A selection of iconic 80’s popstars will headline the opening night of Lytham Proms Festival Weekend 2012 on Friday 3rd August 2012. “Here and Now, The Very Best of the 80’s” will feature stars: Bananarama, Rick Astley, The Real Thing, Belinda Carlisle, Toyah, Curiosity Killed the Cat and T’Pau in what is dubbed as being the Fylde Coast’s biggest party EVER!
• Continue reading, at the ‘Lythams Proms Festival Weekend 2012’ website, here.
• There’s an excellent selection of screen caps from Tomorrow Calling, the 1993 short film Toyah appeared in, at ‘William Gibson aleph’. Tomorrow Calling aired on Channel 4, premiering in December 1994 (part of the ‘Short & Curlies’ season), and was also presented at the British Film Festival in October 1996. View here. Take a look here too :)
• Lärwi, of The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive, has created an audio/slide video for Andi Fragg’s version of ‘Wow’. View here.
• Toyah is mentioned in the ‘Scotsman’ obituary of Andrew Currie who passed away on 28th March: In the 1990s one of his visitors was the singer Toyah Willcox who, as part of a television series, made a trip to Skye to see eagles and talk to Currie, the local expert on the subject.
• Toyah is namecked in this ‘Herts & Essex Observer’ news article on Hazel O’Connor.
• A couple of great Toyah photos (including one of Andi’s Toyah wallpapers, which seem to pop up all over the internet) in the “Make Up” gallery at ‘Pinterest’. View here.
• Rainbow Messengers: It’s A Mystery, It’s A Mystery… View here.
On this week’s UK Indie album chart,
5. Stations Of The Crass – Crass
4. Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! – Toyah
3. Closer – Joy Division
2. Dirk Wears White Sox – Adam and the Ants
1. He Who Dares Wins – Theatre Of Hate
What an amazing top five. Every one of those albums still sound good in 2012. View the full and original ATV documentary TOYAH that includes music from ‘Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!’.
• Info Source: ‘The River 103.7’. View here.
The official website for the Workington ‘Decades Festival 2012’ has been launched today. Toyah plays a live PA at the festival on Saturday 26th May, at Club Ice.
Decades Weekend May 25/26/27
The Fortunes, The Fourmost, Billy Walker, The Quireboys, New Amen Corner, Toyah Willcox, David Van Day and Ed Tuderpole. Line Up, Gallery and Ticket pages coming soon. Lets get Workington rocking.
• Visit the site. Click below to view the official ‘Decades’ flyer. Visit their Facebook page here.
Decades is a festival with something for everyone. After watching trade slowly go down publicans in Workington decided to create a festival for all with the expertise of Maryport Festivals and bring the town back to life. We will have music genres such as pop, blues, rock, indie, seventies sixties and eighties.
If you cant find something you like then your not looking. Take a trip down memory lane and remember the days of the old school yard, you know you want to. With some old favourites such as The Fortunes, The Fourmost, Billy Walker, The Quireboys and New Amen Corner on the pub trail it will be hard to beat. Then in Club Ice for Toyah Willcox, David Van Day and Ed Tuderpole in the main venue you will be spoiled for choice.
• Continue reading, at ‘Music Mafia UK’, here.
Last month’s I Was A Teenage Toyah Fan Amazon Kindle promotion was a big success for the book.
A Facebook update on this today, with a screenshot of the Amazon chart: Last months chart showing during the Amazon KDP Select promotion (it actually went a few places higher but this was the only screen shot I got).
View a larger version of the screenshot. Congratulations to Chris.
There are now just five days to go until the premiere gig of ‘The Changeling Resurrection 2012’ tour.
Click below to view Toyah’s 1982 feature on Nationwide. This originally aired in early July 1982 on BBC1, and includes a great interview with Toyah. She talks about her career, music, acting, individuality, her lisp and much more.
There are clips from ‘At The Rainbow’ Shoestring and the ‘Brave New World’ video,
What is significant about the Nationwide clip is that it contains the only, known, footage of 1982’s ‘The Changeling Tour’ as no other video recordings seem to have been made (strange when two full concerts were captured, and televised by the BBC, the previous year). Some of the rehearsals were filmed for inclusion in the programme’s piece and there are brief clips of Toyah performing ‘Dawn Chorus’. The stage set looks great onscreen! (Thanks to Andi)
A report on the ‘Stortfest Crawl 2012’, including info from the festival director, Simon Baker.
Organisers of the Stortford Music Festival have announced a week-long series of events that will take place in and around the town starting next month. Commencing on April 29 and running until May 06, the event is being called the Stortfest Crawl.
Organisers are busy booking bands but can today confirm that the legendary punk-popstress Toyah Willcox will be playing the Rhodes Arts Complex on Saturday May 05 celebrating the 30th anniversary of her seminal “The Changeling” album with a greatest hits set. Festival director Simon Baker said: “This is one act we are particularly excited about. While taking a breather for a year, we felt it was important for people to know that the festival was still going strong and will be back next year. Being able to confirm Toyah as one of the fantastic acts who will be playing during the week proves that people can expect the same high calibre of performers that they have enjoyed in previous years.” (Thanks to Ian Grainge)
More tantalising Changeling related tweets from Toyah, and Toyah Official, over the Easter weekend: Yesterday: “Only a week till Brighton. The new set is a stonking blinder! A total rush! I can’t wait.“, and today: “Send my kisses to the old world…A BRAVE NEW WORLD is coming in 6 days!” along with the photo that got everyone excited when it was revealed a few years ago.
Click here for your tickets to ‘The Changeling Resurrection’ premiere at Brighton’s Concorde2.
Six days to go… Another audio interview that’s been available at Dreamscape and The Changeling 30 sites but good to have it here too in this countdown week to the launch of ‘The Changeling Resurrection’ tour.
This is the only audio that exists from 1982 with Toyah discussing ‘The Changeling’ in any detail.
Toyah guests on Rock On on ‘BBC Radio 1’, talking to Mark Ellen about the album, aliens, fairies, changelings, critics, the ‘Brave New World’ image and much more.
Mark Ellen sounds quite bemused but it’s fair to say that in 1982 he would probably have been far happier interviewing Bruce Springsteen or REO Speedwagon.
• There’s also a full transcript of this interview, at ‘The TW Interview Archive’, here.
• ‘The Blue Meaning’ is one of the choices at the Naim Audio forum’s “What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol.VIII)”.
• Toyah, 1979 is included in a gallery of great art by Gary Thomas in ‘My Art’ at Pinterest.
• Uploaded to ‘You Tube’ on Friday, this ‘ITV Night-Time Junction 1996’ advert includes a brief clip of Toyah presenting The Good Sex Guide Late: “Sex, sex and more sex! That’s what you’ll be getting from me for the next hour!!” View here.
30 years ago this month the episode of Tales Of The Unexpected starring Toyah, ‘Blue Marigold’, aired on ITV. Here is a rare Channel Islands issue of ‘TV Times’ magazine, published the week the drama was broadcast, featuring Toyah on the cover and an interview inside.
• View a larger version of the cover by clicking above. Scans of the other pages and interview are here, here and here. (Many thanks to Paul Lomas for the scans)
Have a great Easter Sunday! Toyah tweeted this cute photo of Willyfred on Good Friday.
A great new interview with Toyah, published today by the ‘Herts & Essex Observer’. An interviewer who actually asks some interesting and intelligent questions!!
Toyah promises Stortford audience new twists on her classic tracks
For original 80s wild child Toyah Willcox, growing old gracefully was never on the cards. At the age of 53, the gloriously extravagant and punk-inspired New Wave singer remains every bit as keen to strap on an outrageous outfit and strut into the spotlight.
Best known for 1981 hit single It’s A Mystery, Toyah – who is the star attraction at Bishop’s Stortford’s week-long Stortfest Crawl – has also enjoyed a career as an actress and voiceover artist.
But it’s her musical ventures that give her the most satisfaction – and when she comes to Rhodes on May 5, fans can expect plenty of surprises and fresh twists on classic tracks.
Asked if she still felt comfortable hitting the stage in her trademark costumes, she told the Observer: “It’s what I do and what I’ve always done, so it’s absolutely second nature to me. “I started out in an age of video, so everything in those early days was about being visual – it had to be. You couldn’t release a single without a video to go with it.
• Continue reading, at ‘Herts & Essex Observer’, here.
Psychic Therapy, Bio’s one-hour special on Toyah which was originally broadcast in September 2009, airs again on the channel later this month.
Psychic Therapy: Toyah Willcox: Bio: Fri 20th April: 1pm
Toyah Willcox. Gordon Smith journeys into the remarkably diverse career of Toyah Willcox – singer, actress, presenter, writer and businesswoman. Psychic medium, Smith, reveals some of the star’s innermost secrets, delving into her past and predicting her future with help from the spirit world.
‘The Changeling Resurrection 2012’, Toyah’s highly-anticipated new tour, opens in a week’s time in Brighton. Toyah will be playing songs live that she hasn’t performed for 30 years!
Counting down to the first gig of ‘The Changeling Resurrection’… To mark the build-up to this exciting tour, and the first date, I’ll be bringing you something Changeling related each day…
Seven days to go and first up, let’s marvel, once more, at some of Andrew York’s incredible Changeling art. Click on these to view more.
Toyah guested on My Vintage on Vintage TV last month, choosing 12 songs of significance, and we’ve been counting them down over the last month.
Click on each of the songs below to read in detail what Toyah said about each of her song choices.
Love Is The Drug – Roxy Music / The Jean Genie – David Bowie / The Killing Moon – Echo & The Bunnymen / Tiny Dancer – Elton John / The Passenger – Iggy Pop / All Along The Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix / Running Up That Hill – Kate Bush / Walk On The Wild Side – Lou Reed / Stay – Shakespears Sister / Mad World – Tears For Fears / Even Better Than The Real Thing – U2 / The Lovecats – The Cure.
Toyah’s final song choice from My Vintage, ‘The Lovecats’ by The Cure.
“My career has spanned many decades. My first success with music actually started in the late Seventies when I started to top the Indie Chart. I was actually number one on the first Indie charts for 12 months. Then, in 1981 I started to have mainstream hits, and the interesting thing about “Eighties” music, it’s perceived as quite popularist but there were some artists around in the Eighties who were incredibly diverse…”
• Read the full transcript of the reasons for this song choice here.
As mentioned a couple of days ago, this page has received huge amounts of visitors via the recent ‘Audley End 2012’ posts. This has increased over the last two days.
As there are a lot of visitors simply looking for info on, or a link to, ‘Audley End Picnic Concerts’ I’ve tagged all the posts related to this topic. Find them all here.
On Saturday 4th August it’s time to relive your youth with The Greatest 80′s Party…Ever! Hit 80s artists Rick Astley, Jimmy Somerville, Midge Ure, Nik Kershaw, T’Pau, Toyah, Wang Chung and Dr and the Medics will wow the crowd into a party frenzy with their famous hit songs.
• Visit the ‘Audley End Concerts’ website here.
Brighton’s Concorde2 mailed out their April newsletter to subscribers today. It includes news on Toyah’s forthcoming gig at the venue, plus a chance to win tickets for it.
Saturday 14th April
Sanctuary Music presents TOYAH WILLCOX
THE CHANGELING RESURRECTION 2012 TOUR
Celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of ‘The Changeling’, Toyah & her full band, will perform a selection of songs from the album alongside classic material as heard on the ‘Warrior Rock’ live album.
* TOYAH WILLCOX COMPETITION *
This week we are giving you the chance to win a pair of tickets to see TOYAH @ CONCORDE2 on Saturday 14th April, all you need to do is answer this simple question…
“Tell us the name of Toyah’s 2012 tour…?” Send your answers to hello@concorde2.co.uk, winners will be contacted by email no later than Monday 9th April.
(Thanks to Stephen Bennett for the newsletter)
Focusing on the much-loved Barry Plummer 1981 photo shoot for this “Classic Toyah” post. This session featured significantly in the book ‘Toyah’ by Mike West, The ‘Official Toyah Annual’ from 1982 and various European and Japanese press articles. Click below to view larger versions, and view more from this photo session at Dreamscape’s 1981 gallery page.
