Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

A new interview with Toyah – one of the best for quite a while – has been published by the Write Wyatt blog.

Getting up close and personal with Toyah

Regular readers of this blog won’t be surprised that this scribe is an avid viewer of BBC 4’s Top of the Pops re-runs, a point I soon confess to my latest interviewee, Toyah Willcox.

“Oh, God bless those!”

The more recently re-aired shows take me back to my early teens, at a time when this highly-recognisable West Midlands raised actress and singer was enjoying a string of hits, not least the distinctive It’s a Mystery, Thunder in the Mountains and I Want To Be Free.

Admittedly, you’ve always had to wade through a lot of rubbish on Top of the Pops, recent examples ranging from Captain Beaky and Joe Dolce to The Snowmen and Starsound. But it also makes me realise how many great characters there were in music at the time. ‘Old bloke with rose-tinted nostalgic specs’ alert, but the charts today just don’t seem to have that same level of OTT theatricality. This was after all an era when the disparate likes of Adam Ant, Buster Bloodvessel, Clare Grogan, Hazel O’Connor, John Lydon, Lee John, Siouxsie Sioux and Ms Willcox herself were beamed into our front rooms on Thursday nights. Just where are the characters now?

“It was phenomenal back then. There were big characters out there. We all had to perform live and came up performing live. There were very few contrived acts. A very different time. We also all wrote, and I think it’s really important to write your own material. It was almost a dirty word to do somebody else’s song.

“I had to be coerced into doing Echo Beach (1987). That was a hit for me, but I felt a sense of shame at the time. Now I absolutely love performing it. Back then it was really important that the songs were your voice.”

• Continue reading at Write Wyatt.

Local musicians have been auditioning to play at the Dartford Festival and the response has been so good two further heats have been added

Four bands are set to appear on the main stage at Central Park over Saturday, July 16 and Sunday, July 17. Now more chances to audition have been opened, at the Bull & Vic on Thursday, June 23 and Thursday, June 30. The Community Stage will also return, with local dance and drama groups showcasing their work over both days.

Heavyweight Ska legends and 1980s pop band Bad Manners will headline this year’s festival. They will join Punk princess Toyah Willcox for the free extravaganza.

• Continue reading at Kent Online.

• Live 2016: Tours, festivals, gigs, PAs – All the details and ticket links for Toyah’s upcoming confirmed dates at toyahwillcox.com…

• Let’s Rock Leeds 2016: Watch Toyah at yesterday’s pop festival at You Tube…

• The Wright Stuff: Toyah recalls meeting Muhammad Ali – Watch at Twitter…

• Newark Advertiser: Invites sent out for a royal celebration: The RAFA event is sponsored by Wellowfest, which takes place in Wellow on July 15-17 and features Sir Bob Geldof, Jim Davidson and Toyah Willcox – Continue reading…

• Spin: The Forthcoming ‘Quadrophenia’ Sequel Sounds Like a Wild Ride: A sequel to the 1979 film Quadrophenia, inspired by the Who’s 1973 album of the same name, will reportedly start filming in London this summer. The news comes a cool 37 years after the original movie, but it’s been brewing so long that a potential sequel was already being referred to as “long-awaited” back in 2013 – Continue reading…

• Dangerous Minds: Cute Couple Alert: King Crimson’s Robert Fripp & Toyah Willcox on ‘All Star Mr & Mrs’ – Continue reading…

• Daily Echo: Win tickets to Let’s Rock Southampton – Continue Reading…

Cockney Rebel and Toyah Willcox headlining Secret World wildlife charity’s first ever music festival

Secret World, Somerset’s favourite wildlife rescue charity, will be singing and dancing with the best later this year.

Legendary rocker Steve Harley is heading to Somerset to headline a festival with a difference.

On September 10, Steve and his band Cockney Rebel will be getting the crowds a-jumping at Music in the Meadow, the first- ever music festival to be held at Secret World Wildlife Rescue.

Visitors have been flocking to events at Secret World for many years, but it’s usually for a chance to get close to wildlife. Now the much-loved charity in East Huntspill, near Highbridge, is holding a one-day music festival, which will also feature Inspirational punk rocker Toyah Willcox. Other acts have yet to be announced.

• Continue reading at Somerset Live.

Toyah Willcox and Steve Harley to play at Music in The Meadow festival

Legendary rocker Steve Harley and punk rocker Toyah Willcox are set to headline a new music festival near Burnham-On-Sea this September.

Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 8th June, priced at £20 each.

Keith Weston, event organiser, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We’ve been bursting to announce this event and we are so excited to now tell everyone that we have these brilliant musicians confirmed for our first ever music festival!”

“Music in the Meadow will be in aid of Secret World and will support our work to rescue, rehabilitate and release injured and orphaned wildlife”.

• Continue reading at Burnham-On-Sea.com.

This lively, entertaining and revealing show comes in the form of Toyah performing an unplugged set of her well-loved hits and classic songs, alongside recalling stories from her colourful, 35 year career.

Guitarists Chris Wong and Colin Hinds accompany Toyah on melodic acoustic versions of the hits It’s A Mystery and I Want To Be Free through to Sensational.

Toyah adds: “It’s a lovely show with colourful and amusing stories – you’ll definitely hear some truthful anecdotes from the late 70s and 80s. More importantly the music has real space to breathe.”

• Continue reading at The Blackpool Gazette.

Toyah Willcox gives us the lowdown on Rewind Festival

We caught up with the punk princess to talk all things 80s music and Rewind

In 2014 she topped the iTunes Rock chart with her American band The Humans, and this year will see more music releases and touring – including a stop off at Rewind Festival South in Henley.

This year will see her fifth performance at the mega music weekender. But what is it that keeps bringing her back to Rewind?

Toyah said: “This is what I do, it simply is what I do. I do all sorts of festivals including Glastonbury and all of that, but the one thing about Rewind is that it’s just designed brilliantly.

“The audience love it and it’s just such good fun. There are a ridiculous amount of artists and the production standards are out of this world.

“I do still get nervous in the festival environment, but I have a job to do. I remember performing and turning around to give the band a wink and seeing us on this huge massive video wall – it’s such high quality.”

• Continue reading at Get Reading.

Toyah Willcox on Botox, plastic surgery and why she has one of the happiest marriages in showbiz

The punk icon has just celebrated her 30th wedding anniversary and is happier than ever

Punk icon Toyah Willcox has just as much attitude now as she did when she burst on to the music scene in the 1980s.

She may be just 5ft tall, but the singer and actress makes up for her lack of inches in decibels.

Toyah, 58, and husband, King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp, 70, have just celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary, and she roars laughing as she reveals why this showbiz marriage is one that works .

• Continue reading at the Mirror.

The treasured venue formerly known as The Tute by locals – The Layton – presents the princess of punk and rock Toyah Willcox in October.

Toyah Willcox remains one of Britain’s best known names, an award winning rock legend as well as actress and composer.

If you want to steal a march on the more intimate resort gig (October 8, tickets £18) Toyah recently announced plans to play Preston’s Charter on Friday June 24. She’s also playing The Muni, Colne, in October. And that’s not forgetting a preview of new material at Glastonbury to come.

• Continue reading at The Blackpool Gazette.

As well as what’s already posted below there has been a lot of online press reports about the “Quadrophenia Sequel”. Here are links to a few: (Photo © TSIPhotography.co.uk)

SPIN: The Forthcoming ‘Quadrophenia’ Sequel Sounds Like a Wild Ride – Read …
What Culture: Attention Mods: Quadrophenia Is Getting A Belated Sequel – Read …
Vulture: Dust Off Your Finest Scooter, Because a Quadrophenia Sequel Is Coming – Read …
Hot Press: The Who’s Quadrophenia To Get Sequel – Read …
Access All Areas: Toyah Willcox and Phil Daniels on board for Quadrophenia sequel – Read …
Film Junk: Quadrophenia Sequel in the Works – Read …

Steve Oram’s deeply British feature debut is the kind of mesmerizing cult oddity whose fan base will be limited but passionate.

It may be filmed in the Academy ratio, but Steve Oram’s low-budget feature debut “Aaaaaaaah!” could hardly be considered a nod to classic Hollywood. Rather, the 4:3 frame indicates something more primal, evoking the so-called “video nasties” (a wave of mostly cheap horror films banned on VHS in the U.K. in the 1980s, following a wave of moral panic over the perceived degeneration in values these films would cause when made available for home viewing). “Aaaaaaaah!” is set in exactly the kind of world Mary Whitehouse feared, and functions as a kind of loving Swiftian satire on the more brutish aspects of modern life. Though it’s at once too subtle and too extreme to attract a broad audience, those who get something out of gross-out humor, silent film and British comedy will treasure “Aaaaaaaah!” as a rare cult gem.

• Continue reading at Variety.

Fans of 1980s music are in for a real treat this summer when the Rewind Scotland festival returns for its sixth consecutive year.

The event is taking place once again at Scone Palace in Perthshire from Friday, July 22, to Sunday, July 24. And this year’s musical feast features a fantastic line-up of the best 1980s acts.

They include former punk princess Toyah Willcox.

She’ll be taking to the stage on Sunday, July 24, and is excited about performing for fans of all ages.

“I’m really looking forward to this year’s Rewind Festival – I was there last year and have performed many times over the years. It is one of the highlights of my summer. I love performing all my songs and love to hear the audience singing along. I’ll be trying to fit in as many as I can!”

• Continue reading at the Motherwell Times. Tickets are available now at www.rewindfestival.com.

Quadrophenia sequel to shoot this summer – 37 years after the original was released

Phil Daniels and Toyah Willcox will return for the sequel

A sequel to iconic British movie Quadrophenia is being made, 37 years after the original was released.

The sequel to the cult film, which was released in 1979, is expected to see the return of original cast members Phil Daniels and singer Toyah Willcox – and will shoot this summer.

The iconic 1979 adaptation of The Who’s eponymous album focused on the infamous violent clashes between Mods and Rockers on Brighton Beach in the 1960’s, and it’s expected that the sequel will catch up with the characters at a later stage in their lives.

• Continue reading at the NME.

The modern mods: Cast of Quadrophenia reunite for a NEW film 37 years on that will pick up where the classic original left off, with Jimmy riding his scooter off a cliff

• Quadrophenia, made in 1979, was based on real events in Brighton in 1964
• Phil Daniels played Jimmy, a mod, caught up in tribal violence with rockers
• The film ends with Jimmy apparently riding a Vespa off a clifftop
• But Peter Meadows’ book To Be Someone picks up the action later
• Jimmy has survived and the novel follows him through to the 1990s
• Toyah Willcox says her character, Monkey, has become a swinging cougar

Phil Daniels, Toyah Willcox and several other actors who appeared in the cult film Quadrophenia are due to reprise their roles in a sequel 37 years later, based on the book To Be Someone. Daniels, now 57, Willcox, 58, and two of the other members of the original cast, Mark Wingett, 55, and Trevor Laird, 58, are said to be keen to take part in the film, which will be directed by Ray Burdis, who directed gangster film The Wee Man.

• Continue reading at the Daily Mail.

Production to Begin on Sequel to the Who’s ‘Quadrophenia’ Film

This summer, production will begin on To Be Someone, a sequel to the 1979 film adaptation of the Who‘s rock opera Quadrophenia. The movie, which will be directed by Ray Burdis, is expected to be released next year.

NME reports that the plot is based on a 2011 novel of the same name by Peter Meadows that was inspired by the characters in the movie. Phil Daniels and Toyah Willcox are reprising their roles as Jimmy and Monkey, and sees where they are at in their lives decades removed from the mods vs. rockers battles of the mid-’60s.

• Continue reading at Ultimate Classic Rock.

British mod movie Quadrophenia sequel is being made – 37 years after the original

A sequel to the iconic British mod movie Quadrophenia is being made – 37 years after the original.

The new film will star many of the same cast members as the 1979 cult hit – singer Toyah Willcox, 58, Mark Wingett, 55, Phil Daniels, 57 and Trevor Laird, 58, and will start filming in London this summer.

The era-defining 1979 film adaptation of The Who’s rock opera, which also starred Leslie Ash, 56, Sting, 64, and Ray Winstone, 59, documented the infamous clashes between rival gangs of mods on their scooters and rockers on motorbikes terrorising seaside resort Brighton with violent fighting.

The follow-up is set in the present-day and based on the book To Be Someone, by Peter Meadows, which was inspired by the original movie – and will be directed by Ray Burdis, who made The Wee Man and The Krays, with his company Archangel productions.

• Continue reading at The Mirror.

Quadrophenia star Toyah Willcox says her character has become a ‘sexual predator’

The 80s singer said: “The natural journey for my character, nearly 40 years on, has seen her become a sexual predator, working in the sex industry”

A sequel to the iconic British mod movie Quadrophenia is being made – 37 years after the original.

The new film will star many of the same cast members as the 1979 cult hit – singer Toyah Willcox, 58, Mark Wingett, 55, Phil Daniels, 57 and Trevor Laird, 58, and will start filming in London this summer.

80s popstar Toyah will revisit her role as Monkey – who has grown into a swinging cougar. She said: “Quadrophenia was really zeitgeist and it’s never really gone away, as every new generation connects with it.

“No-one expected that to happen – it grabbed teenage angst by the balls and never let go. None of us realised the impact it would have at the time – we were all just desperate to out do each other. The natural journey for my character, nearly 40 years on, has seen her become a sexual predator, working in the sex industry as a madam. She’s married to one of the other main characters and they’re swingers.”

• Continue reading at The Mirror. (Photos © TSIPhotography.co.uk)

Toyah Willcox brings her band to Derby to play an intimate stripped back show, full of hits, album tracks and new songs.

Derby Cathedral is set to become the major entertainment venue in the city centre with more than a dozen events already planned this year and more to follow.

Following the closure of the city’s Assembly Rooms in 2013 after a fire in its car park, Derby has been noticeably unable to stage large-scale concerts and exhibitions. At the same time, the cathedral is committed to getting as many people as possible through its doors in addition to those who worship there.

• Continue reading at the Derby Telegraph.

Quadrophenia reunion 37 years after cult film was released – and the stars have changed quite a bit

Looks like these Quadrophenia stars are still talking about their generation…

Toyah Willcox, Mark Wingett, Phil Daniels and Trevor Laird met up for a reunion 37 years after the hit mods and rockers movie was released.

And while there was not a scooter or parka in sight, the group looked delighted to see each other. Singer Toyah, 58, played Monkey. Mark, 55, (Dave in the 1979 film) became Jim Carver in The Bill and 57-year-old Phil had the lead role as Jimmy.

• Continue reading at The Mirror.

Toyah announced as first headliner for Dartford Festival 2016

Dartford Borough Council is excited to announce the first act in a fantastic line up for this year’s FREE Dartford Festival in Central Park.

Birmingham-born Punk princess, award-winning rock legend, actress and composer, Toyah Willcox will be appearing on Saturday 16th July.

Toyah’s career spans nearly 40 years and during that time she has amassed 13 top 40 singles, recorded 20 albums, written two books, appeared in over 40 stage plays and acted in 15 feature films. She has also presented several TV programmes including Watchdog and Songs of Praise.

Toyah is currently touring and performing at festivals up and down the country. She also continues to act in feature films including a cameo role in British film Extremis which will be released this year.

• Continue reading at Dartford Borough Council.

Toyah revealed as first major act appearing at this year’s Dartford Festival

The first headliner for this year’s free Dartford Festival in Central Park has been revealed as singer Toyah.

Dartford Borough Council has just announced that the Birmingham-born Punk princess, award-winning rock legend, actress and composer, will be appearing on Saturday, July 16.

Welcoming the announcement council leader Jeremy Kite said, “Every year, we put on the sort of show that usually attracts a high ticket price and then we make it free!

“The Festival’s success is built on some of Britain’s most talented and successful live artists and I’m delighted Toyah has accepted our invitation to feature on the Saturday stage. She is the first of many great festival acts to be announced in the coming weeks.”

• Continue reading at the Gravesend Reporter.