Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

Toyah – pushing the boundaries as she visits next week

Toyah Willcox’s 38-year career in the spotlight represents something of a split personality. Either one of those personalities – the actress or the singer – is a success in their own right.

While some singers have tried their hand at acting and some actors have flirted with the idea of releasing songs, Toyah has been doing both in tandem, and somehow separately, for her entire career.

“I couldn’t break my career into parts,” she explained. “This year I’m singing three times a week and I’m writing a lot. I have to deliver at least 20 songs a year. That’s what I do. At the same time I’m starring in a British film called Extremis which finishes shooting in three weeks. I just like to always be doing something.”

Toyah’s latest music project, The Humans, combines her vocals with two bass guitars – and that’s it. There are no drums and no lead guitars, meaning Toyah’s voice has to effectively become another instrument.

“We’re pushing the boundaries,” she said. “I like the bass as an instrument. I like its whole timbre and what we’re doing is incredibly exciting. When you think about any classic rock song, it’s the bass as well as the drum that really makes the song. The Humans are really a homage to what a wonderful instrument the bass is.”

• Continue reading at the East Grinstead Courier.

A great new interview with Toyah, published yesterday, by UK Music Reviews.

Toyah Willcox, singer, songwriter and lead vocalist with The Humans chats with Kevin Cooper about how The Humans got together, acting in Quadrophenia, her solo acoustic tour and the tour of the UK with The Humans.

Toyah Willcox, singer, songwriter from the 1980’s and actor, formed The Humans in 2007 after her husband, Robert Fripp was too busy to perform at the birthday party of the President of Estonia. Having written a forty minute set, and toured Estonia with it in 2007, The Humans have since released three albums.

We Are The Humans was released in 2009, with the follow-up Sugar Rush being released in 2009. The latest album, Strange Tales was released in March 2014. As they prepare for a six date tour of the UK to promote The Humans, Toyah is also busy with her own acoustic tour, she is heavily involved with The Flashback and Rewind Festivals, as well as working on a new Toyah Willcox album together with her successful acting career.

Taking time out from her busy life, she had a chat with Kevin Cooper, and this is what she had to say.

• Continue reading at UK Music Reviews.

Toyah was interviewed earlier today on Uckfield FM, discussing the forthcoming Toyah & The Humans UK Tour and much more.

Toyah Willcox needs little introduction having been a household name since the early 80s with platinum selling-albums, a string of top 40 UK hit singles and scores of prestigious screen and stage roles alongside Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier.

The Humans is, of course, the transatlantic contemporary three-piece rock band comprising Toyah Willcox, Bill Rieflin and Chris Wong. Toyah & The Humans embark on a UK tour of six intimate concert dates this April starting in Uckfield on 11th April, 2015 at Trading Boundaries.

• Continue reading/listen to the interview at Uckfield FM.

A much expanded/reworked version of the recent ‘Frome Standard’ interview with Toyah, by Lisa Evans, was published yesterday by the Bath Chronicle.

After performing in Frome, former punk princess Toyah Willcox tells us why she loves Bath and why she owes her success to looking strange

Charismatic, outspoken and impossible to categorise, former punk princess Toyah Willcox is one of Britain’s iconic household names. When she visited Frome to perform at the Cheese and Grain this month, she told Lisa Evans why she adores Bath and why she owes her success to looking ‘strange’.

Toyah Willcox has always liked to surprise. She is, she admits, ‘a bit of an attention-seeker’ and was a rebellious extrovert who knew what she had to do to be noticed. During her 20s, with her shock of bright pink hair and unconventional outfits, she was the most outrageous and most successful punk rocker of her age, and she tells me that she thinks her alternative look was the reason she found success.

“I always wanted to be noticed,” says Toyah. “And, for me, dying my hair crazy colours and wearing different clothes from everyone else helped me to break free from the mould which women were put into at the time. I wanted to be different and not judged by the same book as everyone else was.

“And to be honest with you, if I hadn’t have looked a bit strange, I don’t think I would have been noticed in the first place. I owe my career to that colourful hair – I was a punk rocker at a time when no other woman was doing anything like that.”

• Continue reading at the Bath Chronicle.

Mysterious girl: Make a date with pop icon Toyah

As part of the ’80s post-punk New Wave scene, Toyah Willcox had considerable chart success with hits such as It’s A Mystery, I Want To Be Free and Brave New World and starred in movies such as Jubilee and Quadrophenia before turning to television and musical theatre.

Lisa Evans spoke to iconic colourful character before her Up Close And Personal tour comes to Frome’s Cheese and Grain on Friday, February 13.

“I’ve never performed in Frome before so I’m really excited to visit,” said Toyah. “I’ve heard it’s a brilliant venue and a stunning place I love coming to new places so this will be a treat.”

Her current show is a unique chance to experience Toyah up close and personal. A lively unplugged/storytellers style gig, it will include Toyah performing an acoustic set of her loved hit singles and classic songs, alongside recalling stories from her colourful, 35 year career with projections onto a big screen showing clips of films and videos that she has appeared in as she discusses the many famous people she has worked with and the anecdotes with the audience.

“I’ve always loved music and have always felt inspired to do it – it feels like it’s in my genes.”

• Continue reading at the Somerset Guardian. Also available at the Frome Standard: Toyah Willcox gets Up Close And Personal at Frome’s Cheese and Grain.

Another radio interview with Toyah today. She is guesting on Eleri Sions show on BBC Radio Wales this afternoon.

Eleri chats to Toyah Willcox ahead of her brand new tour and has her mind read live on air by a master magician.

• The programme can be listened to live at the BBC Radio Wales website, or after it airs at BBC iPlayer.

Toyah guested on Afternoon with Alison Fearns on BBC Radio Sussex yesterday.

She chatted about her career, The Humans, Bill Rieflin, the forthcoming (Humans) gig at Trading Boundaries in Uckfield, her childhood, keeping healthy and more.

• The interview begins approximately 2 hours 38 minutes into the programme and runs for around 10 minutes, ending with a play of These Boots Are Made For Walkin’. It’s available at BBC iPlayer for the next 27 days.

Toyah guested on Philip Solomon’s Music and Memories show last night on WCR FM, chatting about her forthcoming Acoustic, Up Close & Personal gig at the Robin 2, Bilston in Wolverhampton. She also talked about her early life in Birmingham, husband Robert and more.

• The full show, and interview, is available at the WCR FM website on their Listen Again page. Toyah appears at approximately 17 minutes into the programme.

Toyah Willcox is one of the best-known and most versatile entertainers Birmingham has produced. Actor, TV presenter, businesswoman but most of all a singer, she is about to begin a tour which will feature her best-known work played acoustically. She told us about her upcoming Robin show.

“It’s acoustic, which is a lot of fun. I’ve been doing this show for a year now. It’s Colin Hinds from China Crisis and Chris Wong from my band, two acoustic guitars and myself. We do all the hits but I also do favourite tracks from my albums and I use film and visuals to tell behind the scenes stories, how certain images were created and how videos were made. It’s really irreverent, the whole point of the evening is fun, laughter and dance. The evening is very uplifting and what I find surprising is that the songs are more danceable in this format. It just works, the songs really shine and it’s been incredibly successful.”

You certainly seem very enthusiastic about it. Will this be something you do more of?

“It’s a regular thing because it’s very much in demand. A lot of people don’t want to go to rock clubs to hear an electric band so this show can go to other venues such as arts centres where the clientele are happy to sit and listen to someone talking about their life. But we’ve found that the show still maintains the energy and if anything it’s more intense because it goes from story to song and back again and it sounds very melodic, with a lot of light and shade. It takes me by surprise because when we started I honestly thought we’d do two shows and never do it again but I’m getting a standing ovation every ten minutes. People really get it.”

• Continue reading at The Birmingham Press.

A slightly revised version of Toyah’s recent interview has also been published online by The Sunday Post (see the print version a few posts below).

Rewind Scotland Festival star Toyah Willcox says it’s a mystery where all her money went

Toyah will be performing at this year’s Rewind Scotland line-up alongside various top 80s acts such as Hue & Cry, Bananarama, and Belinda Carlisle.

Pop star Toyah has revealed she was banned from eating to preserve her image in her ’80s heyday.

And the singer, who stars at this year’s Rewind Scotland Festival at Scone, says she was paid a weekly allowance of just a fraction of the money her records made. “There were no excesses back then,” Toyah said.

• Continue reading at The Sunday Post.

Toyah’s interview from last week’s Nicola Gilroy Show on BBC Radio Lincolnshire is available to listen to at BBC iPlayer.

There are short bursts of I Want To Be Free, It’s A Mystery and Thunder In The Mountains, before Toyah talks about her music career, her early acting career, the difference between the early 80s and now, her childhood, and punk. There’s then a full play of Free and more chat from Toyah, on Quadrophenia, working with Katharine Hepburn and more.

• The interview begins at approximately 2hr 6minutes into the show and runs for around 22 minutes. Listen here.

A new interview with Toyah, published in today’s Sunday Post.

Toyah says It’s A Mystery where all her money went

Pop star Toyah has revealed she was banned from eating to preserve her image in her 80s heyday.

And the singer, who stars at this year’s Rewind Scotland Festival at Scone says she was paid a weekly allowance of just a fraction of the money her records made.

“There were no excesses back then,” Toyah said. “We were on £30 a week. I was weighed once a week and if I went over, even by an ounce, seven stone three pounds, I wasn’t allowed to eat. You read about rock stars with their private jets but we just weren’t allowed that. Everything was done on a budget. Whoever was living that lifestyle wasn’t near us.”

• Continue reading here. (Thanks to Sharon Dickson for the scan)

The “Sunday Post” interview (see news post above) has also been published by the Daily Mail today. It’s more than likely being syndicated to various newspapers. The DM article includes this amazing photo of Toyah from 1990…

Toyah was interviewed in the Christmas 2008 issue of ‘Liverpool.com’ magazine. It’s an interesting read, though the interview isn’t particularly festive:

Fight or flight? That depends on who the opposition are. If I’m dealing with hypocrites, then they’re guaranteed a fight. If I’m dealing with maniacs then I take flight. 

Click here to read the full article, with Toyah and Martin Fry of ABC and the full December issue of ‘Liverpool.com’, or here for just Toyah’s interview.

Two retro radio interviews with Toyah from the early 1980s have just been transcribed by The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive: Radio Reading (1982) and Piccadilly Radio (1983). (Thanks to Lärwi for making these available)

A great new interview with Toyah, published yesterday, by The Argus.

Hannah Collisson talks to singer Toyah Willcox about her music and more

To say Toyah is busy is an understatement. She is touring the UK with her acoustic and electric shows, writing two new albums, and has just finished work on a feature film.

Somewhere in between she finds time for meet and greets, learning three musical instruments, and interacting with her fans online.

The singer and actress rose to fame in the 1970s and 1980s with an appearance in the film Quadrophenia, and hits including It’s A Mystery and I Want To Be Free, and she has not stopped since.

Over the course of 30 years, she has released 20 albums, had 13 top 40 hits, and appeared widely in film, theatre and television. Recent musical appearances for Toyah include a sell-out acoustic date at Shoreham’s Ropetackle Arts Centre earlier this month, and she will be in Brighton for a full-on electric show, Songs From The Intergalactic Ranch House, at The Haunt on November 7.

“At the moment, this year is blowing 35 years away,” reflects Toyah. “It has been incredible; we are getting standing ovations every night…”

• Continue reading at The Argus.

As previously mentioned, Toyah is interviewed in the latest issue of Classic Pop magazine, in their “Godmothers Of Pop” feature.

From punk rock to Top Of The Pops, cinema and theatre to All Star Mr & Mrs – it’s been a frantically varied 33 years since Toyah’s first hit single It’s A Mystery and the Four From Toyah EP in 1981. We caught up with her at the start of an autumn packed full of live dates…

One of my personal highlights from your back catalogue is the acoustic album from 1994. The piano version of It’s A Mystery was very striking…
I liked the orchestral version as well. Every so often I’m given the chance to do something outside the norm. I’m touring an acoustic show at the moment and it’s going down a storm. It’s lovely that you can see the songwiriting, you can see the song. The song isn’t veiled with noise.

• Issue 13 (September 2014) is available now. Visit classicpop.com. (Thanks to Lärwi)

A new interview with Toyah, published yesterday, by the Western Morning News.

Toyah aims to make a big impression at festival

Toyah Willcox thrives under the spotlight… and there have been all manner of such illuminations during her three-decade music-making and acting career. From Top of the Pops, films like Quadrophenia, via West End musicals, pantomime, countless TV and radio drama roles, reality shows like I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, to intimate West Coast USA club shows with side project The Humans, there are few performance opportunities the 55-year-old has not embraced.

She is the veritable queen of diversity and reinvention, with almost 20 albums, eight top 40 hits and a myriad acting parts behind her, as well as many honest revelations about her family, her marriage and her facelift.

Tomorrow she and her band will rock the stage at the Great British Alternative Music Festival in Minehead as part of a weekend feast of punk, new wave, mod and ska excellence from original late 1970s and early 80s artists. We’re talking names like the Damned, Buzzcocks, Bad Manners, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Cockney Rejects and The Blockheads.

Tapping into the contemporary thirst for nostalgia with quality credentials, it’s a Westcountry gathering that’s now in its third year. Not only does it attract stalwart original fans, there’s a whole new generation joining the party, fuelled by their parents’ record collections and the vast cultural library offered by Internet trawling.

• Continue reading at the Western Morning News. It’s also been published under the title: No mystery about Toyah’s multi-talented career.

Toyah’s interview from Saturday’s Sounds Of The 80s on BBC Radio 2 is now available in full as a standalone clip. Click below to listen. Browse all previous Sounds Of The 80s interviews here.

Toyah was interviewed on the Andy Potter Show on BBC Radio Derby yesterday, ahead of her Acoustic, Up Close & Personal gig in Buxton next month.

The interview, which runs for seven minutes, is available to listen to online at the BBC Derby website here. View Toyah’s full confirmed Acoustic, Up Close & Personal tour dates here.

A new video interview with Toyah, by Red Carpet News TV, from Monday’s MediaSKIN event in London, has just been uploaded to ‘You Tube’. Click below to watch. (Thanks to Paul Lomas)

• There’s also a short article, including a namecheck for Toyah, about the MediaSKIN event at Just Celebrity Magazine: MediaSKIN bringing a little of LA to London.