From Toyah to Duzza – the stars heading to the Longlands in 2017
She went down a storm and ate pie and peas at a Guisborough cafe last time she was here. Now 1980s pop icon Toyah is heading our way again – one of a raft of music and football stars scheduled to play Middlesbrough’s Longlands Club.
The “It’s A Mystery” star turned heads last July when she popped in for lunch at Guisborough’s Pie in the Sky, ahead of a gig at the Marton Road venue. And after a massive night last year, the punk princess has confirmed a return visit to The Longlands on June 10.
• Continue reading at Gazette Live.
This month our Content Editor, Charlie O’Neill had the chance to catch up with Toyah Willcox ahead of the ‘80’s Invasion Tour’.
Firstly, Happy New Year. Did you have a nice Christmas? What did you get up to over the festive period?
TOYAH: Thank you and the same to you! I had the best Christmas ever, it was absolutely lovely. We were both home from a year of touring. And, we just had family time and for me that’s what Christmas always will be. It was very gentle and perfect. It’s the only time of year, where no matter what happens, whatever distractions, and you always make room for family. Its catch up time.
Do you have any New Years resolutions set or any goals you are aiming to achieve this year?
TOYAH: My New Years resolutions usually go into about 3 pages of dialogue with myself! Basically, I just want to keep developing and moving forward. I don’t want to just rest on my laurels. So, my new years resolutions are always linked to creative writing, painting, developing ideas and examining ideas, brining them into fruition. My New Years resolutions are always boringly predictable, but they are for me, nagging myself to hit my goals.
• Continue reading the interview at Cornfield Publishing.
• Absolute Radio: Win 80s Invasion Tour tickets: The 80s Invasion Tour is back in Spring 2017 with a brilliant line-up of 80s artists, and we’ve got tickets to be won. 80s stars on this year’s line-up include Paul Young, Martika, Toyah and China Crisis – Continue reading/Comp details here…
• This is Our Town Guildford: Interview: Martika Bringing the Party to 80’s Invasion Tour in Guildford: We caught up with 80’s pop star Martika, known for hits such as Toy Soldiers and the Prince-penned track Love…Thy Will Be Done, ahead of her appearance on the “80’s Invasion Tour”. The tour lands at G Live in Guildford on 13 March – Continue reading…
• Mirror: Paul Young reveals he loves touring and still gets knickers thrown at him onstage – The eighties singer, 60, on fighting the middle-age spread, not being ready for grandkids, and money worries – Continue reading…
• Cornfield Publishing: An Interview with Martika: Take a look at our latest interview where we had the chance to catch up with Martika, ahead of the ‘80’s Invasion’ tour, which kicks off in March – Continue reading…
• More 80s Invasion 2017: See all the dates and ticket booking links at toyahwillcox.com… Browse all of Dreamscape’s 80s Invasion tour news here…
More big music acts and festivals are heading to Exeter this year – here’s everything we know so far
Festival season will soon be upon us and if you haven’t decided on which music gigs you want to go to this year – then here is a little help. Once again there are plenty of festivals to choose from in and around Exeter for 2017, with big named artists that are guaranteed not to disappoint.
Let’s Rock, Powderham Castle: 80’s festival Let’s Rock is back again this year bringing with it Tony Hadley, Howard Jones and Jason Donovan. The festival will once again take place at Powderham Castle on Saturday, July 1, and the acts that will be heading to Exeter this year include, Belinda Carlisle, Chesney Hawkes, Imagination, Big Country, From the Jam, Hazel O’Connor, Katrina, Jaki Graham and Toyah.
How do I get tickets and how much are they?: Tickets are now on sale here. General tickets cost £47.30. VIP tickets are also available priced £132.
• Continue reading at the Exeter Express & Echo. Visit the Let’s Rock Exeter website (Toyah is also playing Let’s Rock London this year). See the dedicated pages for both Let’s Rock festivals at toyahwillcox.com here and here.
Prince’s Park, Salford is now home to what organiser’s describe as “a boutique music festival”, also known as Irlam Live.
Taking place from Friday 2 June to Sunday 4 June, Headline acts include Jason Donovan, Alexander O’Neal and Odyssey. The weekend will consist of ‘Legends Friday’, ‘Soulfest Saturday’, and ‘Retro Sunday’ with up to 5,000 visitors per day finishing at 9pm each night.
Toyah Willcox is set to perform and Bob Marley’s Wailers will also be flying in from Jamaica!
• Continue reading at ITV News. See also the Irlam Live 2017 website, and dedicated gig page at toyahwillcox.com.
Welcome to our first “Newsy Bits” of the year!
• Punx: Rebellion Festival: Great to have Toyah back again. And great that a famous ‘name’ bothers to put a piece on her website! So many bands play the festival, but not all of them update their websites to say so! Respect to those that do – thank you! – Continue reading…
• Rebellion Festival 2017: Toyah returns to Blackpool’s punk festival later this year. Visit the page “Punx” are referring to above at toyahwillcox.com…
• Concert Posters 2011 – 2017: See two new promotional posters for Toyah’s forthcoming live dates this year, plus others dating back to 2011…
• Warrington Worldwide: Meet Kim Smith the new face of the WI: The last thing you would expect from your local WI Chairman to be involved in would be promoting a pop concert featuring 80’s icon Toyah! – Continue reading…
• The Sun: Granarchy in the UK: We hear from the pioneers of punk 40 years after they unleashed havoc on polite society. (Not strictly Toyah related but includes an interview with the wonderful and inspiring Jordan/Pamela Rooke) – Continue reading…
• The Shields Gazette: When South Shields man had stars in his eyes: It was a quirky bonus to have a Toyah impersonator in my group as the real Toyah and I were good friends – Continue reading…
Review: a blissfully self-indulgent chance to reminisce for pop-pickers of a certain vintage
Who got a lifetime ban from a Manchester hotel for swinging from a chandelier and stealing a zebra? Ginger diva Toyah Willcox. Who bought an Austin A40 convertible so she could poke her beehive hair out of the roof? Jazz chanteuse Mari Wilson. What did this pair have in common? They were both on Pop Quiz: The Comeback (BBC Four), a revival of the retro gameshow which pitted two teams of Eighties pop stars against each other for no apparent reason other than festive fun.
• Continue reading at The Telegraph.
Punk star Toyah Willcox is looking forward to performing at next year’s Upton House Music Festival in Poole.
Toyah is part of an ‘80s Extravaganza at the three-day festival on Friday June 9, along with Billy Ocean and Kim Wilde. The singer and actress has close links with Dorset thanks to her 30-year marriage to Wimborne born and bred King Crimson musician, Robert Fripp, and her time spent living in Witchampton.
She said: “Dorset is very close to my heart and I love returning there whenever I can. It will be great fun playing Upton House Music Festival as well as meeting up with a few old friends.”
• Continue reading at the Dorset Echo.
Some years there’s so much good festive telly on offer, it makes your head spin like a Christmas tree bauble crashing to the floor. In 2016, not so much – Still, there are a few gems across the schedules. Here are a few…
Pop Quiz: The Comeback (28 December, BBC4, 9:30pm)
DJ Mike Read (‘Mike Read, 275 and 285, Mike Read, Mike Read, National Radio 1’) revives the Eighties teen show in which pop stars answered questions on pop. How will the likes of Toyah, a Thompson Twin and one of ‘the Spands’ fare in this two-part treat?
• Continue reading at The Scotsman.
Official Charts guide to the best music shows on TV this Christmas
We all love lounging on the sofa with eggnog in one hand and a Chocolate Orange in the other, glued to some of the year’s best TV. But what to choose when you win the battle for the remote and the channel-flicking power is all yours?
If you’re done with present opening, turkey stuffing and The Great Christmas Bake Off (we’ll miss you Mel, Sue and Mary!) – we round up the very best music telly on offer this Christmas.
Wednesday 28 December
Pop Quiz: The Comeback – 9:30pm, BBC4
Mike Read hosts the revival of the 80s music quiz with guests including Toyah Willcox, who is best known for fronting 80s band Toyah. And narrating The Teletubbies, of course.
• Continue reading at Official Charts.
Did they REALLY do panto? Oh yes, they did! How The Beatles, Ant and Dec, Joanna Lumley and a host of other stars couldn’t resist the lure of the stage.
Oh, no it isn’t! Oh, yes it is! Even the biggest showbusiness stars have not been able to resist the lure of pantomime over the years — and that includes The Beatles at the height of their fame in 1963. From Ant and Dec to Sir Elton John, from Frank Bruno to Sir Cliff Richard, everyone loves dressing up in colourful daft costumes and telling corny jokes at Christmas…
Flying Tonight: How did Toyah Willcox end up as Peter Pan in 1993? It’s a mystery.
• Continue reading at the Daily Mail.
Who Had Four #1’s In The 1981 Indie Singles Chart?
Treat yourself to a chocolate biscuit if you got that one correct. If you don’t have such a thing close to hand then go buy one from a nearby shop and I’ll reimburse you as long as you send me the receipt.
Toyah, contrary to popular belief, was not just a solo project for Ms Willcox. Back in 1977, three friends had spent a brief period playing under the name Ninth Illusion, without recording any music. In the beginning of 1978 they added some more musicians and settled on a new, taking it from their female vocalist who was also just beginning to forge a name for herself as an actress.
By mid-1979 the band had signed to the London-based Safari Records and over the next 18 months here would be a handful of singles and LPs that didn’t really do all that much. By late 1980, there had been further line-up changes with only Joel Bogen remaining from the earlier line-ups and the decision was taken to focus on a more pop-orientated sound.
• Continue reading at The (New) Vinyl Villain.
“There is a mindset when it comes to competitive combat and I think I might have that.”
Toyah Willcox will always be associated with early 80s pop, punk and new romanticism – and that’s no bad thing. With her flaming sunset hair, rebellious lyrics and tribal synths, she is unforgettable. But what isn’t always remembered is that this versatile all-rounder has acted opposite greats like Sir Laurence Olivier and Katharine Hepburn, worked for directors like George Cukor and Derek Jarman, and had success in children’s TV as Barmy Aunt Boomerang and as a narrator of Teletubbies.
Nevertheless, the call of the 80s is hard to resist and so, next Spring, Toyah will join Paul Young, Martika and China Crisis for the 80s Invasion tour. It’s a tempting proposition. But I wonder if Toyah’s boundless energy is still in good supply.
“That enthusiasm is just a natural part of who I am,” she says. “I don’t believe in working on anything half-heartedly. If people are good enough to work with you, you have to give them 150 per cent in return. You can’t become an actress and have limitations or boundaries, that just feels contradictory to me. Diversity is a very rewarding thing because you see different aspects of human life and come into contact with things that you would never have otherwise discovered. As a writer, that’s vital for me because we all tend to live in a bit of a bubble. With Teletubbies I was doing a favour for a friend who never thought it would ever see the light of day. Of course she couldn’t have been more wrong as it became one of the BBC‘s most successful programmes.”
• Continue reading at Northern Soul.
Toyah Willcox and Don Maclean have both been honoured on the Birmingham Walk Of Stars.
Singer, actress and punk icon Toyah, originally from King’s Heath, attended a special presentation alongside Birmingham-born actor Maclean. Jasper Carrott, who has his own star, presented the Walk of Stars Awards with Birmingham Council leader, Councillor John Clancy.
Toyah, now 58, said: “I am thrilled to be receiving a star on the Birmingham Walk of Stars. Having spent my childhood and teenage years in this great city, I developed my love of music and theatre here, thanks to all the great music venues and theatres available within the one city.”
• Continue reading at the Express & Star. (Photo © Express & Star)
Billy Ocean, Kim Wilde and Bryn Terfel to play Upton House Festival 2017
A host of star names will light up a festival in Dorset next summer. Upton House Music Festival in Poole, is back on Thursday June 8 to Saturday June 10 2017 with a host of star names. Details of the first two sensational nights have now been revealed – with the identity of Saturday’s headliner being kept strictly under wraps for the time being.
The three-night festival is held at the idyllic Upton House and Country Park in Poole, Dorset with a Classical Spectacular followed by an 80s Extravaganza and a final night starring a top international artist.
Friday June 9 is 80s Extravaganza party night starring incomparable R’n’B superstar Billy Ocean, hugely successful singer Kim Wilde and punk princess Toyah.
• Continue reading at the Dorset Echo. Read another article on this at the Daily Echo.
Quadrophenia star and singer Toyah Willcox awarded a star on Broad Street
The Kings Heath born singer and actress was awarded a star on Birmingham’s Walk of Stars in Broad Street.
Singer and actress Toyah Willcox was last night Sunday December 11, awarded a star on Birmingham’s Walk of Stars in Broad Street. The 58 year old was awarded the star along with Brum born comedian Don Maclean who appeared in BBC television series Crackerjack with Michael Aspel, Peter Glaze and Jan Hunt in the 1970s.
The pair were awarded their stars during a special show hosted by Walk of Stars’ chairman Jasper Carrott at the Birmingham Rep Theatre. Toyah who was born in Kings Heath, shot to fame playing Monkey in the 1979 cult classic Quadrophenia. She also had a successful music career spanning 30 years including hits “It’s a Mystery”, “Thunder in the Mountains” and “I Want to Be Free” as well as 20 top selling albums. Toyah studied at Old Rep Drama School in Birmingham.
Looking back at her time there she said: “Already by then I was known in Birmingham for being the oddball that walked around with dyed hair. And you’ve got to remember that this is pre-punk, this was about 1973–74” At the event Toyah said “ I’m so proud and so excited. All my friends,family and fans are here. I feel Birmingham has done me proud today. I’m very grateful thank you.”
• Continue reading at the Birmingham Mail. View a great collection of photos from the Birmingham Walk of Stars event at Flickr. (Photo © Birmingham Mail)
Toyah Willcox and Don Maclean take their place on Birmingham Walk of Stars, hosted by Jaspar Carrott
Two of Birmingham’s theatrical stars will light up the city with a special presentation on Sunday. Fans can join host Jasper Carrott as Toyah Willcox and Don Maclean take their place on the Birmingham Walk Of Stars
Birmingham Council leader, Councillor John Clancy, will present Walk of Stars Awards to singer and actress Toyah and comedian and actor Maclean. Both artists will also perform at the show.
• Continue reading at the Express and Star.
Toyah Willcox stars in new film about an aspiring stand-up
Toyah Willcox is to appear in a new film about an aspiring comedian, written by playwright John Godber.
Filming has wrapped on dark comedy The Last Laugh, in which Nick Figgis portrays Martin, a theatre lecturer and would-be screenwriter who finds catharsis in performing stand-up when his wife discovers his affair and takes his family away.
Willcox (pictured above with Godber) is Pam, Martin’s ‘Judi Dench-like’ mother-in-law, a hugely successful actor of stage and screen – including sitcom – whom he yearns to impress.
Bouncers writer Godber makes his acting debut as Martin’s father, with his real-life wife Jane playing his onscreen spouse. Based on the writer’s 1997 play Weekend Breaks, the film cuts between Martin struggling to reconnect with his working-class parents in an isolated farmhouse in Whitby and him recounting the experience on stage.
• Continue reading at Chortle. Check out all of Dreamscape’s The Last Laugh news.
• BBC Media Centre: Pop Quiz returns packed full of 80s stars: It’s time to dig out your leg warmers, ra-ra skirts and grab your Walkmans as BBC Four revives the classic 80s programme, Pop Quiz: The Comeback, for two specials in celebration of 80s pop music – Continue reading…
• ATV Today: Pop Quiz returns to the BBC: 1980s music based game show Pop Quiz is being revived by the BBC once more. The series has previously seen short-lived revivals in the 1990s and 2000s – Continue reading…
BBC Four is set to revive the classic TV show Pop Quiz for two Christmas specials in celebration of ’80s pop music.
Original presenter Mike Read is set to host alongside teams of competing ’80s pop stars.
Guests will include Toyah Willcox, Nick Heyward (Haircut 100), Carol Decker (T’Pau), Tom Bailey (Thompson Twins), Andy McCluskey (OMD), Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet), David Grant (Linx), Cheryl Baker and Jay Aston (Bucks Fizz), Ranking Roger (The Beat), Mari Wilson and Lee John (Imagination).
“I’m delighted to be working with a great BBC team to bring back the classic TV series Pop Quiz,” said Read. “Once again the brows of the famous will be furrowed, lips pursed and eyes narrowed as we test their music knowledge, watch some great classic footage and have some fun along the way.”
• Continue reading at Music Week.
Heather Phillipson has won the coveted annual Film London Jarman Award, announced at a special event at London’s Whitechapel Gallery. She receives £10,000 prize money, as well as a commission for Channel 4’s Random Acts strand.
The Award was presented by charismatic and outspoken performer Toyah Willcox, who began her film career in 1977 when film director Derek Jarman offered her the role of ‘Mad’ in his seminal punk epic Jubilee.
Heather Phillipson was chosen from a distinguished shortlist of artists featuring Sophia Al Maria, Cécile B. Evans, Shona Illingworth, Mikhail Karikis and Rachel Maclean. All six artists will receive a film commission for Channel 4’s short-form arts strand Random Acts.
• Continue reading at Film London. More photos at Film London Twitter. (Photo © Film London)
