Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

We can’t look back at Love Is The Law without a play of this…

Dreamscape is compiling Love Is The Law – The Complete Lyrics. We’ve reached the penultimate song on the album – the brilliant Remember, co-written by Toyah, Joel Bogen and Simon Darlow. Click below to visit the LITL – The Complete Lyrics page.

LITL Month: Updates for the next week, beginning today, are “scheduled”. Live updates, including a news catch-up on the tour etc., will resume at the end of next week.

Issue 22 (October 2013) of Respect Magazine has just been published and included is a great four-page interview with Toyah. The magazine is available online in digital format and Toyah’s interview is on pages 48-51. She talks Love Is The Law, who she would like to collaborate with, her dream party guest list and much more. Click below to read at Issuu.

We’re now halfway, and a smidge, through Love Is The Law Month and there’s a plethora of law-related bits and pieces to browse through, with more to come… Look back on the month so far by clicking below.

• The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive: There’s now a full transcript of Toyah’s ‘ne1fm’ radio interview, which aired yesterday, at the Archive – Visit here…

• Birmingham Mail: Music Memories: Midlands gigs and UK pop charts from October 15, 1983: Also hitting stores this week 30 years ago was Toyah’s new album Love Is The Law. A tour was on the cards for Toyah but for the moment the Birmingham punk singer was in France filming a TV adaptation of John Fowles’ short story The Ebony Tower, alongside Sir Laurence Olivier and Greta Scacchi – Continue reading…

• Brum: Toyah briefly mentions Brum in the above ‘ne1fm’ interview so now is as good a time as any to post a link to this page dedicated to the BBC series, full of facts and trivia – Visit here…

• Those We Left Behind: Post Apocalypse XXVI – Toyah and Post Apocalyptic Skater Chic in ‘Rebel Run’ and ‘Love is the Law’ (1983): Looking for all the world like she had rocked up in some Italian Post Apocalypse ‘epic’ (The New Barbarians, 2019 After the Fall of New York, Exterminators of the Year 3000 etc), this is Toyah, in 1983, promoting her single ‘Rebel Run’ and the accompanying album ‘Love is the Law’ – Continue reading…

• Twitter/Instagram: Keep up to date with all things Love Is The Law & More by following Toyah at Twitter and Instagram. There’s sure to be updates from Toyah during the tour.

• Titania Girl!: Personally I don’t think so but there are a few people (mainly on Twitter) of the opinion that the lovely Sheridan Smith looks sort of Toyah-esque as Titania in the new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, currently playing at the Noel Coward Theatre in London’s West End. (NB: Toyah has also played Titania, as well as Hippolyta and Hermia in various productions of the play). View the photo here…

A new interview with Toyah, ahead of Friday’s first Love Is The Law & More gig, from Chronicle Live, published today.

Love is still the Law for 80s singer Toyah: We chat to Toyah ahead of her gig at Legends

Entertainment Editor Gordon Barr chats to Toyah, who is at Legends in Newcastle on Friday

Three decades on, 80s pop princess Toyah still recalls 1983 as one of her favourite years. Little wonder then she is bringing her album release of that year back out on the road.

Love Is The Law was critically acclaimed at the time and Toyah will be performing about six tracks from it, as well as a host of her numerous other hits, when she takes to the stage of Legends in Newcastle on Friday.

“This is my favourite album, it has very happy memories for me,” she tells me. “It was released in 1983 and I made it at a time when I was also appearing as Trafford Tanzi in the West End and it had to be written and recorded at the same time.

“But it was just glorious. I don’t have one bad memory of that year at all…”

• Continue reading at Chronicle Live.

Another upcoming radio interview with Toyah. She will guest on The Big Decades on ‘102.5 The Bridge’ this weekend. The programme airs from 10am on Sunday and you can listen live at the station’s website.

The Big Decades: 102.5 The Bridge: Sunday 20th October: 10am
Mark Spate hosts every Sunday morning. Guesting this week is Toyah Willcox.

Toyah’s ‘ne1fm102.5′ interview which aired on the Jowheretogo show yesterday afternoon is now available to listen to at Mixcloud: Toyah Willcox talks to Jo Oliver about the upcoming Autumn 2013 Tour, starting at Legends, Newcastle. The interview runs for just under 15 minutes and can be listened to by clicking below.

As previously mentioned, Toyah guest presents this week’s edition of Ramblings on ‘BBC Radio 4’. Here are a couple of photos of Toyah and Cathy Dreyer (with Buster) from the walk. Visit the Ramblings website to view larger versions of the photos and full details on this Thursday’s programme. (Photos © BBC)

• Visit Cathy’s Walking In A Circle blog. The page on the Ramblings walk is here.

We’re now into the last few days of the build up to the launch of Toyah’s Love Is The Law & More Tour. A 30th anniversary tribute to the 1983 album which kicks off this coming Friday in Newcastle. Here are another two pictures, Rebel of Love and Time is Ours – Will they be on the set list? View larger versions by clicking here, and get your tour tickets by clicking below. (Original photos by Dean Stockings © Toyah Willcox Ltd)

A sweet reminsence about Toyah in “Brief Encounters With Famous People” at Vloggerheads.

My Mum’s hobby was knitting. She was an absolute EXPERT at hand-knitting Arran sweaters.

One day in the late 80’s, I got a call on my carphone (yeah – I had one of those – I thought I was the Dog’s Bollocks) telling me I should come over for tea – there was someone famous that was coming over she wanted me to meet.

Turns out that one of Mum’s friends worked in the music business and she was having sweaters knitted to give as special gifts to her clients. One of her clients was Toyah Willcox (yeah – I know – lots of you won’t even know who she was!) – and Toyah was so impressed, she wanted to meet the knitter and order some special sweaters.

That was a surreal evening – Toyah was at the house for about 2 hours chatting with Mum about patterns and wool.  I just sat transfixed. She was absolutely beautiful in real life – nothing like her stage persona at all.

Mum knitted special-order Arran sweaters for Toyah Willcox and her friends from 1987 right up until her death in 2003. I always told her that they were rich and famous and she wasn’t charging them enough! :-)

• Visit the blog at Vloggerheads.

A reminder that there are two upcoming radio appearances for Toyah this week. Today on Jowheretogo on ‘ne1fm102.5′ and Thursday, guest presenting Ramblings on ‘BBC Radio 4’.

Jowheretogo: ne1fm102.5:
Monday 14th October: 12.00pm
Jo Oliver presents listeners with an hour of information on what’s on in the local area, including gigs, theatre, comedy and more. This Monday’s show has an interview with Toyah who is at Legends Rock Club next Friday – fun starts at 12.

Ramblings: BBC Radio 4: Thursday 17th October: 3.00pm
Ramblings: BBC Radio 4: Saturday 19th October: 6.07am
5: The Same Walk 365 Times. Walking series. Guest presenter Toyah Willcox joins listener Cathy Dreyer as she completes yet another circuit of a short local route in Oxfordshire that she has chosen to walk 365 times.

Toyah’s second, and final single, from the Love Is The Law album was ‘The Vow’, the first time a ballad had been released as a single by Toyah. This was also the final single on Safari Records (though at the time there were still plans to release ‘Dreamscape’ as a single in early 1984). No official promo video was filmed for the single so ITV’s The Saturday Show and Toyah made one, and it’s a good clip. View at Dreamscape’s You Tube channel by clicking below. View larger versions of the screen caps here. (Thanks to Andy for the clip)

I’ve always loved the original Love Is The Law press advert published in Japanese magazines in 1983. The ad was only ever available in black and white so I’ve made an attempt at colourisation. It didn’t turn out quite as well as I hoped it would but I thought I’d share it anyway… View the original here.

• Love Is The Law & More: Tour Starts This Friday in Newcastle: Like and Share this image on Facebook and be entered into a draw to win this brand new 2013 tour t-shirt and both brand new posters – signed by Toyah. Tickets: www.toyahwillcox.com/gigs. Terms: www.toyahwillcox.com/tour – Visit Toyah’s Official Facebook…

• Live 2013: KAOS, Blackpool: The set list for Toyah’s PA on Thursday was: Echo Beach, Thunder In The Mountains, Rebel Yell, It’s A Mystery, I Love Rock ‘N Roll, I Want To Be Free. View a clip of Echo Beach at You Tube… (Thanks to Michael O’Brien)

• Naked Eye: Quadrophenia – The Reunion: Scroll down to the September 24 post to read a great report on last month’s Quadrophenia-fest in London – View here…

• Upton Festival 2013: Toyah’ full set was recently uploaded to ‘You Tube’. The set list includes Bird in Flight, Jungles of Jupiter, Rebel Run, Brave New World and Danced – View here…

• Record Collector: Newsletter: Derek Jarman’s Sketchbooks is published by Thames & Hudson in September and features contributions from Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant, and Toyah, who appears at the Classic Cinema: The Reunion Q&A/screening of Quadrophenia at London’s Institut Français Ciné Lumière, Queensberry Place, 23 September, and the Kensington Victoria & Albert Museum’s In Conversation, 8 November – View here…

Back in 2003 the marking of the 20th anniversary of Toyah’s Love Is The Law album was a far more subdued affair than what’s currently happening for the 30th. Maybe it was considered too soon to go down Nostalgia Avenue (!). One of the very few things that did happen was Dreamscape’s 20th Anniversary feature. I think this was my first attempt at something like this and compared to later features it is very amateurish but I knew I wanted to do something to remember one of my favourite albums. This was definitely before I had learned to use Photoshop properly :) One of the best things about it, though, was In The Fairground‘s Andrew York reminiscing about 1983. Go back 10 years, to when the internet was a little less frenetic, by clicking below.

A bumper update to In The Fairground: Andrew York’s Arternative Universe, with 12 new photos added. View Andrew’s latest wonderful Toyah creations by clicking below (full details on the Updates page)

Toyah will be interviewed on Jo Oliver’s Jowheretogo radio show on, Newcastle & Gateshead based, ‘ne1fm102.5’ next Monday afternoon.

Jo’s programme airs from Midday and can be listened to online at the station’s website. Toyah’s ‘Love Is The Law & More’ Tour kicks off at Newcastle’s Legends on Friday 18th October.

Jowheretogo: ne1fm102.5: Monday 14th October: 12.00pm
Jo Oliver presents listeners with an hour of information on what’s on in the local area, including gigs, theatre, comedy and more. This Monday’s show has an interview with Toyah who is at Legends Rock Club next Friday – fun starts at 12.

“I’ve got Broken Diamonds going round & around & around in my head! One week till first show!“, Toyah tweeted today. Click below to view all the ‘Love Is The Law & More’ tour dates and links to buy your tickets. Click here to view a larger version of Dreamscape’s “Broken Diamonds” picture, and here to visit our ‘Love Is The Law: The Complete Songwords’ page. (Original photo by Dean Stockings © Toyah Willcox Ltd)

In late November 1983, just after Love Is The Law had been released and just before the start of the ‘Rebel Run’ Tour, Toyah guested on The Janice Long Show on ‘BBC Radio One’. She talked about all manner of topics, including recording the album, her plans for the future and an embryonic idea which is close to what we now recognise as the internet. Listen to the interview by clicking below.

The latest issue of Breaking Through, Toyah’s Official Newsletter, was mailed out to subscribers at the beginning of the week and, as always, it contained lots of news… I won’t spoil it too much in case you haven’t read yours yet, but here is Dreamscape’s usual brief summary of what is included:

• Love Is The Law & More: News on the upcoming tour (which is now just nine days from premiering in Newcastle), and related merchandise (see posters below). Get your tour tickets here.

• Dispatches: News briefs on Toyah’s Vintage Christmas 2013, Shakespuss (a new project by Melissa Mailer-Yates), Ramblings,  Quadrophenia Reunited, The Official Website’s partial makeover, and plans for Toyah’s Advent for December 2013

• Live 2013: Info on Toyah’s other PAs and events for the remainder of this year, including the PA at KAOS in Blackpool tomorrow night.

• Next Newsletter: There will be a ‘Breaking Through’ mailed out in November too.

• Subscribe: For full info on all of the above, and to receive future issues of the newsletter, sign up to ‘Breaking Through: The Official Toyah Mailing List’ here. (Photo by Dean Stockings © Toyah Willcox Ltd)