Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

Toyah guested on Grant Stott’s Vinyl Collective last Friday on BBC Radio Scotland… Choosing her favourite vinyl, along with plays of I Want To Be Free, It’s A Mystery and some classic retro tracks. Listen for the next few weeks at BBC Sounds.

Grant uttered the classic chant…”Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!” after playing I Want To Be Free and advising listeners Toyah would be appearing on Side Two of his show.

This week on Grant Stott’s Vinyl Collective, Toyah Willcox, the acclaimed British singer-songwriter, actress, and author, shares her favourite vinyl record.

Grant will have an all-female Punk/New Wave Trailblazers ‘Double’ on Side 2 of the show, plus, a countdown of the top 10 albums this week in 1983. He’ll also have another cracking Into The Groove 12” and a Magnificent 7″

All that, plus music from Blondie, Kraftwerk, Yazoo, Daft Punk, The Silencers, Larry Carlton and more..

Toyah on industry advice and the future at the Gerry & Sewell Press Night at the Aldwych Theatre.

Toyah is interviewed in the latest issue – #579, January 2026 – of Record Collector magazine.

Toyah Ann Willcox was born in Kings Heath, Birmingham and came to prominence as an actor starring in the 1978 film Jubilee. It was while filming 1979’s Quadrophenia that she and her band Toyah auditioned for Safari Records, and after signing her on the spot, they issued their debut single, Victims Of The Riddle, that same year. She’s since put out 16 studio albums – five with Toyah including 1981’s Anthem, which yielded the Top 10 singles It’s A Mystery and I Want To Be Free, and since 1985 as a solo artist, a further 11, the most recent being 2021’s Posh Pop. She has also made records with The Humans, an experimental trio with Bill Rieflin and Chris Wong, and with her husband Robert Fripp. This September sees the issue of Chameleon: The Very Best Of.

Tell me about Chameleon. The cover of you with your shock of orange hair is very striking.
It’s a very visual piece. The double album version is on gold vinyl and is a gatefold. Of course, if you’re covering 45 years of songwriting, and it doesn’t feel like 45 years – in fact the last 25 years feel like a weekend – then you’re looking to show the progression, and you’re looking at development and a career.

You got your first real attention not as a musician but as an actor starring as ‘Mad’ in Derek Jarman’s punk film Jubilee.
I was this girl from Birmingham and here I was in a room with Little Nell from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Jenny Runacre, the award-winning actress and filmmaker, and Jordan and Adam Ant and Jayne County, and I went straight into the A-list party, as it were. It was unbelievable.

Was punk a good time for female musicians?
I would say there were many women within the punk movement, but we were grouped together as a whole body. Now I think women are treated respectfully as individuals with their individual sound, but it wasn’t really like that back then. It was, “Why isn’t this woman like this woman?” There was always comparison. But it just made us tougher people.

• Continue reading at recordcollectormag.com. (Photo © Toyah)

Toyah talks Christmas… to Greatest Hits Radio! Click below to watch.

Toyah guested on I’m A Celebrity… Unpacked last week on ITV2, reminiscing about appearing on the second series back in 2003, and watching the current series airing on ITV.

Toyah was interviewed for Greatest Hits Radio this week, talking music, memories and standing in for Martin Kemp on the station. See a clip of Toyah talking about David Bowie: “He Saved My Life”… here. (Photo © Greatest hits Radio)

Catch up on a selection of Toyah BBC interviews at The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive.

As well as full transcripts, and related photos, of each interview there’s also a link to listen to each interview too.

BBC Radio Two: Sounds Of The 80’s: 19th July 2025
Gary Davies interviews Toyah • Read/Listen here…

BBC Breakfast: August 2025
Jon Kay and Sarah Campbell interview Toyah • Read/Listen here…

BBC Radio Two: Scott Mills Breakfast Show: 8th August 2025
Scott interviews Toyah • Read/Listen here…

BBC Radio Two: Tracks Of My Years: 1st September 2025
Vernon Kay interviews Toyah • Read/Listen here…

BBC Radio London: Carrie & David Grant: 13th September 2025
David and Carrie interview Toyah • Read/Listen here…

• Click to visit the archive. Find links to all of the new, and previous, transcripts on the right hand sidebar of the blog/website.

Toyah guested on Channel 5 News on Thursday evening, talking Chameleon, her career, her imagery and look, AI, next year’s Songs & Stories Tour and more. (Screenshot © 5)

Toyah guested on David & Carrie Grant’s BBC Radio London show on Saturday morning. Talking Chameleon: The Very Best Of Toyah, her career, touring and more.

• Click below to listen at BBC Sounds – Toyah’s interview is in the final half hour of the four-hour show.

Good Morning Britain‘s studio looking amazing this morning with some of Toyah’s most iconic imagery as the backdrop…

Toyah talked her 45-year music career, working with Katharine Hepburn and George Cukor, making – or not making – music with AI, the upcoming tours, including Songs & Stories, and a new book Meteorite, which she said will be published in November. (Screenshot © GMB)

The interview has resulted in numerous press articles… Most centring around Toyah mentioning she chose her dance partner for Strictly last year, rather than the show choose one for for her!

Underneath the Toyah “Top Stories” news links at Google, there just happened to be a link to this very website :)

NB. Toyah guests on David & Carrie Grant’s BBC Radio London show tomorrow morning.

Toyah guested on The Diamond Dave Show on Total Rock yesterday, talking Chameleon: The Very Best Of Toyah, her career and much more. Listen by clicking below.

It’s Chameleon Release Day Eve… Less than 24 hours until one of the finest ever Toyah compilations is released, and there have been many since that first Toyah retrospective vinyl album, cassette and video back in 1984 – Which was, of course, Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! All The Hits.

Toyah has worked her socks off recently promoting the album via numerous radio, TV and press interviews. Scroll back through our recent news posts or visit Toyah’s official website, Facebook, Instagram and You Tube for much more.

Toyah guested on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row on Tuesday evening.

She is also guesting all this week on BBC Radio 2’s The Vernon Kay Show revealing her ‘Tracks Of My Years’ daily.

• Listen to both at BBC Sounds: Front Row | Vernon Kay/TOMY.

A new interview with Toyah, from The Sunday Post. This was also included in P.S. magazine, with Toyah on the cover.

Toyah Willcox on the 50 years of hard graft that have kept her at the top of her game

It’s Wednesday lunchtime and I am telling Toyah Willcox my own favourite Toyah story.

I remember going to see you as part of a 1980s revival night in Glasgow, alongside Belinda Carlisle, Go West and various members of Spandau Ballet, I say. This must have been back in the late 1990s, early 2000s. I’m a bit hazy on the date, I admit.

But Toyah’s not. “2002,” she interrupts emphatically.

Ah, right. Anyway, you came bounding on to the stage and exclaimed: “Glasgow, I’ve come for your men!” And a woman in the crowd shouted back: “Take them! Take them!”

“I remember it happening!” Toyah tells me gleefully over Zoom.

Speak to the singer, actor and presenter and it’s quickly clear that she remembers everything. Dates, chart positions, people. Her memory is a Google search engine containing the records of nearly 50 years in showbiz. And there’s a lot to remember.

• Continue reading at The Sunday Post.

Still Bouncing: Toyah on 46 Years of Music, Strictly, and Her New Greatest Hits

It is 46 years since Toyah bounced onto the music scene as the lead of a band that took her name. With her distinctive vocals, captivating image, and lyrical prowess, it’s hardly surprising that she continues to thrive 46 years later. After experiencing a significant surge during the Covid-19 lockdowns, Toyah ventured into Strictly and has been on the road multiple times in the past few years. As the touring continues, she has teamed up with Cherry Red for a fully comprehensive Greatest Hits collection – Chameleon – which not only celebrates the hits but also offers real insight. We caught up with Toyah to learn more…

J: Hello Toyah, How are you?

T: I’m good. How are you, Jeremy?

J: I’m very well, very well indeed, thank you. Thank you so much for joining us today. Now, the important thing we need to know is—are you ready to share some juice with us?

T: Okay? Oh, I just hope my mind is in gear—but you know, cross your fingers, Jeremy. Anything could happen!

J: Let’s see what happens. Here we go. We want to take you back to your childhood for now—what was your initial ambition? Did you always want to be a performer?

T: In the beginning, when I didn’t yet understand the difference between boys and girls, I wanted to be a muscle man—which amused everybody. Then I wanted to be an astronaut. But very quickly, by the time I was seven and had seen The Sound of Music about seven times, I knew I wanted to become a singer and an actress.

• Continue reading at Chimeo.

In early August Toyah recorded a number of interviews with Greatest Hits Radio, Greatest Hits Radio 80s, Absolute Radio 80s, Virgin Radio and BBC Radio 2 among others. These are airing now and also in the lead up to the release of Chameleon: The Very Best Of Toyah.

• A couple of great shots of Toyah below, one with Kate Thornton from a couple of the interviews. More details about the Greatest Hits Radio interviews here. Watch interview clips here and here. (Photos © Greatest Hits Radio)

Toyah guested on The Scott Mills’ Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Two on Friday 8th August (on what would have been my Dad’s 91st birthday)… Toyah Willcox, Craig David and Alex Jones on Big Guest Friday!

• Listen to the show at BBC Sounds – just 9 days left to listen! (Photo © BBC)

Toyah guested on BBC Breakfast a couple of weeks ago. Toyah talks It’s A Mystery, Chameleon, the Adam Ant tour,  Songs & Stories, Craig Astley, Sunday Lunch, social media and more… Watch some of the interview by clicking below.

Toyah guested on Season 1, Ep. 85 (Parts 1&2) of Spooning With Mark Wogan this week.

Singer, actress and activist, Toyah Willcox joins Spooning With Mark Wogan this week. Toyah opens up about the tenacity to getting the role of Monkey in Quadrophenia, the scandals that affected Masterchef and Strictly Come Dancing and being the voice of The Teletubbies and Brum.

• Listen to both episodes by clicking below. See footage of Toyah guesting at Instagram here, here and here. (Photo © Mark Wogan)

Interview with Toyah at Rewind-on-Sea, Dreamland, Margate on 14th June 2025. Toyah talks about her stint on Strictly, going ghost hunting in Margate’s Theatre Royal, Live Aid memories, childhood holidays and much more.

Toyah Willcox talks Margate memories, It’s A Mystery, touring and more ahead of Rewind by the Sea at Dreamland

Singer, actor, writer and presenter Toyah Willcox heads to Margate to join other 80s stars for Rewind-by-Sea, being held at Dreamland for the first time this June.

Her memorable single It’s A Mystery exploded into the charts in 1981 and was so popular with fans – including a 12 year old me- that production struggled to keep pace.

That single is just one part of an all-reaching 50 year career in music, film, theatre, TV, radio and YouTube, ranging in diversity from 80s punk princess and Quadrophenia to Songs of Praise and Posh Pop.

I was lucky enough to talk to Toyah about the upcoming show, memories from Margate and what’s ahead for the “small woman in a big industry.”

Some 50 years since her career began, Toyah Willcox is still a powerhouse, radiating energy, creativity and that famous rebellious streak which earned her the title of ‘punk princess.’

Toyah, 67, has worked across the gamut of creative industries, joining the National Theatre aged 18 in 1976 and appearing in director Derek Jarman’s 1978 film Jubilee alongside punk scene figures Siouxsie Sioux, Adam Ant and Richard O’Brien.

She took the role of ‘Monkey’ in the 1979 cult classic Quadrophenia and signed to Safari Records, releasing a debut single “Victims of the Riddle”, which topped the UK Indie Chart in 1979.

Toyah said: “It allowed me to meet musicians. Where I come from in Birmingham, there were not many opportunities for women. Being in London with the National Theatre, I could put a band together. I always wanted to sing and write songs and music and I knew I had to do it while I was still in my teens. The punk movement was very welcoming to people who did not look like Olivia Newton John or Farah Fawcett, like supermodels, which I didn’t. I’m 5ft tall, powerfully built and punk suited me.”

• Continue reading at The Isle Of Thanet News.