Toyah, and many others, got into the retro groove last night for the big 80s Lockdown Fest which aired straight into living rooms. Although free-to-view, Let’s Rock were raising much needed funds on the night for Child Bereavement UK. Watch Let’s Rock 80s Lockdown Fest at You Tube.
Pop heroes of the 1980s unite for fundraising LockdownFest
Some of the biggest names in ’80s pop are coming together this weekend for a special online event in aid of charity.
80s LockdownFest will feature appearances by Tony Hadley, Wet Wet Wet, ABC, Howard Jones, Midge Ure, Jason Donovan, Toyah, Hue & Cry, Chesney Hawkes, Brother Beyond, Five Star, Then Jerico and many more on Saturday May 16.
The evening, part of the Let’s Rock season of festivals, will be hosted by Pat Sharp and Dave Benson Phillips. The fun kicks off at 7pm on YouTube and across all the Let’s Rock locations’ Facebook pages.The Let’s Rock season of retro festivals was due to start this weekend.
A spokesperson for Let’s Rock organisers UK Live said: “We would really like to thank both our audience and the artists for their amazing support and loyalty, and we really can’t wait to come back bigger and better next year. However, we couldn’t just leave it until then!
• Continue reading at The Falkirk Herald. See also The Hertfordshire Mercury.
Some of our favourite Acapela memories
We cannot bring you new music at present but we thought we would share with you some of the bands and artists who have graced the Acapela stage in the last few years……
MEMORY N0.8 – Toyah
4 years ago Acapela had a crazy idea that we would be able to invite world famous musicians to perform at the venue to a live audience!
The first major artist we contacted was Toyah…would she and other major names be attracted to perform in an old converted welsh chapel, on the top of a hill, miles from anywhere …we were just not sure!
We remember that first Toyah concert with great fondness – the sell out crowd turned up early, with the queue waiting to get in to the venue going down the street! The atmosphere before Toyah came on stage was electric and when she eventually came on stage the crowd could still not believe it was actually her!
Of course the venue has gone on in the last 4 years to achieve major awards and attract many famous names.
We will always be grateful to Toyah for that first night – as it gave us the encouragement to build the schedule to include so many superb musicians and exciting new bands. Of course every year since, Toyah has graced the Acapela stage and has never failed to get the same reaction from the sell out crowds.
TOYAH WILLCOX – OFFICIALLY AN ACAPELA LEGEND!
• Continue reading at the Acapela Studio website.
Toyah participated in a live Let’s Rock TV Q&A yesterday, answering numerous questions, as part of the build up to the Let’s Rock – The Retro Festival concerts. Watch below.
Here are the rescheduled Electric Ladies Of The 80s tour dates – now taking place in September – due to all theatres and venues in the UK closing until further notice.
03 September: Edinburgh Queen’s Hall
04 September: Yarm The PAA
08 September: Southend Palace
09 September: Basingstoke The Anvil
10 September: Manchester RNCM
13 September: Swindon Wyvern Theatre
14 September: Milton Keynes Stables
15 September: Wimborne Tivoli Theatre
17 September: Holmfirth Picturedrome
22 September: Birmingham Town Hall
23 September: Guildford G Live
27 September: London Islington Assembly Hall
28 September: Buxton Opera House
29 September: Hull City Hall
30 September: Gateshead Sage
All tickets purchased for the original dates remain valid. Ticket holders have been asked NOT to contact venues or SEE Tickets. They will make contact with ticketholders in due course to explain the way forward.
Refunds are available if needed, but all theatres and venues around the country are asking the same – for the sake of supporting venues/theatres and their long term survival and financial security, they ask that ticketholders hold on to their tickets and not request a refund if possible, but understand if that’s not financially feasible.
• See Toyah’s video message on the Electric Ladies Of The 80s tour at Instagram.
There’s just a month until the Electric Ladies Of The 80s tour, with Toyah and Hazel O’Connor joint-headlining 15 gigs, begins at The Anvil, Basingstoke.
At the time of writing, four of the dates – Swindon Wyvern Theatre, Milton Keynes The Stables, Wimborne Tivoli Theatre, and Southend Palace Theatre have Sold Out. With three others – Birmingham Town Hall, Gateshead Sage, Edinburgh The Queen’s Hall – only having a last few tickets remaining.
Post Punk and New Wave artists Toyah and Hazel O’Connor join forces to bring you their exciting new tour, Electric Ladies of the 80s.
Toyah is one of the most recognisable faces in UK pop culture, clocking up an impressive 10 hit singles and 8 hit albums including the gold selling Anthem and her 2019 chart success, In The Court of the Crimson Queen. Also an acclaimed actress, Toyah his performed on film and stages the world over including a role in the legendary Who film, Quadrophenia.
Hazel O’Connor set the benchmark high with her starring role in the legendary British film Breaking Glass for which she won the Variety Club Award and it’s accompanying soundtrack which saw her nominated for a BAFTA. Ever the prolific artist, Hazel continues to make new music and tour the world with her strong ethical message and recently released her acclaimed new album Hallelujah Moments.
Performing alongside their full electric band, each artist will perform their own set alongside some duets and surprises. This hit packed retro fest will include such classics as Thunder In The Mountains, Eight Day, It’s A Mystery, Will You, I Want To Be Free, D-Days and many more.
Toyah is playing numerous festivals through the Summer of 2020, including Middlewich Fab (Folk & Boat) Festival on Saturday 20th June, along with China Crisis and Electro 80s.
The Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival takes place in June in Middlewich, Cheshire, England. The festival builds on the town’s industrial heritage in which canal boats were used to move coal and other raw materials in the town for the production of salt, and then move the salt out of town, either for use directly, or as a raw material in the manufacture of chemicals such as chlorine and soda ash.
The Middlewich Folk and Boat festival is now firmly established on the folk circuit and it is estimated that 30,000 people visit the town during the festival weekend, along with 400 boats.
• Click below for further info/tickets at the festival website.
Toyah and Hazel O’Connor are interviewed in the latest issue of The Beat magazine, ahead of their upcoming joint Electric Ladies Of The 80s UK Tour.
Moving On From The Era: Toyah and Hazel – electric ladies of the 80s
On the eve of their first UK tour together for many years, we caught up with two true survivors of the punk era – Toyah Willcox and Hazel O’Connor.
• The Beat is available in selected newsagents or by suscription at their website. (Thanks to Min)
Iconic singing superstars Toyah Willcox and Hazel O’Connor bring tour to Islington
Iconic singing superstars Toyah Willcox and Hazel O’Connor will ramp up the retro when their pulsating new nationwide tour Electric Ladies of the 80s hits the capital next month.
The musical legends, who were at the forefront of post-punk and new wave, will evoke the era of neon brights and vintage beats as they each perform their own hit-packed set – and team up for some duets and surprises.
Between them, Toyah and Hazel have a combined back catalogue of 60 albums, plus several TV and film roles. Promising an uplifting show full of synth-spiked classics and more modern numbers, the 14-date tour will arrive in London on April 23rd.
The pair will be joined on stage at Islington Assembly Hall by a full electric band, with the set featuring much-loved tracks like Thunder In The Mountains, Eighth Day, It’s A Mystery, Will You, I Want To Be Free and D-Days.
Speaking of the tour, Toyah says: “I’m wildly excited for this. We’ll be doing some of our own repertoires, original arrangements, and new material. Expect it to be a very upbeat show, very musical and nostalgic, and above all, great to watch.”
Despite first meeting in 1980 at an audition, Toyah and Hazel’s careers have never collided – until now. Delighted to be hitting the road together at last, Hazel says: “It’s taken us 40 years, but we finally have this opportunity. I always love watching Toyah perform; her music is part of the roadmap of my life. The show is sounding incredible in rehearsals, and we can’t wait to get going.”
• Continue reading at the London Post. Book tickets for the tour here. NB: A number of the dates have already Sold Out, with more just about to!
As well as giving Toyah Solo a four star review, the latest issue (No. 62) of Classic Pop magazine also reviews Toyah’s gig at the Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton in January.
Before her co-headlining tour with Hazel O’Connor kicks off, Toyah runs through a brisk set that maps her career from punk icon to Crimson Queen.
Toyah Willcox is not an easy figure to pin down. From her early days as ‘Punk Princess’, she morphed into a multi-coloured pop star, before enjoying later success with presenting, musical theatre and, perhaps most unexpectedly, children’s television. Hard to imagine for those who recall her in Derek Jarman’s Jubilee or leaping about on TOTP, but there’s a generation of 20-somethings out there who only know Toyah from Teletubbies, Brum and as the lead character in Barmy Aunt Boomerang.
• Issue 62 of Classic Pop magazine is on sale now. (Thanks to Minna of The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive for the scan)
A message from Toyah and the amazing 80s Lowde Fest 2020. Toyah plays the festival, taking place in Hampshire, on 11th July. Visit the website.
15 photos of Toyah’s electrifying gig at Scarborough Market Hall on Saturday
The original punk princess, Toyah, stormed Scarborough’s Market Hall on Saturday night with an electrifying gig.
The pop star-actress mesmerised the audience of a couple of hundred with a whirlwind performance of new and old songs, including It’s a Mystery, Sensational, I Want To Be Free, Thunder in the Mountains and Echo Beach.
Her warmth, charisma and vocal range would put to shame some of the modern starlets a third her age … she’s approaching 62, with a 43-year singing career!
• Continue reading/Browse the photos at The Scarborough News.
If you’ve never been to the Clarence Hall in Crickhowell then we guarantee you’ll want to make that the place you go to see Toyah Willcox next. Great, intimate venue and a fantastic performer, what more could you ask for on a night out. It’s only when you start doing your homework to write something like this that you realise just how much Toyah has achieved.
I come to this with a little piece of Toyah history. A long time ago I played cricket in the field at her home. It was a charity thing, which is just as well cause I’m rubbish at cricket. Toyah and hubby Robert Fripp came out to lend a bit of support. She did bowl a ball right at me, and I’m sure she won’t mind me saying that she is as rubbish at bowling as I was at batting. Through every other aspect of her life though, she is one mighty fine talented woman.
• Continue reading at South Wales Life. NB: This gig is scheduled for Saturday 30th January 2021.
The Let’s Rock 2020 line-up has been released and it’s a belter – here’s everything you need to know about this year’s event
80s icons aplenty will descend on Dalkeith Country Park in Midlothian on Saturday 13 June.
It’s time to party back to the 80s with Let’s Rock, the UK’s biggest retro festival. And this year, the stellar line-up makes for their biggest summer yet.
A celebration of all things pop and 80s, Let’s Rock offers gloriously unpretentious non-stop fun, with legendary artists performing hit after hit to a crowd of all ages – many of whom embrace the throwback vibe by dressing in their finest retro fashion.
Let’s Rock 2020 headliners include: Adam Ant, OMD, UB40 and Wet Wet Wet. Other performers include ABC and Howard Jones – exclusives for Let’s Rock, plus Billy Ocean, Tony Hadley, Kim Wilde, Sister Sledge, The Boomtown Rats, Belinda Carlisle, Heaven 17, The Undertones, Midge Ure’s Electronica, Toyah, T’Pau, Go West, Nik Kershaw, Chesney Hawkes, Betty Boo + many more.
• Continue reading at Edinburgh Live.
Toyah and China Crisis set for Middlewich Folk and Boat – aka FAB – Festival 80s party night
Eighties stars Toyah and China Crisis will headline the Saturday night party at this year’s Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival.
Middlewich Town Council has announced Brit-award nominee Toyah Willcox and chart regulars China Crisis as Saturday night headliners for the festival’s 30th anniversary.
Marking a landmark year, the festival is running for five days from Wednesday, June 17 through to Sunday, June 21.
This year’s ticketed Saturday night concert is an 80s party night, also including local electronica tribute band Electro 80s.
• Continue reading at the Winsford and Middlewich Guardian. Visit the official Middlewich Folk and Boat festival website.
• Charity Stars: “The Rose” by Toyah Willcox inspired by Amanda McBroom’s Song: Dimensions: 8×8 inch canvases inside 30x30cm frames. Painting on canvas. The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is leading a movement against male suicide – the single biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK – Continue reading/View auction…
• Toyah Live 2020: Toyah Willcox Featuring Supporting Act The Lomax Brothers: Toyah plays Bacup Royal Court Theatre in Lancashire this Saturday – Further info/Book tickets…
• Official Toyah: Doll House Released 23 March: Doll House ia a new British horror film starring 80s pop legend and 4-time Brit Award winner, Toyah Willcox (Quadrophenia, The Tempest, Invasion Planet Earth) and Film and TV legend Mark Wingett (The Bill, Quadrophenia, Snow White and The Huntsman) with also reality TV star Paul Danan (Celebrity Love Island, Celebrity Big Brother, Hollyoaks) – Continue reading…
• Toyah Solo: Toyah unboxing her first box set can also be viewed at You Tube…
• Pop Goes Christmas: This newly uploaded clip includes the rare ITV Christmas 1982 advert for Pop Goes Christmas – Watch here…
• Charity Stars: “Beneath My Feet” by Toyah Willcox based on a lyrical poem by the artist. Dimensions: 8×8 inch canvases inside 30x30cm frames. Painting on canvas – Continue reading/View auction…
• Toyah Live in London 2020: Toyah performing the, always awesome, Danced – Watch/Listen here…
Singing sensation Toyah Willcox will be headlining the ‘Las Vegas Cabaret Night’ in Peterborough next month.
The annual fundraiser is organised by the local committee of children’s charity Action Medical Research.
“I was invited to perform last year,” says the ‘It’s A Mystery’ hit-maker. “It was a fantastic event, really well organised and the guests were really into it.
“I’m delighted to be back in Cambridgeshire on 20 March and can’t wait to help bring a bit of Vegas to Peterborough!”
• Continue reading/Ticket booking link at AMR.
Square Chapel Arts Centre’s LGBTQ+ History Month, with a series of live events and special film screenings, got underway yesterday – with a screening of Jubilee, followed by a Q&A with Toyah and then an electro-acoustic gig by Toyah. (Photos © Square Chapel Arts Centre)
Toyah and Hazel O’Connor team up for Electric Ladies of the 80s tour heading for Derbyshire
Innovators of post punk and new wave during their Eighties heyday, Toyah and Hazel O’Connor are joining forces in a show heading for Derbyshire.
They will be performing at Buxton Opera House, April 24, as part of the Electric Ladies of the 80s tour.
Toyah and Hazel have a combined back catalogue of around 60 albums as well as a number of television and film credits between them. They initially met in 1980 while auditioning for the film Breaking Glass and their musical careers have run parallel without actually crossing paths, until now.
• Continue reading at the Derbyshire Times. Book tickets for the tour here.
Square Chapel Arts Centre is celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month with a series of live events and special film screenings
During February 2020, Square Chapel Arts Centre is celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month with a series of live events and special film screenings.
LGBT History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community, and represents a civil rights statement about the contributions of the LGBT community.
The programme of events Square Chapel has on for audiences includes:
The Tempest + Christopher Biggins Q&A
On Thursday 13 February from 7:00pm audiences can see The Tempest, a film directed by Derek Jarman and starring Toyah Willcox and Christopher Biggins. The film will be followed by an in conversation with the English stage and screen actor, Christopher Biggins who is best known for his role as Lukewarm in the BBC sitcom Porridge. Fans can expect an entertaining evening from this national treasure.
Jubilee + Toyah Willcox Q&A + Gig
On Saturday 1 February from 4.45pm the arts centre will start will screen the film Jubilee starring Toyah Willcox and directed by Derek Jarman, followed by a Q&A hosted by BBC Radio 6 Music’s Chris Hawkins. The night will end with a live gig from Toyah and her band.
• Continue reading at Square Chapel Arts Centre.
Independent Venue Week: Toyah Willcox, Dan Donnelly & Mik Artistik at Square Chapel
For the second year, Square Chapel Arts Centre will be offering a programme of events as part of Independent Venue Week. A national celebration of live music and comedy, the events are performed in, and organised by, independent venues like the Halifax arts centre. This year’s line-up for gig goers includes the fascinating musician and comedian Mik Artistik, punk princess Toyah Willcox, The Wonder Stuff ‘s Dan Donnelly, and Clinton Baptiste from Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights.
On Saturday 1 February, Square Chapel welcomes back punk princess and cult stage actress, Toyah Willcox.
Willcox is a uniquely gifted performer and an inextinguishable flame. Charismatic, outspoken and impossible to categorise, she is one of Britain’s beloved household names – an award-winning rock legend, renowned stage and screen actress (Jubilee, Quadrophenia) and music composer. Toyah has amassed thirteen top 40 singles, recorded twenty-five albums, written two books, appeared in over forty stage plays, acted in over twenty feature films and presented hundreds of television programmes.
The film Jubilee, starring Toyah, and directed by Derek Jarman, will commence at 4.45pm, followed by an ‘in conversation’ with Toyah and hosted by BBC 6 Music presenter, Chris Hawkins. The evening will end with a live gig from Toyah and her band. Tickets for all three elements of this event are priced at £30.
• Continue reading at the Yorkshire Times. See more info on the Jubilee film screening, In Conversation with Toyah, and full band gig here.
