The second instalment of Craig Astley’s Toyah/Love Is The Law-related blog series is now available to read.
Picking Up The Pieces…
So i failed to do the tenth-month run up thing….. Let’s see what happens over the next month or so during the tour. :-)
Last night was the first night of the Love Is The Law & More Tour. And it took place, quite coincidentally, in my hometown of Newcastle. This is 30 years since the Rebel Run Tour visited Newcastle City Hall.
• Continue reading at Fragments: Toyah Tales From Now & Then.
Two more photos of Toyah from last Friday’s first Love Is The Law & More concert at Legends, Newcastle. These are also by Jo Oliver of ‘ne1fm’ and she has generously let me post these photos in Dreamscape News and at our LITL & More Gallery. View larger versions by clicking below. (Photo © Jo Oliver)
• Jo has been at ‘ne1fm’ since last November and over the last year she has interviewed people like Toyah who she never thought she would ever get the opportunity to talk to. ‘ne1fm’ is a small community radio station, its been around many years, but cuts in funding have threatened its continued existence, and sadly unless the station receives some much needed financial help it may vanish in only a few months. If anyone could think of a way to help I know Jo and everyone at ‘ne1fm’ would be very grateful – Visit Jo’s Facebook.
A great photo of Toyah at Legends, Newcastle on the opening night of the Love Is The Law & More Tour last Friday (18th October). The photo is by Jo Oliver, who also interviewed Toyah last week and reviewed the gig. View more of Jo’s photos here and here. (Photo © Jo Oliver – Click below to visit Jo’s Facebook)
Toyah performs ‘Dreamscape’ from the album LOVE IS THE LAW for the first time in 30 years on the “Love Is The Law & More” UK Tour at Manchester Academy on 19.10.2013 – A huge thank you to my wonderfully thoughtful longtime friend Paul Lomas for sending the song for the website.
It’s Love Is The Law Month at Dreamscape. and we are now two-thirds of the way through it! The Love Is The Law & More page at Dreamscape’s Gallery has been updated with some of the latest fan creations…
Here’s hoping last night’s opening gig went amazingly. Toyah plays Manchester Academy tonight… Dreamscape created a fan opinion “wall” for The Changeling 30th Anniversary website last year so I thought it made sense to follow that with one dedicated to Love Is The Law. Earlier this year I asked fans for their thoughts about the album. And here they are… Click to view the wall.
Toyah’s, much anticipated, Love is The Law & More Tour gets underway tonight. The premiere gig takes place at Legends in Newcastle. Wishing Toyah, and everyone attending the gigs, a successful and happy tour.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
“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.
A couple of Love Is The Law rarities from outside the UK – Toyah on the cover of Yugoslavian magazine ‘itd’ and an unofficial cassette release of the album, most probably from Saudi Arabia. The tape is interesting as not only does it include all 10 songs from Love Is The Law, in a different order to the official release, but it also has five songs from Toyah’s previous studio album The Changeling. Unfortunately I don’t have photos of these in great quality but I think they are worth a post as there are very few LITL rarities in existence.
Dreamscape is compiling Love Is The Law – The Complete Lyrics. We’ve reached the eighth song on the album – the rowsing and anthemic title track Love Is The Law, co-written by Toyah, Joel Bogen, Simon Darlow and Phil Spalding. Click below to visit the LITL – The Complete Lyrics page.
It’s Love Is The Law Month here at Dreamscape, and our latest post is a selection of screen caps, and the video clip, from Toyah’s phone in/interview on BBC1’s weekend morning show Saturday Superstore. Presented by, Radio 1 DJ, Mike Read, this aired in December 1983. Click here for larger screen caps and below to watch the clip at Dreamscape’s You Tube channel. (Thanks to Andy)
A striking new Toyah image has been unveiled today, on the new ‘Love Is The Law & More’ Tour t-shirt. Toyah tweeted: “So excited about new tour t-shirt. Just right balance of past/present imagery. Sleek n’ mean’ n fun“, View the t-shirt at Instagram.
Dreamscape’s Love Is The Law 30th Anniversary tribute. Dedicated to everyone who loves the album.
