Every Tuesday, Official Toyah will count down to the release of Anthem on 9th September.
Next up, it’s a really special electro-acoustic performance of We Are taken from the DVD which features inside the Anthem 2CD+DVD and Super Deluxe Edition. Alongside Toyah is Sidney Jake on guitar and Ellie Williams on keys. Premieres at You Tube and Facebook on Tuesday. (Photos © Toyah Willcox)
Every Tuesday, Official Toyah will count down to the release of Anthem on 9th September.
First up, today, Jungles Of Jupiter an album track from Anthem which both Toyah Willcox and Joel Bogen agree should have been a single release. Get the inside track on the song in this exclusive preview of the track-by-track commentary from the 2CD+DVD set. There’s also footage so rare that it may have only ever been previously broadcast on Jupiter! Premieres 6pm, today!
Every Tuesday, Official Toyah will count down until the Remastered and Expanded editions of Toyah’s Gold-selling album Anthem are released by Cherry Red Records on 9th September. Pre-order Gold coloured Vinyl, 2CD+DVD or Super Deluxe Box Set now at Cherry Red.
Anthem remastered reissues are coming on 9th Sept! The Anthem Tour is coming from 16th Sept too. Anyone pre-ordering any of the three music formats of Anthem from Cherry Red will be entered into a prize draw to win one of 3 exclusive money can’t buy Toyah collector’s items.
• Click below for further details.
On Friday 9 September, Cherry Red Records will release the newly remastered editions of Toyah’s 1981 Gold-selling album “Anthem”.
Produced by Nick Tauber, with arrangements by the band and Toyah, the album features a line-up that saw Toyah Willcox and Joel Bogen joined by Nigel Glockler, Phil Spalding and Adrian Lee.
The release is available in three stunning formats:
• Egyptian Gold Vinyl w/inner bag + lyric insert
• Deluxe Expanded 2CD+DVD feat 25 bonus tracks
• Super Deluxe Edition Box Set – 3CD/2LP/1DVD/7”
The first 300 copies of the 2CD+DVD and the Egyptian Gold Vinyl include an exclusive postcard SIGNED BY TOYAH.
These both feature an unseen image from a 1981 photoshoot. A different design accompanies each release. Only available at the Cherry Red website.
Anthem has been remastered by Nick Watson from the original mastertapes and approved by Joel Bogen.
• Toyah Willcox provides a brand-new introduction in the 24-page booklet which contains stunning classic and rare images plus previously unseen outtakes from photoshoots from the period.
• Compiled by Craig Astley, Toyah’s official archivist, who also provides new sleevenotes to the expanded 2CD+DVD release. includes the remastered album complimented by 25 bonus tracks. Amongst these is the standalone hit single Thunder In The Mountains, associated B-Sides and rarities plus 15 previously unreleased tracks.
• A six-song live session recorded on 1 April 1981 at BBC’s Paris Theatre in London, originally broadcast on BBC Radio 1 is released commercially for the first time ever, and includes the classics It’s A Mystery, Angels & Demons, Neon Womb and Ieya.
• Thunder In The Mountains, the third top single of 1981 by the “Anthem” Toyah line-up features along with its B-Side Street Addict, its 12” vinyl-only B-Side Voodoo Doll and a further two unheard instrumental outtakes from the same studio sessions in July/August 1981.
• A previously unreleased unfaded version of the flexi-disc track For You features alongside previously unreleased instrumentals of I Want To Be Free, Jungles Of Jupiter, I Am, Pop Star, and an extended instrumental of It’s A Mystery.
The accompanying DVD (NTSC/Region Free) presents a fascinating new in-depth interview feature with Toyah about the creation of the album plus a track-by-track commentary and exclusive renditions of three “Anthem” songs.
For the first time ever classic footage of Toyah’s 1981 BBC performances of Its A Mystery, I Want To Be Free and Thunder In The Mountains is released on DVD. This includes four different appearances on the legendary Top Of The Pops alongside performances originally broadcast on Something Else, Cheggers Plays Pop and Multi-Coloured Swap Shop.
The DVD also includes the classic promo videos for I Want To Be Free and Thunder In The Mountains, both directed by Godley & Creme.
Curated and compiled by Craig Astley, Toyah’s official archivist, the limited Super Deluxe Edition of Anthem comes in a 12”x 12” outsize box with lift off lid and includes:
• The deluxe expanded 2CD+DVD set as above
EXCLUSIVE TO THIS BOX SET
• Bonus CD – More Rare & Archive Material contains a further 20 previously unreleased tracks from the archives, newly unearthed and remastered. This includes
• the special studio re-recording of It’s A Mystery used for lip-synching on Top Of The Pops and alternate vocal versions of Revelations, I Want To Be Free, War Boys and Thunder in The Mountains.
• a breathtaking acoustic recording of I Am offers a glimpse into the album recording sessions. Rough mixes of several album tracks also feature alongside previously unheard instrumental outtakes Japan, Dropped Earring and the earliest incarnation of Clapham Junction.
• Album Picture Disc: The 11-track Anthem album is also presented on a 12” picture disc featuring the iconic original album front cover + unseen shot on the reverse.
• Standalone hit single Thunder in the Mountains is expanded into a 12” vinyl mini-album splatter-coloured, and brings together the single, its b-sides and four previously unreleased instrumental versions. This features a newly designed inner bag featuring previously unseen images and full lyrics. The yellow/red coloured splatter vinyl echoes the iconic sunflower hair that Toyah sports on the legendary front cover shot.
• A 7” orange-coloured vinyl EP celebrates the non-LP tracks Sphinx and For You, recorded during the Anthem album sessions and previously issued as a flexi-disc in 1981 with the magazine Flexipop. Marking the first time these two songs have ever been pressed on regular hard vinyl, the EP features a new full colour sleeve and includes instrumental versions of both tracks on its flipside.
• A 44-page perfect bound book: This exclusive book contains stunning rare and unseen colour images from the Safari archives alongside anecdotes and insights from Toyah Willcox about the 11 songs on Anthem + Thunder In The Mountains, plus lyrics for the full album and its associated B-Sides.
• A 12×12-inch print of the album cover illustration is signed by Toyah Willcox.
• Four exclusive colour postcards celebrate the Four From Toyah photography.
TRACK LISTINGS
CD1: ANTHEM + BONUS TRACKS
1 I Want To Be Free
2 Obsolete
3 Pop Star
4 Elocution Lesson
5 Jungles Of Jupiter
6 I Am
7 It’s A Mystery (Album Mix)
8 Masai Boy
9 Marionette
10 Demolition Men
11 We Are
Bonus Tracks
12 It’s A Mystery – EP Version
13 Revelations
14 War Boys
15 Angels & Demons
16 Walkie Talkie
17 Alien
18 Sphinx
19 For You (Unfaded Version)*
20 I Want To Be Free (Instrumental)*
CD2: RARE & ARCHIVE MATERIAL
1 Thunder In The Mountains
2 Street Addict
3 Voodoo Doll
4 War Boys (Live At Paris Theatre London April 1981)*
5 Neon Womb (Live At Paris Theatre London April 1981)*
6 Danced (Live At Paris Theatre London April 1981)*
7 Angels & Demons (Live At Paris Theatre London April 1981)*
8 It’s A Mystery (Live At Paris Theatre London April 1981)*
9 Ieya (Live At Paris Theatre London April 1981)*
10 It’s A Mystery (Extended Instrumental)*
11 I Am (Instrumental)*
12 Pop Star (Instrumental)*
13 Jungles Of Jupiter (Instrumental)*
14 Joel & Phil (Instrumental Outtake)*
15 Turkish Delight (Instrumental Outtake)*
16 Television (Instrumental Outtake)*
* Previously Unreleased
DVD: RARE & ARCHIVE FOOTAGE
1 The Story Behind The Album
2 Track By Track Commentary
3 I Want To Be Free: Electro/Acoustic Session 2021
4 It’s A Mystery: Electro/Acoustic Session 2021
5 We Are: Electro/Acoustic Session 2021
6 I Want To Be Free: Promo Video
7 Thunder In The Mountains: Promo Video
8 It’s A Mystery: Top Of The Pops 19/02/1981
9 It’s A Mystery: Top Of The Pops 19/03/1981
10 I Want To Be Free: Top Of The Pops 21/05/1981
11 Thunder In The Mountains: Top Of The Pops 01/10/1981
12 I Want To Be Free: Cheggers Plays Pop 18/05/1981
13 It’s A Mystery: Swap Shop 10/10/1881
14 Ieya: Something Else 30/10/1981
15 Thunder In The Mountains: Something Else 30/10/1981
Side One (Once Upon A Time)
1 I Want To Be Free
2 Obsolete
3 Pop Star
4 Elocution Lesson
5 Jungles Of Jupiter
6 I Am
Side Two (Happy Ever After?)
7 It’s A Mystery (Album Mix)
8 Masai Boy
9 Marionette
10 Demolition Men
11 We Are
SUPER DELUXE EDITION BOX SET ONLY
CD3 – ANTHEM – MORE RARE & ARCHIVE MATERIAL
All Previously Unreleased
1. It’s A Mystery – Top Of The Pops Version
2. Revelations Alternate Vocal
3. War Boys Alternate Mix
4. I Want To Be Free Alternate Vocal
5. I Am Acoustic
6. Pop Star Rough Mix
7. Marionette Rough Mix
8. Demolition Men Rough Mix
9. Thunder In The Mountains Alternate Vocal
10. Walkie Talkie Instrumental
11. Japan Instrumental Outtake
12. The Door Is A Whore Instrumental
13. For You Instrumental
14. Masai Boy Instrumental
15. Alien Instrumental
16. Thunder In The Mountains Original Instrumental
17. Street Addict Instrumental
18. Voodoo Doll Instrumental
19. Clapham Junction Original Instrumental
20. Dropped Earring Instrumental
Vinyl One: Anthem Picture Disc (same as Egyptian Gold Vinyl LP)
Side One (Once Upon A Time)
1 I Want To Be Free
2 Obsolete
3 Pop Star
4 Elocution Lesson
5 Jungles Of Jupiter
6 I Am
Side Two (Happy Ever After?)
7 It’s A Mystery (Album Mix)
8 Masai Boy
9 Marionette
10 Demolition Men
11 We Are
Vinyl Two: Thunder In The Mountains
Side One (Thunder Side)
1. Thunder In The Mountains
2. Street Addict
3. Voodoo Doll
4. Clapham Junction
Side Two (Lightning Side)
1. Thunder In The Mountains Original Instrumental
2. Street Addict Instrumental
3. Voodoo Doll Instrumental
4. Clapham Junction Original Instrumental
Vinyl Three: Sphinx/For You
Side One:
1. Sphinx
2. For You
Side Two
1. Sphinx Instrumental Demo
2. For You Instrumental
• Pre-Order Anthem on 2CD+DVD, Gold Vinyl & Super Deluxe Edition at Cherry Red (The editions with signed postcards will no doubt have sold out almost immediately!). Read the press release at toyahwillcox.com. Watch Toyah announcing the release during this morning’s Toyah At Home (which also includes an incredibly rare performance of It’s A Mystery from Italian music show Popcorn).
Also available to pre-order at Cherry Red: The official Anthem t-shirt, available in a range of sizes, the t-shirt is classic fit and comes in white only. The design is screen printed and is 100% cotton. The official Anthem pin-badge! This high quality hard enamel pin badge is pinned through a card backer.
Toyah’s 1980 live album Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! entered the Official Charts on Friday 20th May and reached #6 in the Physical Album Chart, #10 in the Vinyl Album Chart, #6 in the Sales Chart and #2 in the Independent Album Chart. The deluxe reissue also entered the Top 100 Album Chart, Rock Chart and Scottish Chart.
• Chart Stats: Toyah has now had five albums on the Official Charts in the past four consecutive years: In The Court Of The Crimson Queen (2019) #74, Sheep Farming In Barnet (2020) #99, The Blue Meaning (2021) #59, Posh Pop (2021) #22, Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! (2022) #72.
• In other chart news, Barefoot On Mars, from Posh Pop, spent two weeks at the top of The Heritage Chart, dropping one place to #2 this week in it’s sixth week in the Top 10. See the news at toyahwillcox.com, where you can also watch Toyah receiving the news on The Heritage Chart Show. Browse our Toyah Official Charts archive…
Alive, She Cried: ‘Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!’
❉ Cherry Red continue with their impressive re-releases of Toyah’s albums, writes James Collingwood.
After only two albums it may have seemed slightly early in Toyah’s career to record a live album. However there appeared to be three reasons for the release of Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! in 1980.
One: Toyah had been filmed for a one-hour ATV documentary that included clips from this gig and brought her nationwide coverage. Two: It was a last add on gig of a UK tour and would be the last time she played with this particular band. Thirdly: She was on the cusp of stardom and becoming a regular Smash Hits and Look-In cover star.
Cherry Red continue with their impressive chronological repackaging of Toyah’s Safari Records albums with their re-release of the live album Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! Presented as an expanded deluxe CD+DVD and a limited edition coloured vinyl LP this album includes the full ATV documentary Toyah!, originally broadcast December 1980, a 24-page booklet with artwork and photos, an introduction by Toyah herself and sleeve notes by Toyah’s archivist and compiler Craig Astley.
Toyah must have been the hardest working woman in showbiz at the time and really was on a mission to succeed. She seems to have been everywhere. As well as fronting and touring with the band Toyah was constantly working as a TV, film and stage actress. On stage she had recently appeared in Nigel Williams’ Sugar and Spice at the Royal Court. She had appeared as Monkey in Quadrophenia, in Derek Jarman’s Jubilee and The Tempest, and who can forget her appearance in Shoestring!
• Continue reading at We Are Cult. See links to four other Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! (Deluxe Release) album reviews… + recent news!
Third instalment in Cherry Red’s deluxe reissue series of Toyah’s Safari Records catalogue
Release Date: 13th May 2022
Label: Cherry Red Records
Formats: CD + DVD, Limited edition neon yellow vinyl
So – here we are again. Just about a year ago, we were pleased to review the deluxe reissue of Toyah’s second album, The Blue Meaning, and now, here comes installment number three in Cherry Red Records’ Toyah reissue series – a CD/DVD reassessment of the seminal 1980 live album, Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! And, as usual, it’s a cracking package. The CD-half of the package comprises, for the first time, the entire concert – complete with encores – from Toyah’s show on 17 June 1980 at Wolverhampton’s legendary Club Lafayette. The CD is accompanied by a DVD of the 1980 ATV documentary film ‘Toyah’ – a splendid period piece that captures Toyah at home, at work and at play, just as she reached the very cusp of her major commercial breakthrough. As usual, the package comes complete with an informative booklet, this time with detailed sleevenotes from Craig Astley, Toyah’s official archivist, and an introductory reminiscence from Toyah herself.
The gig at the Club Lafayette was added, for the benefit of the ATV camera crew, to the itinerary of Toyah’s 1980 Ieya Tour to provide some live footage for inclusion in the documentary that was in the process of being compiled. The band played a slightly shorter set than was normal for the time, with material drawn exclusively from the debut album Sheep Farming In Barnet and the (then) new release The Blue Meaning and the resulting live album, Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! was a triumph. Toyah is on top form as she shrieks, squeaks, groans and howls her way through a dramatic performance. The recording captures the enclosed atmosphere of the packed club wonderfully – in the way that the best live albums always seem to manage – and the setlist is inspired. Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! Reached number three in the indie chart and stayed in that chart for over a year and was Toyah’s first album to creep into the national album chart, peaking at number 22. Big things were just around the corner, and that impending breakthrough seems to ooze from the very grooves of this album.
• Continue reading at At The Barrier. See links to three other Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! (Deluxe Release) album reviews… + recent news!
Great news! The Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! 2022 reissue is #11 in the Album Midweek Charts update! It looks like it is going to surpass its original peak position all those years ago. The final confirmed position will be announced on Friday at 6pm. Click below to see the Midweek Chart.
A great, comprehensive, review of the. just released, deluxe Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! by Velvet Thunder.
Toyah – Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!
CD/DVD Edition (Cherry Red)
These reissues are a long-overdue reassessment of Toyah’s early-’80s output, and reaffirm just how much depth and sheer great musicianship and songwriting there was to her catalogue
The deluxe Toyah reissue series reaches its third instalment here, with this 1980 live album getting the treatment. It is slightly confusing now, as a later compilation album was given the same title (coming, of course, from the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!, about the bombing of Pearl Harbour), but this is the original. Coming after the first two albums, Sheep Farming In Barnet and The Blue Meaning, it finds Toyah just on the cusp of becoming a mainstream success, as the next release following this would be the Four From Toyah EP containing It’s A Mystery, and everything would suddenly go up a level in terms of profile. This release, then, manages rather neatly to cap the first phase of Toyah’s career, that of the underground ‘rebel’ new wave/art rock figurehead, before the words ‘pop star’ had even hovered on the horizon.
This was, however, more by happy circumstance than grand design, as the recording was arranged for inclusion in a TV documentary special for ATV, who had got wind of the stir that Toyah was beginning to make, and sensed a popular (and no doubt in their minds ‘trendy’) bit of youth programming. To that end, a special performance in Wolverhampton was tacked onto the end of the UK tour (the last she would do in club venues), recorded and filmed, and thus formed the material for this record. In fact, as revealed in the accompanying booklet, Toyah herself claims to have had no idea the gig was going to be filmed until she arrived to find a camera crew setting up on the stage.
• Continue reading at Velvet Thunder.
The third reissue from Toyah’s Safari Records back catalogue, Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!, is released today on deluxe CD+DVD and colour vinyl by Cherry Red Records.
Toyah’s third, and first live, album was originally released in late 1980. It was reissued on CD and colour vinyl in 1990, and reissued again on expanded CD in 2006.
Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! originally peaked at #22 in the UK Top 40 Album Chart in 1980 and also spent an entire year in the Independent Album Chart, earning a Silver sales certification.
The recorded gig took place on 17th June 1980 at the legendary Club Lafayette, Wolverhampton. The CD+DVD set finally restores the full concert set list and pairs the live album with a DVD of the 1980 television documentary Toyah, released on disc for the first time ever.
• Browse Toyah’s social media spaces for a visual countdown to today’s release, with rare and archive photos and media over the last few weeks.
Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! on CD/DVD & Neon Yellow Vinyl. The third instalment in Cherry Red’s deluxe re-issue series of Toyah’s Safari Records back catalogue is the 1980 live album Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!. Watch the trailer below.
A 140g black vinyl LP of the remastered version of Toyah’s 1980 album The Blue Meaning is released on 15th July 2022.
The second disc in a re-issue programme of Toyah’s entire Safari Records catalogue following the limited edition neon pink coloured vinyl LP version released by Cherry Red in May 2021 which immediately sold out.
Produced by Steve James and ‘Toyah’ the band – Joel Bogen, Pete Bush, Toyah Willcox, Steve Bray and Charlie Francis, the album reached #1 on the UK Independent Album Chart and charted in the main UK Top 40 album chart in June 1980.
Includes the ultimate fan favourite ‘Ieya’, considered a signature song by the band, which was also released as a single, plus ‘Blue Meanings’, ‘Mummies’ and the psychedelic ‘Spaced Walking’ for which Toyah’s vocals were recorded after inhaling helium.
A Punk/New Wave classic featuring a brand new inner bag with rare and unseen imagery of Toyah, plus official lyrics for the album.
• Click below to pre-order the vinyl at Cherry Red Records.
• Toyah At Home – America For Beginners: This week is a special behind the scenes insight to America For Beginners, and a special archive performance of the song – Watch here…
• Toyah & Robert’s Objects Of Desire: Toyah and Robert take a look at some of the objects that surround them in middle England, direct from social medias most famous kitchen! – Watch here…
• Toyah & Robert’s Sunday Lunch – Zombie: Another helping of Sunday Lunch from the Frippcox household, and this weekend is awesome – Watch here… (Images © Toyah Willcox)
A four star review of the Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! reissue, by Classic Pop magazine. The CD+DVD and colour vinyl is released on Friday 13th May, and can be pre-ordered here.
One of the most tantalising of promised releases in the ongoing Toyah reissue campaign. Cherry Red have thankfully done what fans hoped in overhauling the band’s 1980 live album. A word-of-mouth phenomenon that eventually went silver, the concert from famed Wolverhampton 600-capacity Club Lafayette has added its three missing songs including the electrifying, She.
While Toyah Willcox was soon to brilliantly distil her energy into a poppier world, her band’s original chaos is captured fantastically in an anarchic performance, brought further to life on five tracks filmed on the accompanying bonus DVD, notably a feral Insects.
The DVD also includes the long overdue official release of the ITV documentary Toyah from the same year, which shadowed the singer. For someone who was yet to have a chart hit, it was a commendably prescient programme, though the young Toyah was so magnetic that she was gold dust for anyone curious enough to tune in.
The doc works as cultural history, too, with footage of Toyah’s Battersea home showing it was possible for struggling musicians to turn a London warehouse into a thriving artistic community on the cheap 40 years ago. What could have been dingy chaos crackles with magnetism, both on audio and visual.
• Classic Pop, Issue 75 May/June 2022, is on sale now! (Thanks to Minna)
Watch Toyah unbox the upcoming new colour vinyl and CD+DVD release of Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! by clicking below (to go to Toyah’s Official Facebook). Pre-order the album, which is released on 13th May, here. (Screen caps from a video that is © Toyah Willcox)
• Browse Dreamscape’s “Toyah Unboxes” archive. This includes Toyah unboxing Toyah Solo, The Blue Meaning, Posh Pop and more.
40 years ago this very week Toyah was filming the video that would accompany the release of the 1982 single, Brave New World.
In Monday’s repeat of Video Killed The Radio Star on Sky Arts, Toyah recalled filming the sea and beach scenes on 9th April 1982, as well as riding the horse for scenes filmed in London.
Brave New World was directed by David Mallet and the beach scenes were filmed in Hastings and took place incredibly early in the morning, Another location was Battersea Power Station in London later on the same day. There was also studio filming.
The song was written by Toyah and Joel Bogen and produced by Steve Lillywhite. The single was released in May 1982, the only one to be taken from the album The Changeling, and certainly had an effect on me at the time. I still remember the day I bought the single, being mesmerised by the sleeve, and Toyah’s, still stunning, imagery. I loved Brave New World then and still do now. As with Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard), it’s message and lyrics are just as relevant today. It transcends time.
This past weekend Toyah revisited her 1985 album, Minx, by exploring the second single released from it, Soul Passing Through Soul, in Toyah At Home. Here’s a bit of SPTS fan art I put together a few years ago… (While on the subject of Minx – Space Between The Sounds is still one of my favourite Toyah songs. Yup, it’s over-the-top but bloody brilliant!!)
• Toyah At Home – Soul Passing Through Soul: This week Toyah goes behind the scenes of the iconic Soul Passing Through Soul, we hear the story of the video and how the song came together – Watch here…
• Toyah & Robert’s Objects Of Desire: Toyah and Robert take a look at some of the objects that surround them in middle England, direct from social medias most famous kitchen! – Watch here…
• Toyah & Robert’s Sunday Lunch – Living Colour – revisited!: Airing at Midday today!! We take another look at this belter of a song, and a special look at Barefoot On Mars straight after :-) – Watch here… (Images © Toyah Willcox)
Pre-order Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!, in deluxe formats, by clicking on the CD+DVD back cover…
