Vote for your top albums of 1982 in the third Slicing Up Eyeballs poll. ‘The Changeling’ is included as an option. Voting closes on 26th April and the results will be announced at the beginning of May. Click below to participate in the poll.
• Great Toyah art for 2013 by Colin Dewhurst. Click on the photo to view a larger version. (Thanks again to Colin)
• Toyah @ Twitter: “I’m lovin 2013 already! Phone ringing off the hook…..busy busy bee! Very interesting projects in the offering“, “Crazy day: dealing with 4 national publications, put chapter in Jarman book 2 bed“.
• The Guardian: Why we should all mourn the loss of Gaydar Radio: Toyah is mentioned in this article on the demise of ‘Gaydar Radio’: …or hearing Phil, the evening presenter, confess that he’s been to his 7,000th Toyah Willcox concert.
• Doctor Who Online : A comprehensive review of The Legacy Collection, (which includes Toyah in More Than Than 30 Years In The TARDIS), the DVD box set just about to be released worldwide.
• Daily Mail: Toyah was the subject of one of the questions in the Mail’s Christmas quiz, Mike Read’s Poptastic Puzzlers.
• Sensational: As well as airing all over the tellybox, the Weight Watchers’ ad featuring Patsy Kensit and Toyah’s ‘Sensational’ is also on the radio. (Thanks to Michael & Sharon)
• This is Kent: A Feast of Pantomimes: Christmas may seem a lifetime away now, but the festive spirit continues into the new year with a feast of pantomimes. The Marlowe Theatre’s spectacular pantomime Sleeping Beauty, starring pop idol Gareth Gates, punk singer Toyah Willcox and Margate born comedian Lloyd Hollett runs until January 20.
• This is Kent: Pupils Pepper Panto Stars with Questions: Theatre group the Marlowe Spotlighters cast a critical eye over this year’s pantomime, Sleeping Beauty, after interviewing the stars of the show.
Well I sell my soul to Faust, each and every night for you…
An incredible lyric to start a song with. Even at 13 it impressed me, although I didn’t actually have a clue what it meant at the time. ‘Run Wild, Run Free’ is one of the standout tracks on The Changeling. No mean feat when you consider how good the entire album is.
A muted and subdued beginning belies the intensity of the song, and some of the lyrics sound incredibly personal and directed at a particular person: “It’s a lonely time, I’ve walked from the limelight, into an empty cobbled street… for you” .
Toyah’s voice is outstanding throughout, as are her own backing vocals. I really believe(d) she means every word she sings, and the band as always sound great. I love the energy and intensity, and the drama, of ‘Run Wild, Run Free’ from beginning to end – although there isn’t really an end as it segues brilliantly into ‘Brave New World’!
Written by the juggernaut songwriting team of Willcox/Bogen, produced by Steve Lillywhite and released in Summer 1982, it is one of the best Toyah songs of the Safari years.
Nigel Glockler, a former member of Toyah, presented Toyah with a Changeling cake at the final concert of The Changeling Resurrection II Tour at Concorde2, Brighton on Saturday night. Here’s the unique cake, and Toyah… (Photos © Damon King)
View Damon’s Concorde2 footage (I Want To Be Free, It’s A Mystery, Thunder In The Mountains, Obsolete, Good Morning Universe) here, and Kevin Tucker’s (Ieya) here.
I know everyone is probably thoroughly bored with my mock Toyah adverts and Photoshopping of various other classic Toyah photos… but here’s another two anyway :)
It isn’t included in ‘The Changeling Resurrection’ set lists, but ‘Street Creature’ – which could/should have been a single back in 1982 – is still a huge fan favourite. Probably the “poppiest” track on ‘The Changeling’ and a song Toyah had an absolute ball performing on Get Set For Summer, Three Of A Kind and Razzmatazz in ‘Summer ’82 (For Michael :))
Toyah casting her eye over two recent artworks: ‘The Changeling’ by Melissa Mailer-Yates and ‘Crimson Queen’ by Cliff Matthews. Both of these excellent creations are available to buy as prints. View more details of Cliff’s here and Melissa’s here. Read our recent Q&A with Melissa Mailer-Yates here. (Photos © Ian Dunn & Cliff Matthews)
This has always been one of my favourite Toyah TV appearances, especially as there is very little footage from 1982 of live performances of songs from ‘The Changeling’: It’s BBC1’s Get Set For Summer from July 1982. The band perform ‘Castaways’, ‘Street Creature’ and ‘Brave New World’ and Toyah is also interviewed by Peter Powell. View all at Dreamscape’s You Tube playlist. (Thanks to Andi)
This time exactly 30 years ago Toyah were halfway through ‘The Changeling Tour’. 4th July 1982 saw the band play the first of two nights at Bristol’s Colston Hall before they headed up north and to Scotland. Thanks to Andi Westhorpe for sharing this rare photo from the tour.
Click on the photo for a larger version | Visit Dreamscape’s The Changeling 30 website | View all of our The Changeling Resurrection news, photos and reviews, plus news, so far, on The Changeling Resurrection II. There’s also The Changeling: The Complete Songwords.
Return later today to view FTE‘s Melissa Mailer-Yates interview feature. It’s a great read, with Melissa talking art, her career, Toyah and a lot more! This is also the final Toyah-related feature from me but a great one to finish with… View info on The Changeling prints.
• View FTE‘s other recent features: The Changeling Resurrection Review; Stevie Bray: The Original Toyah Drummer Interview; Toyah: Thru A Photographer’s Eye.
30 years ago this week ‘The Changeling’, arguably Toyah’s finest album, was released. It entered the UK album charts, at number six, on 19th June 1982 and stayed on the chart till September. Here’s Falling To Earth‘s *wishful thinking* 30th birthday pressie…
Coming Soon! An interview with Melissa Mailer-Yates. Discussing art, her career and Toyah!
An update on ‘The Changeling’ prints by Melissa Mailer-Yates.
Melissa has revealed that these will be a limited edition run: There will be just 312 prints made available, marking the 30th anniversary of ‘The Changeling’ in 2012. More info on the prints here.
The incredible The Changeling/Brave New World art by Melissa Mailer-Yates is now available to purchase by print: When asked by the artist for her favourite photograph from the 1980s Toyah chose the wonderful image from ‘The Changeling’. The resultant painting inspired by this awesome picture was displayed at the premiere of ‘The Power Of Three’ movie in London, November 2011. The production of a print was discussed, and Toyah chose the hospice which cared for her mother, St Richard Hospice, as a beneficiary from the sales.
This giclee print is the result of that discussion and is available in two sizes, 18″ x 18″ and 26″ x 26″. It is printed on a thick, heavyweight watercolour paper (190 gsm), with a textured matte surface giving it the look and feel of a stunning original work of art. Both inks and paper are archival quality. Each print is produced to order, and is individually signed by the artist. Postage and packing is included in the price, and will be dispatched as soon as it is ready.
BBC Radio 2 DJ, Janice Long, welcomes a stellar guest list to review classic albums and hot new releases, nodding to masterful musicianship, recounting first experiences of musical milestones and entertaining with frank but friendly debates about what we all know and love: music. Filmed at Soho’s intimate Tin Pan Alley …
Toyah tweeted today that herself and Trevor Horn are reviewing ‘The Changeling’ for a forthcoming edition of The Janice Long Review Show which will air on ‘Vintage TV’. “Scary but fun“, Toyah said and also included this photo of a well worn vinyl copy of the album.
NB: The first edition, featuring Holly Johnson, airs on Sunday 24th June at 8.30pm: The Janice Long Review Show: Put four music lovers into one room and you’re sure to capture something special: stories of childhoods spent in record shops, first gigs in tiny venues and meeting idols. Not to mention when there are close connections to the albums at hand.
I have a couple of anniversary posts for tonight, but I thought I’d start with this one, which is of no real relevance to anyone but me. Sorry!
Tonight, Toyah is playing down the road (10 minutes walk) in Bishops Stortford. The occasion is ‘The Changeling The Resurrection 2012 – Celebrating The 30th Anniversary of The Changeling and Warrior Rock (Toyah On Tour)’
This made me smile, seeing Toyah was one of my first gigs. Brighton Centre 29th June 1982. This was the original Changeling tour.
I loved ‘Anthem’ at the time, but even moreso the more punky ‘Sheep Farming In Barnet’, but this was my first opportunity to see the band. I was 13 and a bit wee!
• Continue reading at Aural Sculptors (The Stranglers Live Archive).
The third monthly online live track has been added to Toyah’s official website. It’s the incredible ‘Castaways’, recorded live at Bush Hall, London on 22nd April 2012
Toyah’s official website will be offering visitors exclusive live tracks each month as Toyah’s Changeling Tour and summer festival/concert dates approach. At the beginning of each month an exclusive live track recorded from Toyah’s extensive 2011 tour dates will feature on the Gigs page.
The live tracks will be available to listen to for a limited time only with a new track replacing it each month. These live tracks are a taster for a special live album release planned for digital release in autumn/winter of 2012.
• Listen to ‘Castaways’, live at Bush Hall, London, here.
‘BBC Hereford & Worcester’ have rejigged a recent Toyah BBC radio interview, mixed in lashings of great Toyah songs as the soundtrack, and added it to their “BBC Introducing…” page last night. Toyah talks ‘The Changeling’, the tour, the supernatural, punk and more.
Songs played: Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard), Brave New World, Don’t Fall In Love (I Said), I Want To Be Free, Rebel Run. Running Time: 7m 38s.
Reissue! Repackage! (Hello to any fans of The Smiths who visit here. Still my favourite band after 30 years)
I’ve received some emails asking if I’d make this available again. So, for those who missed it on Saturday… for a limited time only (humour me, please)…
Marking the beginning of ‘The Changeling Resurrection 2012’ UK tour: ‘CASTAWAYS: Four (live) from Toyah’ EP.
1. Dawn Chorus/Moonlight Dancing (6.55 Special)
2. Brave New World (Get Set For Summer)
3. Street Creature (Get Set For Summer)
4. Castaways (Get Set For Summer)
Click on the artwork to view the “EP” at ‘Soundcloud’.
These tracks are all already available online, in video, at ‘You Tube’. As the new tour opens I thought creating an “EP” from them, showcasing four great live performances from ‘The Changeling’ era, would be a fitting way to celebrate this great occasion. Click here for a larger version of the artwork.
NB: Three of these songs were included in the set list of last Saturday’s gig in Brighton.
The ultimate celebration of, the mighty, ‘The Changeling’! Are you sitting comfortably?
Toyah was interviewed in 1998 by Richard Evans. This included Toyah discussing the forthcoming CD reissues of ‘Anthem’ and ‘The Changeling’.
HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL TO KNOW THAT ‘ANTHEM’ AND ‘THE CHANGELING’ ARE COMING OUT AGAIN ON CD AFTER ALL THESE YEARS?
I’m relieved they’ve come out because for years people have been asking me to put them out and nothing’s been done about it, so I’m hugely relieved that they’ve been put out because there’s a demand. There’s a massive demand in the commercial world to use songs such as ‘It’s A Mystery’ and ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ on films and adverts which from a writers point of view I would really like to see happen as it gives the music a new audience.
What’s even better for me is that it’s ‘The Changeling’, which has been the most positively received… when we first released ‘The Changeling’ it was such a huge departure from ‘Anthem’ that it actually got slated in the press, it sold well, but not as well as ‘Anthem’ and it’s actually a better album. I mean it’s now getting better star-ratings in the reviews and that’s bloody brilliant, I’m really chuffed about that!
• Continue reading this great interview at ‘This Is Not Retro’ here.
