It’s the 1981 Gallery! It’s Anthem, it’s I Want To Be Free, it’s Thunder In The Mountains, it’s At The Rainbow, it’s Good Morning Universe, it’s the College Tour, it’s The Old Grey Whistle Test, and yes… It’s A Mystery!
A great new Official Toyah 40th Music Anniversary feature on social media, with entries so far for Sheep Farming in Barnet, The Blue Meaning, Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!, Anthem, The Changeling, and Warrior Rock – Toyah On Tour… with lots more still to come!
Toyah’s debut Top 10 hit It’s A Mystery (from the 1981 Four From Toyah EP) is included on the forthcoming The 80s Pop Annual 2 double-vinyl compilation album.
The 80s Pop Annual 2 is the Latest Exclusive to Vinyl release on Demon Records. 4 Sides of Vinyl containing 30 Tracks of Essential Classic Pop of The Eighties. Housed in a Gatefold Sleeve with Original Artwork & Pressed on 2x 180G Heavyweight Vinyl. Hits from artists such as; Cyndi Lauper, Belinda Carlisle, The Bangles, The Jacksons, Adam & The Ants and many more.
Release information Label: Demon Records
Format: Vinyl • Date: 09/11/2018
Cat#: DEMRECOMP020 • Genre: Pop
• Further info on The 80s Pop Annual 2 here. Last year I Want To be Free was included on the first vinyl release – The 80s Pop Annual.
Toyah, via one of her 80s chart hits, makes yet another appearance on a 100 Hits compilation CD set – It’s A Mystery is included on 100 Hits: The Best 80s Album which is scheduled for release on 2nd November.
100 Hits – The Best 80s Album contains the best hits from the decade from artists including Bonnie Tyler, Belinda Carlisle, The Bangles, Adam Ant, Nena, Five Star, Kenny Loggins, Run-DMC, Bronski Beat, The Communards, Aretha Franklin and many more.
Release information Label: 100 Hits
Format: CD • Date: 02/11/2018
Cat#: DMGN100227 • Genre: Pop
• Further info on 100 Hits: The Best 80s Album here.
Following its inclusion on last year’s The 80s Pop Annual, Toyah’s classic 1981 pop anthem I Want To Be Free is featured on another double-vinyl compilation set to be released this Summer.
Eighties Alternative is released on Demon Records – the label who are also releasing Desire on red vinyl tomorrow – on 1st June 2018.
Available exclusively on vinyl – 4 Sides of Defining Eighties Hits.
The album also includes songs by Scritti Politti, Propoganda, Pixies, Dead or Alive, The Lotus Eaters, The Primitives, Adam & The Ants, Bow Wow Wow, Altered Images, John Foxx and numerous others, so Toyah is in great company.
• Further info on/Pre-order this release at Amazon.
Toyah’s iconic 1981 Top 10 hit I Want To Be Free is included on, the just released, The 80s Pop Annual double-vinyl compilation album.
Continuing the tributes to certain decades, this selection concludes with 80s POP ANNUAL. The definitive sound of the 80s, it collects together some of the greatest songs of the decade. Presented in a gatefold sleeve with original artwork and pressed on 2x 180g Heavyweight black vinyl, featuring huge hits: Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (Wham!), Footloose (Kenny Loggins), Kids In America (Kim Wilde), Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper), Heaven Is A Place On Earth (Belinda Carlisle ), and many more.
The 80s Pop Annual is available exclusively on vinyl.
SIDE C: Adam & The Ants – Stand And Deliver, Bow Wow Wow – Go Wild In The Country, Haysi Fantayzee – John Wayne Is Big Leggy, Toyah – I Want To Be Free, Altered Images – Don’t Talk To Me About Love, Ultravox – Dancing With Tears In My Eyes, Howard Jones – What Is Love?, The Lotus Eaters – The First Picture of You.
Burning Shed are now stocking the first four Toyah studio releases, Sheep Farming In Barnet (1979), The Blue Meaning (1980), Anthem (1981) and The Changeling (1982).
Featuring copious bonus tracks, these editions were pressed in 1999 and 2002 (N.B. These are not new pressings or remasters) and showcase Toyah’s adventurous and sophisticated fusion of Post-Punk and Art Rock at its very best.
The Changeling was produced by Steve Lillywhite and featured Be Bop Deluxe’s Andy Clarke on keyboards plus the formidable rhythm section of Phil Spalding and Simon Phillips (both soon to depart for Mike Oldfield’s band).
• Further info at Burning Shed. Pre-order for 21st April shipping.
35 years ago tonight Toyah kicked off a UK Tour at Derby in support of the album Anthem – Click below to view a larger version of the gig poster at The Official Toyah Facebook.
Pay a visit to Mark Satchwill’s Instagram to view some incredible new Toyah art from him.
We haven’t had a Classic Toyah post for a while – Rectifying this with a very rare magazine advert from July 1981, from Finnish magazine ‘Soundi’. They also published an issue with Toyah’s Brave New World image on their cover in 1982, and another full-page advert for The Changeling. Click below to see the full size advert. (Thanks to Juha Merilainen for this amazing scan)
There’s a new update to Andrew’s website, In The Fairground: Andrew York’s Arternative Universe. View his latest fantastic Toyah creations by clicking below.
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)
A selection of rare photos, none of which were subsequently used, from the ‘Anthem’ album photo sessions in early 1981. These great shots were taken by photographer Jay Myrdal. Click below to view larger versions. (Thanks to Andi | All photos © Jay Myrdal)
The results of the Slicing Up Eyeballs‘ 1981 Albums Poll was announced at the beginning of the month – ‘Anthem’ placed at number 65!! Click below to view the Top 100.
There’s just two days to go until voting in the Slicing Up Eyeballs Best Albums Of 1981 poll closes. If you haven’t already voted please visit and add your voice to the sound of the crowd… (PS. Toyah’s 1981 masterpiece ‘Anthem’ is included as a choice)
The second poll of Slicing Up Eyeballs’ Best of the ’80s albums is now open: Part 2: Vote for your top albums of 1981. There are 125 albums to choose from, and this time a Toyah album is included: ‘Anthem’ of course.
Slicing Up Eyeballs say: Our year-long Best of the ’80s feature continues this month as we turn to 1981, and once again ask Slicing Up Eyeballs’ readers to weigh in on their favorite albums of that year in our ongoing quest to rank the releases of each year of the decade over the course of 2013, concluding, come December, with a poll to determine the best of the ’80s.
It’s a simple process: We’ve assembled a list of 125 albums released in 1981, and you’re welcome to vote for up to 10 of them — or write in any title(s) you wish that we didn’t include.
Voting will be open through 5 p.m. EDT March 22, and results will be posted the first week of April — at which time we’ll launch the 1982 poll and take it from there.
Another two “new” Tom Leon Toyah tracks/mixes were uploaded to house-mixes.com over the weekend: Pop Star – A Dream Within A Dream (Tom Leon Full Vocal Ultra Long Version 2013), and mARTian cowBOY (Tom Leon Extended Version 2013).
As with Tom’s other mixes, these are unofficial and for “private and promotional use only”. Great use of Andrew’s Toyah art too ;)
• View all of our news posts on Tom Leon and his Toyah remixes here (I’ve updated the links and all are now working again). Visit Tom’s Official Website.
A third remix of a classic Toyah song, this time ‘Jungles of Jupiter’ from Anthem, has been made available by Tom Leon.
First it was “Awake’n Dreams: Alan Parsons Project vs Toyah Willcox” (using ‘Pop Star’), then “Let Me Go (Here It Comes Again 2012 Remix)”, and now TOM LEON brings us “Jungles Of Jupiter (Tom Leon and Toyah: Sad Android Extended Version)”.
Completely unofficial and, as with Tom’s previous mixes for “private and promotional use only”, it’s interesting to hear Toyah’s songs being experimented with. Not everyone will approve, as these are of course regarded as classics, but Tom doesn’t do anything too drastic with them!
The track is also included on the album ‘Quantam Sequences 2013’
• Listen to ‘Jungles Of Jupiter (Tom Leon and Toyah: Sad Android Extended Version)’ here. View more details about Tom’s album here.
• View info on the previous Toyah remixes by Tom Leon in our past news posts.
Yes, this is a word in your ear… Just uploaded to You Tube. Excellent quality footage of Toyah performing ‘We Are’, on German music programme RockPop, in 1981. Amazing! (Why didn’t British music shows emblazon huge photos of Toyah as backdrops?)
I’ve been thinking of doing some more occasional Toyah songwords/lyrics pages (inspired, of course, by Smash Hits & No.1). A good one to restart with: The magnificent Pop Star from ‘Anthem’. Click below to zoom. More Songwords: The Changeling and Four More From Toyah.
