More great Toyah photos from the early 80s, both rarely seen shots from well-known photo sessions. The first is from the famous 1981 “leopard print” shoot and the other from thw ‘Daily Mirror’ British Rock & Pop Awards shoot in 1982. Click below to zoom. (Thanks to Kev Tucker and Ray Sears, and also Andrew York for colouring the 1981 photo)
Photos of Toyah taken in 1979 during the soundcheck/rehearsal for the gig at Hammersmith Riverside Studios, West London, on 18th July. Thanks to Craig Watkins. (Photos © Philip Grey)
More rare photos of Toyah, taken at Mayhem in Battersea in July 1979. See four more photos from this session in our recent post and click below to view larger versions of these. Thanks again to Craig Watkins. (Photos © Philip Grey)
Two more rare-ish photos of Toyah from history! Both have been previously available but in far poorer quality. The first is from Toyah’s very first ‘Spotlight’ (the film, theatre and TV casting agency) profile in 1977. It was originally b&w rather than this colourised version. The second picture is from a Blue Meaning era photoshoot, photos from which were used in ‘Fab 208’ and ‘Jackie’ magazines in 1980. Please click on each to zoom. (Thanks to Craig Watkins (photo 1), Andi (photo 2) & Andrew York for colouring photo 1)
• Dreamscape is “Remembering 1983” all this year. Yeah it’s in the past but what a great year it was… Just for fun – Wouldn’t a double A-Side single, ‘Time Is Ours’ and ‘Dreamscape’, have been a great release from the album? Lots of fans agree at Facebook. It didn’t happen but here is our “wishful thinking” artwork anyway. (please click to zoom)
• Love Is The Law at iTunes: Currently the only songs from the album that are available to download at ‘iTunes’ are the two tracks that were released as singles from the album; ‘Rebel Run’ and ‘The Vow’, both included on the mid-90s compilation Best of Toyah.
Yikes! Highly rare photos of Toyah taken at Mayhem in July 1979. A few from this session have been available for a few years (view them at Dreamscape’s 1978/79 Gallery). Please click below to view larger versions of these great photos. Thanks to Craig Watkins. (Photos © Philip Grey)
A very rare, and fantastic, photo of Toyah from around the time of the release of ‘Sheep Farming In Barnet’ (AP, not album) in 1979, along with a mini-poster by Dreamscape. Please click to zoom on that. (Thanks to Andi for the original photo)
Classic Toyah @ Dreamscape: Celebrating Toyah’s unique, colourful and exciting past while reporting the bang up-to-date Toyah news and views too. The Best Of Both! ;))
Quadrophenia, which airs this week and next on ITV4, was filmed 35 years ago! It’s as popular now as it ever has been. Here’s a rare promo photo of Toyah. Click to view the original and a couple of “A Way Of Life!” inspired tributes. (Thanks to Andi for the photo)
Return to Dreamscape soon for more rare-ish photos of Toyah from 1979 and ’80, including publicity shots for Quadrophenia and The Tempest. (Thanks to Andi)
In the meantime do take a look at some of our recent Rare Toyah Photos updates.
2012 was another great year for rare and unseen Toyah photos sporadically surfacing. There were some really amazing shots and here are just some of them. Check out Dreamscape’s Classic Toyah posts to view more as well as larger versions of these. (Thanks to Andi)
A great photo of Toyah, taken backstage at ITV’s Pop Goes Christmas in late 1982. The song Toyah performed on the programme, ‘I Believe In Father Christmas’ was released as a digital single yesterday. Toyah’s 26th UK single, it’s available from iTunes and Amazon (and Amazon.com). Click below to zoom for the full version of the photo. (Thanks to Andi)
There’s just over a week until Christmas Day! Here’s an early Christmas present from Dreamscape (courtesy of the brilliant Andi Westhorpe – This site would have been far less interesting over the years without Andi – Think a Christmas tree without any colourful baubles and you get the idea ;)). Two highly rare photos of Toyah from the same session as the photo that was used on the cover of Record Mirror in January 1979. These were either taken in late ’78 or January ’79, probably the former. Please click on each to zoom. (Thanks again, and a Merry Christmas, to Andi)
An incredibly rare Toyah photo from 1979. This was only ever used during Toyah’s Neon Womb performance on PopRock in 1980. (A huge thank you to Andi)
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.
A few more eightiestastic photos of Toyah taken when she guested on The Saturday Show in 1982 and then presented an edition of the programme, in 1983. View more here. Please click below to zoom. (Thanks again to Ray Sears for sharing his rare photos of Toyah!)
A few photos from the ‘Mini Tour’ in December 1982. Click to zoom. (Thanks to Ray Sears)
Where the mountains meet the sea…
I’ve always loved ‘Thunder In The Mountains’. It’s a great pop song; slightly over the top lyrics, excellently synth-driven, with a pulsating rhythm and memorable chorus/hook, “Can you hear it breaking through…“, and a huge production by Nick Tauber. I’ve always said that if this was used in a big budget movie it would easily be as massive again as it was back in 1981. Music this well produced doesn’t date!
Of course this was Toyah moving further away from their early ‘Sheep Farming in Barnet/The Blue Meaning’ “coolness”, eras that are still popular 30-odd years later with fans, but most bands and artists want to progress and reach bigger audiences.
Toyah did this by evolving and adopting a more commercial sound and embracing mainstream/kid’s television, but they still managed to retain a quirkiness that set them way apart from the run-of-the-mill popsters of the early 80s. ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ illustrates that perfectly. This was Toyah’s eighth UK single, written by Toyah, Adrian Lee and Nigel Glockler, with a spectacular promo video by Godley and Creme.
Toyah’s visuals were a significant aspect of her, and the band’s, appeal. The imagery for TITM was possibly the most adventurous yet. Why Toyah isn’t lauded far more loudly in New Wave/Romantic/80s documentaries and articles really is a mystery. Thankfully fans in their own way are ensuring the wonderful imagery isn’t being forgotten.
I’m hoping to add a new ‘Song Of The Week’ each Monday. If anyone would like their’s added here please get in touch. It doesn’t have to be a single.
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 :)
A, low quality, mini-gallery of previously unseen Toyah photos from 1979. Great shots!
More Saturday Show photos. These were taken when Toyah co-presented the programme in 1983. Please click below to zoom. (Thanks again to Ray Sears for the photos)
Fantastic photos of Toyah taken when she guested on The Saturday Show in 1982. Please click below to zoom. (Thanks to Ray Sears for these rare shots)
