Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

It has now been confirmed that songs from Minx will be included in the Songs From The Intergalactic Ranch House Autumn tour, the first time anything from the 1985 album has ever been performed live by Toyah (though for some reason I thought that ‘Don’t Fall In Love’ had been played live at some point at a PA, I’m obviously mistaken or mis-remembering). Click below for the full tour dates schedule and links to buy tickets.

Could songs from Minx be played live this Autumn for the very first time? – An excerpt from the latest Breaking Through newsletter mentions the possibility: “The autumn live dates as previously reported will focus on the Safari catalogue with some resurrected rarities putting in an appearance. There’s also a chance that one or two (maybe even three!) selections from Minx may just make a live debut too. They will be tried in rehearsal so it’s all still to play for. It would be the first time ever they’ve been performed in a Toyah set list”.

Vote for your top albums of 1985 in the sixth Slicing Up Eyeballs poll. Toyah’s first solo, and post-Safari, album ‘Minx’ is included as an option. Voting closes on 26th July and the results will be announced at the beginning of August. Click below to participate in the poll. (Thanks to Paul Johnson) 

I’ve had a few great comments about the “imaginary” single cover for Snow Covers The Kiss (a wonderful song from 1985) so I thought I’d share the “ad” for it too. Please click to zoom.

• Portrait Records: A history of the label Toyah was signed to for around 18 months in the mid-1980s has just been updated at Wikipedia: In 1985, British singer Toyah released her album Minx on the Portrait label.

• Vents Magazine: Dutch pop-rockband Chabliz, who play adventurous alternative rock, popnoir and gothicjazz, cite Toyah as one of their musical influences in a new interview at ‘Vents Magazine’.

• The Changeling Resurrection: Lots of video footage of Toyah’s gig at The Tunnels Bristol last April has been added to You Tube over the last couple of days.

• Channel 4 News: Is Punk Back From The Dead? is now available to watch at You Tube. As a new book is published featuring the origins of punk music in the lower east side of New York, Katie Razzall looks at how Punk magazine changed life in Britain.

• FM: The epsiode of FM in which Toyah makes a, very, brief appearance, but is mentioned a lot, has recently been uploaded in full at You Tube. Series One, Episode Two – System Addict: The group try to stick to some new resolutions: Dom gives up booze, Jane gives up cigarettes, and Lindsay gives up giving up on girls. Featuring a performance by The Wombats, and guest appearance by Toyah Willcox.

• Back To The 80s: The Ultimate Megamix Of The Year: A 43-minute mix which includes ‘I Want To Be Free’ (or “Upside Down”) and ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ and numerous other great tunes from 1981.

• Absolute 80s Radio: ‘It’s A Mystery’ has just been played this afternoon on AR. Apparently the ‘I Want To Be Free’ video is also being shown a lot on Vintage TV at the moment. (Thanks Michael)

• The Visitors: No, not ABBA’s 1981 album… The hits to Dreamscape last night and this morning have went through the roof. Always great news when the site is busy, though this time a large chuck of the visitors have arrived after searching for “wagon’s den geordie shore charlotte” or similar!!

BBC Breakfast Time went on air 30 years ago this morning. The original programme logo and memorable theme tune still remind me of getting ready for school.

Toyah has guested on the programme numerous times over the years: In 1983, talking about ‘Love Is The Law’ and The Ebony Tower; in 1985, around ‘Minx’ time, talking about a tour that didn’t happen (see below); in 1987, talking about ‘Desire’ and Cabaret; in 2007, talking about panto in Reading and in 2008, talking about Vampires Rock.

BBC Breakfast is celebrating 30 years of broadcasting with a trip down memory lane

Considered a “huge risk” when it launched on 17 January 1983, Breakfast Time was the UK’s first regular national breakfast show. Famous for its magazine-style approach, it combined news and lighter features. The 30th anniversary show will feature appearances from some of the original team.

Introduced two weeks before rival broadcaster ITV’s TV-am with David Frost, Breakfast Time hoped to lure audiences away from radio with a combination of news, travel information and lifestyle segments. Although breakfast TV had been the staple diet in the US for three decades, the British public was wary of the innovation in 1983.

• Continue reading at BBC News. View Toyah’s 1985 Breakfast Time appearance below.

Time Flies! On this day, 27th April 1985 (yup), 27 years ago Toyah’s 15th single, and first ‘solo’ release, ‘Don’t Fall In Love (I Said)’ entered the UK singles chart. In retrospect, it’s a great pop song, written by Toyah and Simon Darlow, with an incredible b-side, ‘Snow Covers The Kiss’ (written by Toyah, Joel Bogen & Christopher Neil). Then there’s the unforgettable video. Personally, I can’t wait to hear it live on the ‘Minx: Trash & Tease 2015’ tour ;-))

The full Sky Trax Toyah Special. This aired in 1985 around the time of the release of ‘Don’t Fall In Love (I Said)’. It’s a great programme, hosted by one of Toyah’s biggest supporters in the 80s, Peter Powell. This was a one-hour show with Toyah talking about her career, including Glitter, Jubilee, Katharine Hepburn, Quadrophenia, the early live gigs, 1981 and a lot more. Sky Trax was a music show, with a variety of hosts including Radio 1 DJs, covering music from all over Europe. It aired on ‘Sky Channel’, Europe’s very first satellite channel (which began as a cable channel in 1982) and was renamed ‘Sky One’ in 1989. View larger caps here.