Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

A great new interview with Toyah, just published by Punktuation. Also includes a shorter interview with Steve James discussing the recording of Sheep Farming in Barnet.

Punktuation chats to the high priestess of punk, Toyah Willcox, about the reissue of her debut album, Sheep Farming In Barnet and her extraordinary career

Toyah is quite simply a force of nature. She is a musician and songwriter, she’s a very successful actress, and she’s a producer and storyteller. She’s had eight top 40 hit singles, released 23 albums, written two books and appeared in over 40 stage plays and ten feature films including Derek Jarman’s Jubilee and Franc Roddam’s Quadrophenia.

Now 62 years old there’s also no sign that Toyah plans to slow down anytime soon. However, the events of 2020 have forced her, like the rest of us, to readjust to the ‘new reality’.

“Yes, it’s been an extraordinary time, hasn’t it? I don’t think I’ve spent so much time at home as I have this year, ” Toyah says over the phone from her English countryside home that she shares with her husband of over 30 years, guitarist Robert Fripp.

“It’s taken a bit of time to get used to. Here we are at the end of October and Robert and I are just finding our stride. We both believe if we can get through this we can get through anything. The reality for us is that we will have to be in quarantine for a while longer as Robert is now 74 – we have to be careful,” Toyah confides.

• Continue reading at Punktuation.

Nerdly: Frightfest 2020: ‘Heckle’ Review: Shot in neon-lit hues, reminiscent of Italian giallo (in particular the work of Dario Argento); with a killer in a clown mask and red rain mac that looks and feel like a total homage to 1976’s proto-slasher Alice, Sweet Alice; Heckle is a superb diatribe on perils of fame, personality and neurosis, and a warning to never, ever, meet your heroes! – Continue reading…

• Starburst: Heckle [FrightFest October 2020]: While Heckle won’t win any awards, it’s a fun distraction if you can overlook the shortcomings – Continue reading…

• Movie Ramblings: Arrow Video FrightFest October 2020: ‘Heckle’ Review: Heckle is something of a strange brew – in essence it is a straight-up slasher movie (heck, we even get a mask-wearing killer), but it also has plenty to say about the cult of celebrity, even mental health. But Heckle is certainly worth a watch and is likely to keep most genre fans reasonably happy – Continue reading…

• Eye For Film: Heckle Review: Screening as pat of Frightfest’s October 2020 selection, this is a spirited little film which, despite its dark subject matter, has obviously been made with love. Though not exactly polished, it has an innate exuberance that will encourage viewers to tick with it. That said, for all its roughness, this is an enjoyable little romp which will no doubt win itself some fans – Continue reading…

Indie Mac User: Review: Heckle ‘A Slow Burn Turns Slasher’ (FrightFest 2020): Written by Airell Anthony Hayles and directed by Martyn Pick, this slow-burn thriller turned slasher is well penned and conducted. The atmosphere is well captured in each of the scenes throughout the movie. Where it really shines is the dreary, dark, and dreadful outside of the desolate house and how many of the characters in the film meet their fate within it. The kills are very well orchestrated, and the aftermath of the kills are quite unique – Continue reading…

• The Kim Newman Website: FrightFest review – Heckle: For a horror film with a comedy theme and a comic attack, Heckle goes into some dark places – The cast is gossip-column friendly – with bits for Dani Dyer, Toyah Willcox (who does a song) and Nicholas Burman-Vince – Continue reading…

• SciFi Now: Heckle – Interview With Airell Anthony Hayles: Heckle writer Airell Anthony Hayles tells us about his love for Eighties cinema and getting Steve Guttenberg over to the dark side – Directed by Martyn Pick and written by Airell Anthony Hayles, Heckle stars Guy Combes as Joe and Steve Guttenberg as foul-mouthed Nineties comedian Ray Kelly, alongside Dani Dyer and Toyah Willcox. We spoke to Airell about the Eighties, horror and stand-up shows – Continue reading…

• The People’s Movies: Frightfest 2020 Interview – Martyn Pick & Airell Anthony Hayles (Heckle) Ever wanted to see Steve Guttenburg like never before? Then Heckle is the film for you – and we chatted with the film’s director and writer to find out its inception and how they got such an icon to star in the film. Playing as part of this year’s FrightFest, Heckle is the horror-comedy that sees our favourite charmer from Short Circuit, Police Academy, and Three Men and a Baby go a little rogue, shall we say, but there’s more to discover with this indie stand-out – Continue reading…

• The People’s Movies: Heckle Interview – Martyn Pick & Airell Anthony Hayles (Frightfest 2020 October) – Continue watching…

• Horror Channel: Interview with Steve Guttenberg, star of Heckle: Steve Guttenberg is one of Hollywood’s best loved actors and is known for playing characters you want to be with. But in Heckle, showing at FrightFest, Steve is showing his darker side – Continue reading…

• Clout Communications: FrightFest October Digital 2020 Film Stills – Continue reading…

Frightfest goes virtual: Our pick of the UK film festival, which runs this week

Heckle – A 1980s-themed Halloween weekender attracts an unwelcome guest in a horror featuring Toyah Willcox and Steve Guttenberg.

• Continue reading at the Metro. (Photo of Toyah in Heckle © Voodoo Productions)

A Brand New, Innovative Online Music Streaming Show

80s Artists Unite For Series Featuring Brand New Live Studio Performances and Exclusive Interviews

Show Will Provide Income for Heritage Artists Affected By Lockdown

Some of the biggest British popstars of the 80s will take part in a brand new online weekly series, featuring performances and interviews, with an innovative business model that helps touring artists affected by the current lack of live shows generate income.

That Was Then… This Is Now! will arrive next month in a pay per view format hosted online, allowing for artists to share equally in the revenue. For full details on the broadcast visit www.thisisnow.tv.

The series, consisting of 5 editions, will be broadcast live at 7pm on Thursday evenings (a nod to the classic Top Of The Pops timeslot), and deliver a modern twist on the quintessential living room comfort watch of popular music television that has been missing from screens for generations.

Each episode of the series will feature multi-artist line-ups consisting of brand new and exclusive live studio performances shot in the highest 5k resolution, with presenters Mike Read and Sky TV’s Hayley Palmer, as well as interviews.

That Was Then… This Is Now! was produced independently by Mike Stock, who is best known for his work in the incredible hit-making team Stock, Aitken and Waterman in the 80’s and 90’s. Alongside hosting the series, Mike Read joins Mike Stock in an executive role in the show’s creation. Having been a broadcaster since 1976, best known for being a DJ with BBC Radio 1, and television host for music chart series Top of the Pops, children’s show Saturday Superstore, and music panel game Pop Quiz.

The first series of the show will feature artists such as Paul Young, Kim & Marty Wilde, Toyah, Steve Harley, Chesney Hawkes, The Fizz and many more.

• Continue reading at Cardiff Times. Visit the official That Was Then… This Is Now! website.

Heckle. A stand up comedian encounters a seemingly insane heckler, who becomes his stalker. This is a heckle on a whole new level… Starring: Steve Guttenberg, Clark Gable III, Guy Combes, Madison Clare, Dani Dyer, Toyah Willcox. Director: Martyn Pick, Writer: Airell Anthony Hayles.

• Masters Of Horror: Arrow Video FrightFest announces bumper line-up for its October 2020 Digital Edition: Two more Brit entries with powerful punchlines are Heckle, which stars Steve Guttenberg, Toyah Willcox, Nicholas Vince and Dani Dyer, and The World We Knew, where gangsters battle demons in a Neo Film Noir with a dark, existentialist twist – Continue reading…

• Britflicks: Arrow Video FrightFest 2nd Digital Edition, Feature Film Line-Up, Ticket Links, Images & Some Bloody Great Trailers!: We’re in strange times right now and whilst we can’t do all things we want to, we can still watch films and enjoy a little escapism – Heckle (World Premiere) Friday 23 October – Zavvi Discovery Screen​. 12:00. Director: Martyn Pick. With: Steve Guttenberg, Clark Gable III, Toyah Willcox, Nicholas Vince, Dani Dyer. UK 2020. 81 mins – Continue reading…

• Screen Daily: UK’s Frightfest boosts 2020 line-up following shift online: These include UK feature Heckle, directed by Martyn Pick and starring Steve Guttenberg, in which a stand-up comic hosts an 80s-themed Halloween party that attracts a psycho slasher – Continue reading….

• Zavvi: Top Five Films To See At Arrow Video’s October FrightFest 2020: Heckle – We only really need to say two words to tell you why this is a FrightFest must see. And those two words of course are ‘Steve Guttenberg’. The Three Men And A Baby and Police Academy actor stars in this new horror which will surely deliver an unforgettable punchline, following a stand-up comedian as he is stalked by a heckler. Receiving its world premiere on the Zavvi Discovery Screen, this is one not to miss! – Continue reading…

Retail joy as National Album Day makes biggest impact yet

National Album Day’s 2020 edition has been celebrated as the most successful yet, with the BPI’s Geoff Taylor leading the celebrations.

Taylor said the team behind the event has “taken it to the next level” as National Album Day releases claimed three places in the albums Top 20 and contributed to a 24% lift in sales for Saturday, October 10.

National Album Day ambassador, Toyah Willcox, said: “It has been a huge privilege to be a NAD ambassador this year. Celebrating the music of the ’80s, a decade that is loved by generation after generation. The art in making an entire album is a journey the artist wants to take the audience on, personally I have treated all my albums as an audio journey. This year’s re-releases encouraged music lovers to buy timeless music. I like to think NAD has also encouraged new up-coming artists to think about making full albums as their right of expression, thus keeping the high street retailers stocked and trading in decades to come. It has been a really lovely experience in a crazy year!”

• Continue reading at Music Week.

National Album Day Organisers Hail Impact Of 2020 Event

The third edition of National Album Day, held last Saturday, 10th October, has been hailed the most successful yet by industry figures and by its joint organisers, the BPI and The Entertainment Retailers Association, with the impact reflected in the Official Vinyl Charts, the Official Album Charts and sales overall as well as across media and socials.

Presented in association with broadcast partner BBC Sounds and audio partner Bowers & Wilkins, National Album Day celebrates our love of the album, the continuing importance of the format, and the personal stories artists can share through the artform. This year the day paid tribute to the musically rich decade of the 1980s, supported by a host of artist ambassadors and album platforms such as Tim’s Twitter Listening Parties and Classic Album Sundays.

• Continue reading at bpi.co.uk.

National Album Day: 80s theme helps boost sales of classic albums

Several popular titles were reissued to coincide with this year’s 80s-themed National Album Day.

This year’s National Album Day resulted in a boost in album sales last week, new figures have revealed.

The UK-wide event – a celebration of the album format organised by The BPI and the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) – took place on Saturday, October 10 and was themed around the 1980s.

The BPI reports that of all the albums released to coincide with National Album Day, 25,000 copies were sold on vinyl, contributing to a total of just under 112,000 vinyl albums sold that week – a week-on-week uplift of 9.2%.

The Saturday of National Album Day itself (Oct. 10) saw vinyl sales rise by 24% on the previous Saturday (and 19% year-on-year), while the Friday – the day the albums were largely all released – saw a 44% year-on-year spike.

One of this year’s National Album Day ambassadors, Toyah Willcox said: “This year’s re-releases encouraged music lovers to buy timeless music. I like to think NAD has also encouraged new up-coming artists to think about making full albums as their right of expression, thus keeping the high street retailers stocked and trading in decades to come.”

• Continue reading at Official Charts.

Paul Young, Kim Wilde, Toyah, Steve Harley and Chesney Hawkes back from the 80s for new show ‘That Was Then… This Is Now!’

Some of the biggest British popstars of the 80s will take part in a brand new online weekly series, featuring performances and interviews, with an innovative business model that helps touring artists affected by the current lack of live shows generate income.

That Was Then… This Is Now! will arrive next month in a pay per view format hosted online, allowing for artists to share equally in the revenue.

The series will be broadcast live at 7pm on Thursday evenings (a nod to the classic Top Of The Pops timeslot), and deliver a modern twist on the quintessential living room comfort watch of popular music television that has been missing from screens for generations.

• Continue reading at the Wakefield Express. See also msn.com/entertainment.

Online music TV show launched to help 1980s stars ‘ignored’ during pandemic

Pop songwriter Mike Stock has launched an online music TV show to give some of the biggest stars of the 1980s financial help during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 68-year-old, who penned many of the decade’s enduring hits as one third of Stock Aitken Waterman, said he hoped the series would help artists who had been “largely ignored” in recent years.

That Was Then… This Is Now! will feature live performances and interviews from touring artists who have lost their livelihoods due to current restrictions on performance and travel.

The five-part series was shot in 5k resolution at a studio in Worthing, West Sussex, and will air online weekly. The first series will feature artists including Paul Young, Kim and Marty Wilde, Toyah, Steve Harley, Chesney Hawkes, The Fizz and more.

• Continue reading at The Gazette. See also Yahoo News.

Bands from 1980s and 90s stream hits to make up for lost live earnings

Worthing, England (Reuters) – Pop acts from the 1980s and 1990s including Right Said Fred, Paul Young and Toyah, whose income from live performances has slumped during the coronavirus pandemic, are recording their hits for a new pay-per-view series being streamed online.

Chesney Hawkes, Kim Wilde and Steve Harley are also among those performing in five planned shows in the “That Was Then … This is Now!” series hosted by streaming service TicketCo TV.

• Continue reading at Reuters. See also the Daily Mail.

BBC’s warning is a bit of a Brum do for pop star Toyah

Singer Toyah Willcox, who had a hit in the Eighties with It’s A Mystery, is baffled as to why the BBC slapped a warning on episodes of Brum, the harmless BBC children’s show she narrated.

A notice on iPlayer repeats told viewers the series may reflect out-of-date ‘language and attitudes of the Nineties’.

The flame-haired singer tells me: ‘I can’t think why they did that. Was it because of the Birmingham accent? Is it sexist in some way? I’m sure we never impersonated a black person.’ Toyah adds: ‘I always refused to do anything if it was offensive. Brum was written by Anne Wood who made Teletubbies and she was on top of all that sort of thing.’

The BBC says the notice was added in ‘error’ and has been removed from Brum episodes. Perhaps it is the BBC, with its determination to censor TV classics, that is out of touch with today’s audiences?

• Continue reading at the Daily Mail. (Photo © Clark Enwell/BackGrid)

Win a rare Sheep Farming In Barnet reissue rarity, courtesy of HMV…

It’s National Album Day on Saturday 10th October and to celebrate we will be running a new prize draw everyday with prizes from some of the National Album Day Ambassadors who are supporting this exciting day.

Happy National Album Day!! Today, we have a prize from Toyah Willcox where you could win a signed test pressing of remastered Sheep Farming vinyl!

• To enter, all you have to do is enter your details here or by clicking below. (The prize draw ends at 11:59pm Saturday 10th October. Entries received after this time will not be included.)

Toyah Willcox: ‘You can’t copy me, I’ve trademarked my name’

Toyah Willcox, a National Album Day 80s ambassador, has copywritten her name to stop copycat artists from emerging

“I gave girls the right to believe in themselves. I was getting 10,000 letters a week, most of them starting with ‘I’ve just been expelled from school for dyeing my hair pink,’” reflects Toyah Willcox, the singer and actress whose electric hair and rebellious anthems lit up the charts in the 1980s.

A Top of the Pops fixture with hits like It’s A Mystery, I Want To Be Free and Thunder In The Mountains, accompanied by a video of Toyah thundering across a barren landscape on a chariot, the empowered image portrayed by the Birmingham-born singer directly inspired Shirley Manson and other singers who adapted her punk style.

The only pop star to have acted opposite Laurence Olivier and appeared in two films directed by arthouse auteur Derek Jarman, before going on to narrate the BBC’s Teletubbies, Toyah, 62, has now trademarked herself as a one-word “brand.”

• Continue reading at inews.co.uk.

National Album Day follows on Saturday, with an 80s theme of its own. Record stores will be stocked with limited editions of classics like ZZ Top’s Eliminator, Paul Simon’s Graceland, Cyndi Lauper’s She’s So Unusual, Prefab Sprout’s Steve McQueen and Duran Duran’s self-titled debut album.

On Twitter, Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess will hold an all-day session of his album listening parties, featuring Toyah Willcox (15:00 BST), Marillion (17:30 BST), Matthew Wilder (19:00 BST), Blossoms (20:00 BST) and La Roux (21:00 BST).

• Continue reading at BBC News. Toyah’s Anthem Listening Party will be held at 3pm on Saturday at Tim’s Twitter Listening Party.

My Record Collection by Toyah Willcox
A National Album Day Special

In My Record Collection, we dig down to the bottom of musicians’ souls to find out what the most treasured parts of their record collection are. This week, we’re counting down to National Album Day.

This year, the organisers are taking us back to the 1980s, to a time when nu-romantics, big hair, arena rock and electronics ruled the chart. We’re celebrating all week on hmv.com with a selection of features from the day’s ambassadors, which this year include La Roux, Blossoms, Kim & Marty Wilde, Toyah Willcox and more! Each day this week, we’ll be showing off the record collections from an ambassador, as they count down their memories of the 1980s, as they lived it, or just as they wished they had.

We continue today with Toyah Willcox…

The record that made me want to make music was…
“For me, it’s David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. It is almost impossible to pinpoint one Bowie album that made me want to write music because they all did, but the unique thing Bowie achieved above all other artists was to have a burst of creativity that lasted a whole decade from the early ’70s into the ’80s.”

“Bowie surfed the Zeitgeist effortlessly like a Pied Piper and lead a generation into the brilliant unknown with each album release. Ziggy was my first discovery of Bowie’s genius and thereafter he awed me with everything he ever did.”

The record I played throughout the 1980s was…
“It was Roxy Music’s Avalon. I have loved Roxy Music since their first album. Their sound is utterly unique, but tricks you into thinking that it is familiar, it isn’t, they are one of the cleverest bands of all time, creating a whole movement of stylish cool and smooth dance-inducing music. Avalon is a super commercial album but it hasn’t sold out in any way. It is the definition of lounge cool.”

The record that takes me back to the 1980s was…
“It’s Tears For Fears and their album Songs From The Big Chair. There are easily three albums that define the 80’s Kate Bush’s Hounds Of Love, Peter Gabriel’s So and Songs From The Big Chair.”

“Songs From The Big Chair has a wealth of classics that have inspired so many who followed. ‘Shout’ is an all-time anthemic great and ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ must be one of the cleverest songs of the ’80s, a decade often associated with greed.”

• Continue reading at hmv.com. Browse our National Album Day 2020 news archive.

British Home Entertainment Wants the ’80s Back

“The ’80s called. They want their store back,” was a memorable line from RadioShack’s 2014 Super Bowl ad. Now, the British Association for Screen Entertainment is launching a marketing campaign pushing top movies and music albums from the 1980s onto coronavirus-rattled consumers in the 21st Century.

Retailers will showcase range of classic 80s titles on Blu-ray Disc, DVD and transactional VOD, including Big, Blade Runner, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Cocktail, Conan The Destroyer, Dirty Dancing, Dune, ET, Ghost, Ghostbusters, The Goonies, Labyrinth, The Lost Boys, Purple Rain, Robocop, Stand By Me, Top Gun and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, among others.

“Great music and cinematic stories have always gone hand in hand and the 80’s is a perfect example,” Toyah Willcox, British musician and National Album Day 2020 ambassador, said in a statement. “Cinema in the 80’s was revolutionary for bringing high octane action and rock music together and I am proud to have been a part of this era. Cinema in 80’s was also about bringing the audience thrills, thrills and even more thrills. Never has there been a more appropriate time to revisit this celluloid adventures.”

• Continue reading at Media Play News.

Toyah is interviewed in the print edition of today’s Daily Express. Here is some of the interview.

I suffered ageism in my 30s but at 62 I’m treated like a Goddess

“I’ve never had any maternal instinct and it’s always baffled me why I was expected to have children,” she confesses. “I believe you’re born knowing if you want to have kids and I knew that would not be happening.

“The only time I’ve ever experienced ageism was in my 30s, which was a very, very difficult decade. Back then if you were 30 and a woman, you were expected to have babies. But I had a successful career and never intended to have children and I couldn’t get anyone to hear that. People would say to me ‘Well, why are you married?’ and I would say, ‘er, because I love my husband!’

“I was too much of a bohemian to have children and anything that ties me down into one place is a challenge for me. But now I’m treated like a 62-year old goddess. I can say to women, ‘it does get better’ because people see you as having a wisdom they can tap into”.

Toyah At Home is referenced in a new article from the Edinburgh Evening News: Venues glow red as Edinburgh’s entertainment landscape fights for survival

Every Saturday at 11am, again on Facebook, I pop on to join Toyah Willcox for At Home with Toyah. Once more it’s a platform that allows the singer and actress to remain creative and perhaps more importantly stay connected with her fans.

• Continue reading at Edinburgh Evening News. Episode 16 of Toyah At Home airs this morning.

A new interview with Matt Dangerfield, who produced Toyah’s first single of the 1980s, Bird In Flight/Tribal Look.

Early in February 1980, Dangerfield produced labelmate Toyah’s ‘Bird in Flight’ single, just a year before they broke the mainstream with the Four From Toyah E.P. This extended play release featured ‘It’s A Mystery’, which became the breakthrough hit for the band, fronted by singer-songwriter Toyah Willcox.

“The reason I was brought in to produce that single was to get her airplay. She was having lots of publicity and everybody was interested in her, but the music wasn’t very radio-friendly“.

‘Bird in Flight’ wasn’t featured on an album release at the time, although it was added to the 2002 reissue of Toyah’s debut album Sheep Farming In Barnet, and was also included on the 2005 compilation The Safari Singles Collection Part 1: 1979-1981.

• Continue reading/watch the full interview at PhilMarriott.net.