the two days of entertainment.

• Continue reading at the Evening Telegraph. Look back at Rewind Scotland 2015 here.

Latest artists announced for Wickham Festival 2016

We’ve just updated our website with another 10 artists including the incredible SAS Band, Spike’s All-Stars, featuring Fish, Toyah and Roger Taylor of ‘Queen’ who’ll be headlining on Saturday. One of the world’s top Celtic music groups, the Grammy Award nominated, all-female, traditional Irish-American band Cherish The Ladies will be apprearing on Sunday. Beautiful vocals, superb musicianship and stunning step dancing. We’ve added artist profiles for each so follow the links below to find out more and watch videos of their performances.

• Continue reading at wickhamfestival.co.uk. Check out all of Toyah’s forthcoming gigs and appearances at toyahwillcox.com.

• The Yorkshire Times: For Two Glorious Weeks – All Roads Lead To Grassington: In its fourth decade, Grassington Festival once again brings some of the best established and emerging artists to the Yorkshire Dales, in an impressive line-up announced this week – Continue reading…

• Liverpool Sound & Vision: Toyah, Gig Review. St. George’s Hall Concert Room. Liverpool: There is nothing like seeing a female warrior on stage, a heroine to many performing with such vigorous intent that in the end all that is needed is to remember that Punk stood for something very classy, the opportunity to be unique and be given a chance, in the bland world that we seem to be steaming towards, that lesson is always to be heeded; Toyah Willcox, whether in full electric circus or in the ample arms of an acoustic set, holds the audience to account on such things – Continue reading…

• PR Photos: Toyah Willcox Talk and Concert at St George’s Hall in Liverpool – March 24, 2016: A selection of great shots from last month’s Liverpool date – Continue reading…

• The Express: 80s Pop Stars Then and Now: Toyah and a host of others… then and now – Continue reading…

• Reprobate Magazine: Review: The Ebony Tower: Made when TV movies were still ‘plays’ in Britain, this 1984 Granada production is an interesting, if flawed version of the John Fowles story, adapted by John Mortimer, and quite a big deal at the time, in part because of the casting of Laurence Olivier in a rare TV production at the twilight of his career – Continue reading…

Toyah Looks Forward to Getting Up Close & Personal at St George’s Hall

There are very few musicians and singers around who are instantly recognisable by their first names alone. Adele, Kylie, Madonna and, also, Toyah spring immediately to mind, with the latter set to appear at Liverpool’s St George’s Hall Small Concert Room venue on March 24th.

Known for her outlandish costumes, punk hairstyles, outspoken views and full on gig experiences, Toyah’s Acoustic, Up Close & Personal show, however, will be a completely different occurrence altogether. “I can’t tell you how well it works because it is all about the songs and all about the harmonies,” the It’s A Mystery singer explained.

“I have the two most amazing guitarists and backing vocalists with me, Colin Hinds from China Crisis and my permanent guitarist Chris Wong, and the sound we create is just so dancey and happy it makes for a really, really enjoyable show. I also use a lot of personal photographs and tell the stories behind the songs. Not too many, because it is still a music driven show, but it is very funny and incredibly irreverent.”

• Continue reading at Purple Revolver.

Galaxy of stars lined up for this year’s Grassington Festival

All roads will lead to Grassington in June, with a galaxy of stars lined up for the village’s two-week art and cultural festival. The opening night on June 17 promises a crowd-pleasing mix of Frank Sinatra songs performed by brothers Patrick and Gregory Kane from Hue and Cry alongside their own hits and newer material.

British rock group The Stranglers promise a showstopper of an evening on Friday, July 1, and finally, closing the festival on Saturday, July 2, will be the infamous Last Night Party with Marc Almond, supported by Toyah Willcox.

• Continue reading at the Craven Herald & Pioneer.