Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

EdFringe | Trafford Tanzi starring Toyah Willcox! The play that changed my life – Kevin Maguire

Having given Andrew Pierce the opportunity to share the story of the musical that changed his life – it was Mamma Mia! you may recall – it seemed only fair to offer Kevin Maguire the same courtesy, especially as the pair’s Edinburgh Fringe show, Andrew Pierce vs Kevin Maguire (Assembly Rooms, 8-10 August), pits them against each other. So, in the interest of maintaining an even playing field, here, Maguire shares the piece of theatre that ‘changed his life’… Toyah Willcox in Trafford Tanzi.

‘Time erased exactly why I went to see punk princess Toyah Willcox hitting a wrestling ring’s canvass during 10 rounds over three hours, yet the exhilaration – mine, not hers, just to be clear – is as fresh today as that evening 41 years ago and counting. You never forget the magical impact of your first play, the memory sticking like first day at school, first day at work, first football game, first kiss.
I was a late debutant to the theatre, growing up in a Tyneside working class home where money was tight and the stage a social world away from our life. There’s no need to get out an unfeasibly small violin. Childhood is recalled happily even if now I recognise it could’ve been enriched culturally.

Never going to the York Theatre Royal during three years at the city’s university is explained blushingly by hanging with a group, at least one of whom subsequently came to see Willcox in her cartoonish outfit, who, like me, preferred football, playing the fool and doing nothing.

• Continue reading at Must See Theatre.

Born with club feet, a twisted spine and a lisp, all too often Toyah Willcox found herself the butt of the joke. But having exploited this outsider status to find fame as an actress and singer, she had the last laugh. And she’s still chuckling…

In a remarkably eclectic career spanning almost 50 years, peroxide princess Toyah Willcox has topped the pop charts, illuminated the silver screen with movie legend Katharine Hepburn and even dressed up as a giant vegetable with members of the Royal Family. And today, as she celebrates her newfound status as an unexpected social media sensation, with more than 120 million views of her YouTube channel, the 66-year-old is in a characteristically defiant mood.

“My rebellion has always been that I just don’t fit into the norm,” she says from the once-haunted Dorset home she shares with her online partner in crime, King Crimson guitarist and husband of 38 years, Robert Fripp. “And I never will. I don’t think like other people. I don’t move like other people. I’m unique.”

And for Toyah, who first came to public attention in 1979 as the party-loving Monkey in the iconic British mod film Quadrophenia, before launching a hugely successful pop career in the early 1980s, the roots of her distinctive, often-confrontational creativity lie firmly in her challenging childhood.

“Growing up in Birmingham I was disabled and I was treated as disabled, even though I was physically very, very strong,” she explains. “I had a twisted spine, my legs were twisted, I had club feet, and my family referred to me as ‘Hopalong’. I also had a very bad lisp and dyslexia, but even though people would laugh at me, I had grand ambitions and grand ideas from day one.”

Toyah recalls always being the butt of the joke to the people around her. “And that made me grow into a monster – and that monster grew daily,” she states with the ghost of a smile. “My ambitions grew daily because I was being set up for failure from the moment I could speak, but people didn’t see the person I knew.

• The full interview is available to read online here.

Toyah Willcox: ‘I had tea with Princess Margaret – she wanted to see what a punk rocker looked like’

The singer, actress and presenter talks royal encounters, Judi Dench playing pranks, and an £80,000 bank forgery

Best and worst is a regular interview in which a celebrity reflects on the highs and lows of their life

Born in Birmingham in 1958, Toyah Willcox’s breakthrough role was in Quadrophenia in 1979. From there, she juggled acting with a pop career, selling millions of records. She has continued to sing and act throughout her career with roles in Casualty and Secret Diary of a Call Girl, and she also narrated the children’s TV series Teletubbies. She lives in Dorset with her husband, the King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp, with whom she presents the popular YouTube show Sunday Lunch…

• Continue reading at The Telegraph. (Registration required)

On the eve of her 44th single being released… Toyah will be joining Jackie Brambles on Greatest Hits Radio tonight for a Great Conversation from 8pm, ahead of her & Robert Fripp’s performance at the legendary Isle of Wight Festival this weekend. There may be a surprise too. Post-airing listen to the show here…

A new interview with Toyah, from the Yorkshire Times, ahead of the Sounds Of The 80s gigs later this month.

BBC Radio 2 presenter Gary Davies has announced a nationwide 2024 tour for the live version of his show Sounds of the 80s, which will include an appearance from Toyah.

Ahead of the tour, Toyah spoke to the Yorkshire Times.

What can people expect when they come to the Sounds of the 80s show?

Anyone who attends one of the evenings will find an atmosphere where the audience can be themselves dancing and singing to their favourite tracks from a classic period in pop music. There was such a broad spectrum of music at the time from artists like Bananarama, Prince, and T’Pau, among others, including myself.

I think what will work beautifully is that the stage will be constantly active. Gary will be on there plus the dancers, and a stage set that is Gary’s Radio 2 studio and there will also be live performances from myself and other artists such as Carol Decker from T’Pau and Denise Pearson from 5 Star.

Why do you think the 1980s were such a golden period for popular music?

It was all very hedonistic, none of us thought beyond the 80s. It was difficult in the 90s to sell music from the previous decade, but that all changed with the Millennium. People wanted to hear all those iconic songs again. Part of the success of those tracks is the narrative of the songs; we really were traditional song writers then, writing about people’s attitudes and what they needed in their lives.

So, Toyah, tell us about your best 80s memories.

There were many good memories appearing on Top of the Pops. One of the happiest memories is the magnitude of what we did. For instance, on Christmas Eve in 1981, I played the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, which went out live on television, bringing in twelve million viewers, which at the time was phenomenal.

• Continue reading at the Yorkshire Times. Further information and ticket links available at toyahwillcox.com.

Exclusive: Toyah Willcox reveals key to 38-year marriage and why she’s happy being child-free

Punk singer and actress Toyah Willcox has shared they key to her near four decade long marriage to rock musician Robert Fripp and their decision to not have children

Toyah Willcox has given a rare insight into her marriage of 38 years with rock guitarist Robert Fripp.

The punk singer, 65, married Robert, who has worked with the likes of David Bowie and Brian Eno, in 1986. They have gone on to work together as well as creating their viral Sunday Lunch series, which they now tour. Toyah and Robert, 77, film themselves every week performing covers of huge hits including Slipknot’s Psychosocial, Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell and Foo Fighters’ All My Life.

In an exclusive chat with The Mirror, Robert and Toyah have shared the secret to their successful marriage of almost four decades. Sharing what it is like touring together, Toyah said: “It’s exactly the same as being married for 38 years, it’s good. We both come from very different genres.” Robert added: “But we complement each other well, I have a wonderful time being out working with my wife, may I say, even having greater fun than when we were at home together.”

• Continue reading at The Mirror. See also Gold Radio.

Exclusive: Toyah Willcox’s baby shock as child conceived at her show and parents’ surprising gesture

Punk singer Toyah Willcox has shared her shock after finding out a couple conceived at one of her gigs as the parents made a surprising gesture nine months later

Toyah Willcox was shocked to find out a baby was conceived at her show

Toyah Willcox has revealed a baby was conceived at her gig – and she found out nine months later after the couple made a surprise gesture.

The legendary punk rocker is one of the biggest stars from the 1980s, with huge hits including It’s A Mystery and I Want to Be Free. She went on to have 30 albums, 25 feature films and countless theatre and TV presenting roles. In an exclusive chat with The Mirror alongisde husband Robert Fripp, Toyah shared her most memorable moment from her impressive singing career.

She said: “We both experienced very strange but legendary things. When I played Hammersmith Apollo in 1982, which we recorded live for an album called Warrior Rock, a child was conceived on the back row. Nine months later there was another Toyah in the world. She was actually named Toyah.”

• Continue reading at The Mirror.

Christmas 2012, Toyah guested on Steve Lamacq’s Rock College on BBC Radio 2 as ‘Guest Lecturer’, discussing how absolutely life-changing first discovering David Bowie was for her when growing up in Birmingham in the early 1970s.

Toyah talks about the legendary album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and of first glimpsing, and hearing, Bowie performing Starman on the music programme Lift Off With Ayshea.

“This was a moment that changed my life forever…”

This was such a great audio clip/opinion piece by Toyah it would’ve been a real shame to just let it disappear after its week on iPlayer back in 2012… so here it is! Click below to listen.

Toyah & Robert guested on BBC Radio Wales last week.

Engaged after just a week! Musicians Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp have been married for 37 years and it was a whirlwind at the start…

They spoke to Carol Vorderman and revealed their Welsh connections too.

• Watch at BBC Radio Wales/Facebook.

Toyah’s full “If I Ruled The World” Reader’s Digest Q&A is now available online…

If you want to eat meat you should have to raise and respectfully take the lives of your own animals
I am very passionate that animals have souls, and most religions say that they don’t. Animals experience empathy, joy and pain. We do not have a right to kill them en masse.

I have never met an animal that does not have empathy. As you get older I think it’s a lot better for you to have a very dominantly vegetarian diet.

There will be a National Concert Day
I used to live in Menton in France and they would have a national concert day, but I don’t think that’s what it was called. Every school would take the school orchestra out into the square. They would play music and the dance classes would do dance. It was a very beautiful spectacle. I’ve seen it in Israel as well. On one day per week in Israel, most communities will go and dance in the square, with live musicians playing.

• Continue reading at Reader’s Digest.

Toyah is interviewed in the October 2023 issue of Reader’s Digest magazine. Here is a preview.

If I Ruled The World – Toyah Willcox

Toyah Willcox is a singer, actor and TV presenter with a career spanning 40 years and eight top 40 singles. Toyah and Robert Fripp tour the UK together in October

Young people would have repercussion predictors

If you make a move in anger, revenge or envy, you need to know the consequences of your actions. I think AI would help young people so much—if they could just have a level of repercussion prediction, they might think twice rather than taint their entire life with a bad action. Within social media, a repercussion predictor would be really useful.

Work-life balance would be a law

The majority of us forget to put life balance first. We are very lucky in the UK that we have two days off a week. I often work in America and I’m so shocked at how hard Americans are expected to work. Life isn’t all about work, email, bureaucracy and accounting. In my working world, I would insist that were two days a week where there is no communication with work.

• Reader’s Digest is on sale now from newsagents, selected stores, and online.

At Home In The Cotswolds with Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp

Fancy a delicious treat? Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp are taking their stonkingly popular Sunday Lunch rock video-performances on tour. Katie Jarvis asks all the important questions, including which of them does the washing up

It’s the first week of lockdown: a Sunday in April 2020. Six-am and a warm sun is rising.

In the outside world (whatever that might mean in April 2020), everyone is feeling unnerved; scared, even. The pandemic has started; people are prisoners in their own homes; time on their hands but – in a possible first – no one has the slightest idea what to do with it.

Oh – except for Toyah Willcox, that is.

Out in the garden of her Pershore home, she’s doing what she feels to be The Obvious. ‘If we’re stuck in this house for weeks,’ she thinks, ‘I’m going to put a ball gown on.’

Which she does. Pearlescent, fishtail, clingy, strappy, sheer; one of those inspired charity-shop buys.

• Continue reading at Great British Life.

“WE ARE PRESENTING THE SHOW WITH WHAT WE REGARD AS CLASSIC MUSIC NOW” TOYAH TALKS SUNDAY LUNCH

Toyah is an 80s culteral icon. From punk princess to film and stage actor, presenter, author, and torch carrier for those who relish being an outsider. Aside from her 80s hits including ‘It’s A Mystery’ and ‘Thunder in The Mountains, Toyah and her husband Robert Fripp have transcended generation gaps and brought us great music and performances with their legendary Sunday Lunch shows on social media.

We caught up with Toyah at Rewind South

PHOTOGROUPIE
How does it feel to be back at Rewind?

TOYAH
I love it. I do 20 minutes. Every other night I’m doing two and a half hours, so this is really lovely. It’s fun. I can give it 150% and not worry about act two.

PHOTOGROUPIE
Now I know you’re on the road with Robert tell us about that.

TOYAH
I’m on the road now. I’ve been on the road since March. The Sunday lunch official tour starts at the end of September through October.

• Continue reading at Photogroupie.

Toyah joined Ken Bruce for Golden Years and took us through the year of 1972. She tells Ken about her love for Roxy Music and Elton John amongst others. Toyah talks about the impact of the 1970s and recalls what she remembers about the decade.

She also shares a story about her early life in school and how she may have cause some trouble in school. One story involves several alarm clocks, a school stage and a former Prime Minister!

• Listen to the great interview below or at You Tube.

Robert Fripp on the future of King Crimson: “I’m committed to another band right now – Toyah and Robert”

Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox are set to tour their Sunday Lunch rock party across the UK this Autumn.

Robert Fripp has opened up on the future of King Crimson following the success of his Sunday Lunch YouTube series with his wife and fellow musician, Toyah Willcox.

The duo began performing a range of covers on Willcox’s YouTube channel during the COVID-19 lockdowns, which rose to popularity.

Off the back of the success of their online covers, which are recorded using just an iPhone, the pair are even set to take their Sunday Lunch covers on the road with a UK “Rock Party” tour starting later this month (September).

In a new interview with Guitar World, Fripp was asked if King Crimson is definitely over, or if there is any hope for a tour in the future now that he’s so busy with this new project: “I’ve learned from having attempted to get away from King Crimson in 1974, 1984, 2003 and 2008 that it’s probably hard to say!

• Continue reading at Guitar.Com. Browse all of Toyah & Robert’s Rock Party tour dates at toyahwillcox.com.

The incredible Toyah, wearing an amazing devil’s costume, spoke to us about an exciting new fly on the wall documentary coming up, about a possible link to Stranger Things, and about her upcoming tour among other things.

It’s Toyah Tuesday and as The Changeling release approaches Official Toyah are revisiting some vintage footage.

This 1982 interview is from CBTV’s Hot Seat slot. Premieres at 6pm at You Tube and Toyah’s official Facebook page.

A backstage chat with Toyah, at Rewind North 2023… talking lucky charms, pre-gig rituals and much more!

Greatest Hits Radio caught up with Toyah at Rewind Festival Scotland last week, and she shared her memories of creating some iconic music videos. Click below to watch… (Image © Greatest Hits Radio)

Toyah talks summer festivals, Peak Cavern, stripping off and Robert Fripp.

Toyah and Robert guested on Mike Sweeney’s BBC Radio Manchester Show yesterday.

Mike chats with Toyah and Robert about their career ahead of their show at The Lowry later this year.

• Listen to the show, for the next month, at BBC Sounds.