Dreamscape is Remembering 1983 all this year! Toyah guested on ITV’s The Saturday Show (the successor to TISWAS) that year, co-hosting the programme with Isla St Clair. Click below for larger versions of the screen caps. (Thanks to Andi for this great Toyah footage)
Toyah appearing on The Saturday Show in 1983. (Thanks to Andi for this great Toyah footage)
• Mayhem: The 2013 reprint of the 2005 CD reissue of Toyah’s 1985 Safari album ‘Mayhem’ is included in the latest Burning Shed newsletter: This fascinating album gives an insight into late 70s/early 80s works in progress by Toyah and comprises finished songs not included on EPs and albums.
• TCM Turner Classic Movies: A Jarman double-bill aired on TCM over the weekend, including another showing of The Tempest, with Toyah as Miranda.
• This is Local London: Scarlett Fever: Rockabilly band launch debut album with free gig at New Wimbledon Studios: Kent trio Scarlett Rae and the Cherry Reds play original tracks from their album Crash Landing and a selection of cover songs at the gig. The band, formed in 2011, is made up of lead vocalist and double bassist Andee Price, drummer Chris Wong and guitarist Ben Green. Wong is also the musical director for 1980s star Toyah Willcox…
• WFMU: Dark Night of the Soul with Julie: Playlist from May 2, 2013: An emotional trainwreck in fluffy bunny slippers… ‘Out Of The Blue’ from Dreamchild was included on Julie’s show playlist on Thursday night.
• WFMU: Toyah Special: Julie’s A Celebration of the Crimson Queen from May 2011 is still available to listen to online. A transcript of the Toyah Special is available here.
A new interview with Toyah, published by the Hereford Times on Friday.
A great night out in prospect at The Courtyard as Toyah Willcox stars in Hormonal Housewives
Think of Toyah Willcox and “housewife” isn’t a word that immediately springs to mind – punk princess, yes, award-winning actress, certainly – but she’s currently relishing the role as she plays one of the eponymous Hormonal Housewives of Julie Coombe and John McIsaac’s hugely successful show, which arrives at The Courtyard in Hereford on Wednesday, May 15.
“I took the part because it’s a very funny script and I adore doing comedy,” she says. “Before this the only comedy I’d done was Shakespeare and Arthur Smith, which is very different.
It’s a genre I really love, and this show delivers a laugh at least every five lines. It’s one of the most outrageous pieces of theatre, very very naughty, but with a big smile on its face.”
• Continue reading at the Hereford Times.
A special update to In The Fairground: Andrew York’s Arternative Universe. Andrew has just completed the amazing “Anthemscape” and you can view it in the site’s Anthem gallery.
One of the famous “Toyah bonnets” by Gary Price. This was the first one (an MG) from 1981 and, apparently, he did numerous others over the next couple of years. He got stopped by a policeman in the early hours of Christmas Day 1981 while travelling home from the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane ‘Good Morning Universe’ gig and when ‘I Want To Be Free’ was in the charts kids used to dance round the car at traffic lights. By Spring 1982 he was on the dole and working on a portfolio to apply to go to Chelsea Art College. At this time he couldn’t afford to run the car so it was kept in a garage.
By around mid 1982 Gary was working on a third bonnet and was planning another two – he was hoping when they were all complete that there would be a photo session done with Toyah. Unfortunately this didn’t happen. It sounds as though there were various artworks designed for subsequent bonnets. This first one was in loads of magazines (at least eight by early ’82) and on Nationwide and TISWAS!!!
• Click here to view a larger version. (Thanks to Andi | Photo by Tara Nowy)
Five more recent radio interviews with Toyah are now available, as transcripts, over at Lärwi’s fantastic fansite The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive: Radio Eagle, BBC Radio Derby, BBC Radio Leicester, BBC Radio Wiltshire and BBC Radio Humberside. Catch up on all of Toyah’s recent radio interviews and appearances in Dreamscape’s news feed here.
A Gallery update: A trio of great shots of Toyah live at Kremlin, Belfast in August 2004. Click below to view larger versions of these. (Thanks to Jonathan David Smyth)
A couple of screen caps from last night’s All Star Mr & Mrs end-credits preview of next week’s programme, featuring Toyah and Robert. The first programme of the new series had a viewing figure of 4 million. Click below to view larger versions.
All Star Mr & Mrs: ITV: Wednesday 8th May: 8.00pm
All Star Mr & Mrs: ITV +1: Wednesday 8th May: 9.00pm
Phillip Schofield presents a new series of the classic game show as three celebrity couples battle it out to win £30,000 for their chosen charity. Who knows the most about their other half? The couples hoping to win big this time are TV presenter Gabby Logan and husband Kenny Logan, singer Toyah Willcox and husband, guitarist Robert Fripp, and EastEnders actor Jake Wood and wife Alison Wood.
Toyah’s ‘The Changeling’ places at #100 in the Slicing Up Eyeballs Top 100 Albums Of 1982 poll, published today. This is the third consecutive appearance for Toyah albums; ‘Sheep Farming in Barnet’ was at #92 in the 1980 poll and ‘Anthem’ at #65 in the 1981 poll. I’m sure most of us are of the opinion that these great albums should be much higher but it’s good to see them being included. Voting in the 1983 poll opens next week.
Toyah guested on David Burns’ show on ‘BBC Radio Humberside’ today. The interview is available to listen to at BBC iPlayer. It will remain online until next Wednesday.
Toyah talks Quadrophenia and its enduring legacy, Hormonal Housewives and more.
• The interview begins at approximately 2hrs 7ms into the show and runs for around six minutes. Listen here.
• Scunthorpe Telegraph: Toyah Willcox starring at Scunthorpe Baths Hall on Thursday: A new interview with Toyah: Stepping inside the mind of a woman is a scary thought for some men. But if you want to imagine what it is like for us girls, this show will give you an idea.
• Chester Chronicle: Toyah Willcox to star in Hormonal Housewives at Crewe Lyceum: Pop icon Toyah Willcox will be in South Cheshire later this month when the irrepressible Hormonal Housewives head for Crewe’s Lyceum Theatre
• Instagram: Check out the latest photos Toyah has instagrammed!.
• The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive: Read full transcripts of Toyah’s interviews from Keith Middleton’s Late Show from BBC Radio Shropshire in early March and Justin Moorhouse on BBC Radio Manchester from the beginning of April.
• Rock the Stadium: Toyah, Five Star, Altered Images, Midge Ure, Paul Young and many others will “Rock The Stadium” in Falkirk on Saturday 22nd June.
• Dangerous Minds: Films and Filming: Original photo-spread for Derek Jarman’s Jubilee.
Toyah is guesting on David Burns’ show on BBC Radio Humberside tomorrow morning.
The programme begins airing at 9am and runs for three hours. It can be listened to live online at the BBC website, and will also be available at BBC iPlayer post broadcast.
David Burns: BBC Radio Humberside: Wednesday 1st May: 9.00am
Burnsy makes sense of the day’s big stories with your help.
A review of Hormonal Housewives, published by the Manchester Evening News on Friday.
Hormonal Housewives at Palace Theatre: Girl power as strong as ever
Denise Evans laughs along with everyone as she enjoys Hormonal Housewives at Palace Theatre
The Spice Girls’ hit Wannabe blasts out to warm up the audience before the show. Who better than the girlband that reinvigorated the girl power movement to start off a play which firmly puts men in their place.
For the handful of men braving a spot in the audience the constant put-downs and snide remarks made it a squirm- a-second experience they had no choice but to laugh along with.
• Continue reading at the Manchester Evening News.
A few more Jubilee photos from 1977 and very early ’78. View these, the last lot posted a couple of weeks ago, and a few more at Dreamscape’s Gallery. (Thanks to Andi)
Something we haven’t done for a while… a look at which other places in the world people are visiting Dreamscape from. Toyah fans are all over the globe.
As always the majority of visits are from the UK, but as you can see, over the last 24 hours there have been visitors from France, USA, Germany, Australia, Spain and numerous other countries. This is just a snapshot of the last day or so, no doubt the list of locations will be quite different tomorrow or the next day!
Hello to everyone out there! What was the last album you played? I’m currently listening to the playlist I put together a few months ago.
• Click on the screenshot to view a larger version. Previous stats updates are available to view here.
• An Occasional Plug: I Was A Teenage Toyah Fan chronicles a slice of adolescent life from late 1979 to late 1986 and recalls the experience of being a pop music fan in the early eighties, evoking the feelings of a very different time before the internet, mobile phones or multi-channel TV put media at our fingertips.
• Strawberry Line Times: Sat 27 Apr. Theatre preview: ex punk Toyah teams up with Julie Coombe for a hormonal moment: The former pink haired punk rocker Toyah Willcox is appearing in Bristol next month in Hormonal Housewives. She stars in the show at the Bristol Hippodrome with Julie Coombe.
• Robert Fripp’s Diary: Lots of “behind-the-scenes” photos from the ‘At Home’ part of the forthcoming All Star Mr & Mrs programme. Robert says: “A four-hour visit for perhaps two minutes of screentime“. Looks like the adorable Willyfred was ready for his close up!
• Red Funnel: Jack Up The 80s: 10-11 August 2013. Don’t miss this great new 2 day 80’s music event featuring Heaven 17, Bad Manners, Katrina and the Waves, Bootleg Blondie and Toyah to name just a few.
• _Black_Acrylic: Derek Jarman – Jubilee: Jubilee is a 1978 cult film directed by Derek Jarman. It stars Jenny Runacre, Ian Charleson, and a host of punk rockers, including Adam Ant and Toyah. The title refers to the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 1977.
• The Quietus: Adam Ant On Fashion, Back-Carving & MJ: Interesting video interview with Adam in which he also talks about Jubilee.
• BBC America Doctor Who Specials: Three of the documentaries Toyah guested in last year, The Women Of Doctor Who, The Timey Wimey Of Doctor Who, The Destinations Of Doctor Who, have been released on R1 DVD. Although they are on a standalone disc with its own artwork (see photo) they can only be purchased as part of a huge, 41-disc, six-series spanning, box set. View more info on the BBC America DW specials here.
• Birmingham Music Heritage (Untold Stories 1965-1985): Below, Toyah Willcox, Fuzz Townshend of Pop Will Eat Itself, and former Black Sabbath manager Jim Simpson, along with Birmingham band manager and promoter, Barry Tomes talk about Birmingham’s venues of the 60s, 70s and 80s.
Exactly 30 years ago Toyah was starring in Claire Luckham’s Trafford Tanzi at the Mermaid Theatre, London. BBC1’s Get Set aired a great interview on the Tanzi set, with Toyah, looking quite amazing, putting Peter Powell in his place! And here it is.
Toyah was on the cover of, and interviewed in, ‘Hot Press’ twice in 1981. This is the first, from 17th April of that year.
Tara Winter Uncovers The Many Faces Behind The Make-Up
1) Toyah is a dilletante, dabbling in fashionable performance arts for sheer self-gratification.
2) Toyah is a violent sub-cult, fronted by a spitting vixen, getting her kicks from other people’s boots.
3) Toyah is an egomaniac, keeping the musicians in her group in neutral tones, in the dark, out of the picture.
4) Toyah is arrogant, difficult, unreliable, and wears all that make-up to hide acne.
Did you spot the deliberate mistake? Stay behind, anyone who realised that all of the above areuntrue, and I’ll teach you to dance the mashed potato.
When we met on a still-foggy Belfast morning, Toyah was already wide awake, sitting with utter composure amid the bleary salesmen and snaking hoovers that characterise preprandial hotels. We would talk for half an hour, please, and then there was a plane to catch. Tom, Toyah’s boyfriend/minder, set the alarm on his watch…
• Read the full classic Toyah interview by clicking on each of the above scans.
A great photo of Toyah at BBC Salford on Thursday, visiting to guest on BBC Breakfast. View the interview here or by clicking below. (Photo © BBC | Thanks to Tremayne Andrews)
The Canadian premiere of The Power Of Three takes place at the Creekside Theatre in Lake Country BC (Winfield) on Saturday 29th June. Doors open at 6pm for PreShow: Wine and Dessert bar, Art Gallery & More!
The “LIFE AFTER LAUNDRY” Ladies CLUB presents – The Power Of Three
“The Power of Three is a delightful anecdote about friendship, perseverance and hope that celebrates the strength of the older woman.” Studio Magazine, UK
Toyah plays Michelle, one of three leading characters, in the film. View the trailer, and read a short review by Steve Riley, who saw the film in Brooklyn last April.
• Further info at Creekside Theatre’s website (foot of page).
