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Archive for the ‘Interviews’ Category

Yorkshire Times: In Conversation with Toyah

February 15th, 2024

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.

Mirror: Toyah Willcox Reveals Key To 38-Year Marriage

February 15th, 2024

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.

Mirror: Toyah Willcox’s Baby Shock

February 15th, 2024

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 2023 Countdown: Day 4: Starman

December 8th, 2023

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.

Radio: Toyah & Robert On BBC Radio Wales

October 26th, 2023

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.

Reader’s Digest: If I Ruled The World – Toyah Willcox

October 18th, 2023

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.

Reader’s Digest: If I Ruled The World

October 4th, 2023

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.

Great British Life: At Home In The Cotswolds

September 21st, 2023

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.

Photogroupie: Toyah Interviewed At Rewind South

September 16th, 2023

“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.

Greatest Hits Radio: Toyah Talks To Ken Bruce

September 15th, 2023

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.

Guitar.Com: Robert Talks Toyah & Robert

September 6th, 2023

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.

Choose 80s: Rewind Festival 2023 – Toyah Interview

September 6th, 2023

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.

Toyah Tuesday: CBTV Hot Seat Interview (1982)

August 8th, 2023

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.

Loving 80s Music: Toyah At Rewind North 2023

August 8th, 2023

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

Greatest Hits Radio: Toyah Talks Music Videos!

August 1st, 2023

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)

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Loving 80s Music: Toyah Talks Summer Festivals & More

July 19th, 2023

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

Radio: BBC Radio Manchester – Mike Sweeney Show

June 1st, 2023

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.

Pop: The History Makers – Toyah Interview Special

May 10th, 2023

Toyah – Enduring Icon Of Pop Culture Deep Dive Interview! by Steve Blame (formerly of MTV)

Toyah Willcox, better known simply as Toyah, is an English pop star and artist who rose to fame in the late 1970s and 1980s. With her distinctive voice and striking appearance, Toyah became a fixture on the UK music scene, producing numerous hits and carving out a unique space for herself in the world of pop. Beyond her music career, Toyah has also been a prolific actress, writer, and television presenter, making her a multi-talented and dynamic figure in the entertainment industry. With a career spanning several decades and a devoted fan base, Toyah remains an enduring icon of British pop culture.⁠

Virgin Radio: My 80s Playlist

May 8th, 2023

My 80s Playlist: Toyah Willcox picks her favourite 80s tunes from Bowie to Kate Bush

80s icon Toyah Willcox made her name not just on the charts but on the screen too.

She first kicked things off in the band Toyah until 1983, before embarking on an impressive solo career, with top 10 singles including I Want To Be Free and Thunder in the Mountains. Toyah also found fame on the big screen as Monkey in 1979’s Quadrophenia, and worked alongside Katharine Hepburn in The Corn is Green.

While at the Top of the Tower at Virgin Radio 80s Plus Toyah sat down with Steve Denyer for My 80s Playlist, and shared the top 80s tunes that made the era.

• Continue reading at Virgin Radio.

Radio: My 80s Playlist – Toyah Willcox

May 8th, 2023

The iconic Toyah Willcox joins Steve Denyer on My 80s Playlist.

The Sunday Times: Toyah & Robert – Relative Values (In Print)

January 20th, 2023

A snapshot of Toyah & Robert’s interview feature – Relative Values – as it appeared in print in The Sunday Times – available for one day only, Sunday 15th January 2023 – magazine.