Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

A great new interview with Bill Rieflin, by The Seattle Times, ahead of next week’s The Humans/Slow Music US live dates in Seattle and Portland.

It’s Bill Rieflin times two at Slow Music and Humans show next week | Concert preview

Bill Rieflin will be on double duty next week when he appears at the Triple Door on April 14 and 15. The multi-instrumentalist, who boasts a wide-ranging resume (Ministry, R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails, Robyn Hitchcock), will headline both shows with his improvisational group Slow Music, which also includes legendary English guitarist Robert Fripp, as well as playing in the evening’s opening act, the Humans, which features Fripp’s wife, English singer/actress Toyah Willcox.

“Believe me, it’s not my idea,” Rieflin said of the double billing. It all began when Rieflin was recently out dining in London with Fripp, Willcox, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck (another Slow Music member), and Young Fresh Fellows/R.E.M. guitarist Scott McCaughey.

• Continue reading at The Seattle Times.

“The poster for the double-bill appearance in Seattle….  in the car, photo by Robert :-)“, Toyah tweeted this morning. Not long now until the US dates begin. View another photo at Facebook. Click below to visit The Humans Official Website. (Photo © Robert Fripp)

Toyah was never a shrinking violet when it came to rummaging through the dressing up box, and she’ll no doubt be done up like Fenwick’s Christmas window when she gets out her greatest hits at Blyth’s lovely Phoenix Theatre this May.

Has Toyah released an autobiography yet? If not she needs to get scribbling as she’s got a tale to tell. From playing ‘Mad’ in Derek Jarman’s punk film Jubilee (and ‘Monkey’ in mod epic Quadrophenia) to colourful pop star, to stage performer, to a whole range of TV presenting jobs (she’s ran the full gamut on the small screen from The Good Sex Guide to Songs Of Praise), she’s a woman who’s been constantly on the move. And her pop career, which has yielded thirteen top 40 singles and twenty albums, has won her an enormous army of fans who will no doubt be in force on her Crimson Queen tour in which she’ll be playing all her greatest hits. X-Factor? Toyah’s still got the Max-Factor.

Toyah Willcox, Saturday 10 May, Phoenix Theatre, Blyth, 7pm, £20/£23. thephoenixtheatre.org.uk

• Read the article at The Crack website.

Toyah and Robert left the UK yesterday, flying to the US for some adventures of The Humans (and Slow Music) variety.

To mark The Humans making their West Coast appearances to promote Strange Tales the band’s live cover of the Hendrix classic Purple Haze is available to stream over at Soundcloud. This final track from the Scala live recordings means the entire 2010 gig is available across the various digital live releases or website exclusives.

THE HUMANS with guest human ROBERT FRIPP
Purple Haze [Live at Scala, London 2010]
Audio recorded/mixed by Paul Nicholson
——————————-
THE HUMANS are Toyah Willcox, Bill Rieflin & Chris Wong
www.thehumansofficial.com

More fantastic photos from the Crimson Queen/Greatest Hits…Live! UK Tour. These are from Saturday night’s gig at St Mary In The Castle, Hastings. Click below to view the full versions of these photos, and more, at Dreamscape Gallery. (Thanks to Angus (1&5), Brian (2&4) and Paul and Merx (3&6) | Photos © Angus Turner, Brian Marsh & Paul Stephens)

Toyah’s April blog is now available at The Official Toyah Willcox Website. Click below to read.

Official Toyah Gigs: More concerts for 2014 are sporadically being added to Toyah’s live schedule – View all of the confirmed live dates for 2014 at The Official Gigs page.

Toyah played the sixth date of her, nine-month-spanning, Crimson Queen/Greatest Hits…Live! tour last night at St Mary In The Castle, Hastings. Meanwhile, here are more great photos from last weekend’s CQ/GH… Live! gig at the Jazz Cafe, Camden. The next live date for Toyah is another CQ concert, at The Grand, Clitheroe on Saturday 19th April, though there are live dates for The Humans in the US next week. Click below to view the full versions of these photos, and more, at Dreamscape Gallery. (Thanks to Damon | All photos © Damon King)

Tales Of The Unexpected: Sky Arts 2: Friday 18th April: 1.30pm
Tales Of The Unexpected: Sky Arts 2: Saturday 19th April: 6.30am
Blue Marigold. Series 5, Episode 1. Dropped by her agency for her diva-like behaviour, supermodel Marigold’s mental health deteriorates. Years later, she plots a comeback. Director: Giles Foster. Starring: Toyah Willcox, Ralph Bates, Sharon Duce, Helen Fraser, Billy Hamon, Edward Jewesbury.

A new website for the forthcoming SohoCreate festival is now online. Toyah will be participating and is included in the website’s “All Speakers” section. Click below to visit.

A new article on Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, in which Toyah appeared as Janet in 1980, at Memorable TV. They use a great screen cap of Toyah’s character too.

Period horror. In 1980 the BBC broadcast a feature length period adaptation of Stevenson’s proto horror classic, pulling out all the stops and persuading David Hemmings to take the lead in a rare TV role and very good he is too as the doctor who unleashes his dark side on Victorian society – with murderous and bloody consequences…

Hemmings is marvelously decadent as Hyde and the production design is sumptuous. There are some great supporting performaces too, not least from the excellent Ian Bannen who is not as well remembered these days as he should be) and also a young Toyah Willcox who at the time was trying to make more of a mark as an actress than as the punk singer she was best known for. There’s also a cameo from the gorgeous Diana Dors.

• Read the full article, including cast list and production details, at Memorable TV.

• Kate O’Mara: I was very sad to hear of the death of Kate on Sunday. Fantastic in Doctor Who, Absolutely Fabulous and countless other TV, theatre and film roles. Toyah tweeted a tribute to Kate: “Darling Kate O’Mara! God bless you and thank u for ur friendship and inspiring spirit.”

• Telegraph: Kate O’Mara: In Pictures: Includes a publicity photo featuring Joan Sims as Mrs White, Kate O’Mara as Mrs Peacock and Toyah Willcox as Miss Scarlet from the 1990 TV series Cluedo – View the photo tribute here…

• Jubilee in New York: The legendary film is showing at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music May 30 — Jun 1, as part of their Punk Rock Girls festival: “It’s almost an understatement to say that Jubilee has a lot going for it.” – Time Out, London – View more details here…

• Great British Alternative Music Festival: Watch/listen to Toyah perform ‘It’s A Mystery’ at the festival, on Sunday, at You Tube…

• Toyah’s Tattoo: Toyah instagrammed a photo of her new tattoo yesterday, 1st April…

• Happy Birthday Chris: Sending Best Wishes to Chris Wong, who is celebrating his birthday today.

A few more photos from Saturday’s gig at the Jazz Cafe, Camden, including a great shot of Sharon (who sent the photos) and Stevie Bray. Click below to view the full versions of these, and more, at Dreamscape Gallery. (Thanks again to Sharon | All photos © Sharon Dickson)

SohoCreate to showcase some of the creative quarter’s brightest talents, with restaurateur Mark Hix and Line of Duty’s Simon Heath joining the list of speakers

Actor Gary Kemp and singer and I’m a Celebrity contestant Toyah Willcox have agreed to take part in SohoCreate, the West End neighbourhood’s inaugural creative arts festival.

Assembling some of the UK’s leading creative minds, the June event will offer insights with sessions featuring a number of other creative specialists .

• Continue reading at the Radio Times.

A new post at Fragments with some, frankly, tantalisingly exciting details on future music (re)releases from Toyah. At an early stage for now.

The Big Question Mark (Or The Art Of Being Wrong)

I was wrong.

I often am about a whole host of things. This is a really, really happy wrong though in what has been a pretty amazing month for one reason or another.

The reason I am so gleeful that I was wrong relates to the sleevenote I penned for the reissue of Mayhem back in October 2005.

• Continue reading at Fragments: Toyah Tales From Now & Then.

Pop icon, TV presenter and actress Toyah Willcox will headline this year’s Crick Boat Show & Waterways Festival entertainment programme.

The annual event, which showcases the inland waterways industry with over 250 exhibitors from across the canal world, takes place at Crick Marina, near Rugby from May 24 to 26.

Organised by Waterways World in partnership with the Canal & River Trust and Crick Marina, the Show is expected to attract 25,000 visitors. Toyah will be performing her Acoustic, Up Close & Personal set at Crick as part of the show’s Saturday evening entertainment programme.

• Continue reading at the Rugby Advertiser. Browse all of Dreamscape’s Toyah at Crick Boat Show news.

A selection of colourful photos of Toyah from Saturday’s Crimson Queen/Greatest Hits…Live! gig at the Jazz Cafe, Camden have just been added to Dreamscape Gallery. (Thanks to Mark | All photos © Mark Evans)

An update to In The Fairground: Andrew York’s Arternative Universe, with seven new photos. View Andrew’s most recent Toyah art by clicking below (full details on the Updates page)

Around 100 ‘extras’ will be needed in Birmingham tonight for a scene in a science fiction film.

The film Kaleidoscope Man, directed by Simon Cox, will star Toyah Willcox.

Tonight’s scene (Sunday 30th March) will be filmed in Cornwall Street, off Margaret Street and Edmund Street, between 7.30pm and 10.30pm. The film crew are hoping to capture crowd action and special effects scenes.

• Continue reading at the Tyburn Mail.

More photos, including this great shot below, of Toyah from the two most recent dates of the Crimson Queen/Greatest Hits…Live! UK Tour have just been added to Dreamscape Gallery. These are from the Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne and, last night’s gig at, Jazz Cafe, Camden. (Thanks to Angus | All photos © Angus Turner)

Crimson Queen/Greatest Hits…Live! – Good Morning Universe and It’s A Mystery, at Jazz Cafe, Camden on Saturday.

Toyah onstage on Friday night at the Tivoli Theatre, Wimborne, on another date of the Crimson Queen/Greatest Hits…Live! UK Tour. This was a special concert for Toyah, her husband Robert, sister-in-law Patricia Fripp, and family and friends from Wimborne attended the gig. Click below to view the full versions of these photos, and more, at Dreamscape Gallery. (Thanks to Chris| All photos © Chris Cox)

A new interview with Toyah, published yesterday, by the Western Morning News.

Toyah aims to make a big impression at festival

Toyah Willcox thrives under the spotlight… and there have been all manner of such illuminations during her three-decade music-making and acting career. From Top of the Pops, films like Quadrophenia, via West End musicals, pantomime, countless TV and radio drama roles, reality shows like I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, to intimate West Coast USA club shows with side project The Humans, there are few performance opportunities the 55-year-old has not embraced.

She is the veritable queen of diversity and reinvention, with almost 20 albums, eight top 40 hits and a myriad acting parts behind her, as well as many honest revelations about her family, her marriage and her facelift.

Tomorrow she and her band will rock the stage at the Great British Alternative Music Festival in Minehead as part of a weekend feast of punk, new wave, mod and ska excellence from original late 1970s and early 80s artists. We’re talking names like the Damned, Buzzcocks, Bad Manners, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Cockney Rejects and The Blockheads.

Tapping into the contemporary thirst for nostalgia with quality credentials, it’s a Westcountry gathering that’s now in its third year. Not only does it attract stalwart original fans, there’s a whole new generation joining the party, fuelled by their parents’ record collections and the vast cultural library offered by Internet trawling.

• Continue reading at the Western Morning News. It’s also been published under the title: No mystery about Toyah’s multi-talented career.