Festival season is well and truly here with live outdoor music events taking place all over the country and right here on our doorstep too.
One of the biggest in our area is Chilfest and this second year sees the best ever line up of sounds from the 80s and contemporary pop playing over the three days. The gig at Pendley Meadow in Tring kicks off on Friday with the Boomtown Rats, Heaven 17, From The Jam, Big Country, China Crisis and Dr and The Medics.
On Saturday Jason Donovan tops a bill that includes Toyah, Leee John (Imagination), Boney M featuring Maizie Williams, Go West and Bad Manners.
• Continue reading at The Bucks Herald.
A city choir has hit the right note after recruiting an 80s music icon ahead of one of its biggest ever shows.
Toyah Willcox will get on stage with Worcester Rock Choir at a roof-raising concert on Saturday, July 19 in the spectacular surroundings of Birmingham Symphony Hall.
The choir will be performing a number of Toyah’s hits at the event, which will include a collection for the Teenage Cancer Trust as members were inspired by teenager Stephen Sutton who died last month after raising millions for the cause.
• Continue reading at the Worcester Observer.
Toyah Willcox joins Lorraine on the sofa to talk about the 35th anniversary of the film Quadrophenia, in which she starred alongside Sting, Ray Winstone, Leslie Ash and Phil Daniels.
The book marking the 35th anniversary of the release of the film, Quadrophenia: A Way Of Life – Inside The Making Of Britain’s Greatest Youth Film, by Simon Wells is out now.
Catch up on Lorraine with ITV Player
• Continue reading at itv.com.
If you’re never quite sure whether you preferred the music of the 70s, 80s or 90s, you will be in for a treat if you plan a short break in Blackpool next month.
On Saturday July 12th the city will host Rocking Through the Decades, a free show that will see a range of musical acts from various decades perform to the crowds. Representing the 70s, for instance, will be the three Dynamos from Mamma Mia, while Toyah Willcox – who is best known for songs like It’s a Mystery and Thunder in the Mountains – will be there to showcase the sounds of the 1980s.
• Continue reading at Superbreak.
For a superstar who writes songs about the universe, Toyah Willcox is surprisingly down-to-earth. Performing for the first time in the Peel Centenary Centre, and for the second time in the island, she sung her lungs out to a nearly sold out theatre.
The pyramid seating of the theatre gave everyone a wonderful view as the white backstage turned to neon green and coral pink. The lights then shifted the hue farther as the band members walked out.
They took their positions, all wearing predominantly black clothing so our star could shine: Toyah. She emerged wearing her iconic eccentricities of a kaleidoscopic T-shirt and space invader accessories. Although her outfit certainly won the prize for uniqueness, her hair no longer wins the prize of weirdest style as ‘Mr Mohican’ (as Toyah named him when he shouted out) was far more exciting.
Toyah didn’t just perform a concert, she was also a personality on the stage; she stopped in-between tracks and spoke to the crowd about what she felt when she wrote the song, or what she felt when she performed it. This was fantastic for the audience as we gained so much insight into the mind of star.
• Continue reading at the Isle Of Man Today.
Punk icon Toyah Willcox will become an honorary member of the UK’s largest contemporary choir next week.
The actress and singer will visit a Rock Choir session at Pitmaston Primary School, Malvern Road, Worcester, on Tuesday, June 24 at 8pm ahead of joining the choir for a special performance at the Birmingham Symphony Hall on Saturday, July 19.
The Birmingham show will be used to raise funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust after the choir was inspired by the multi-million charity efforts of Stephen Sutton.
• Continue reading at Worcester News. Toyah also tweeted earlier: “Learning Rock Choir arrangement of Sensational 4 B’ham Symphony Hall 19th july. pure joy. Had Wild nite @ Pinewood Studios“.
A new interview with Toyah, ahead of her Crimson Queen/Greatest Hits…Live! gig at The Astor Theatre in Kent on Saturday, published yesterday by Kent Online.
Former ‘high priestess of punk’ Toyah Willcox may have mellowed with age but she still loves donning the dramatic costumes to become her on-stage musical alter-ego, as she tells Jo Roberts
“In my youth, I was happy standing out but I love that now I can be anonymous in the street. I’d rather just turn it on for the stage,” says Toyah, whose current conventionally blonde tresses and subtle chic contrast with the flame-haired punk appearance she sported in the 1980s.
The prolific singer has released more than 20 albums in the past 35 years. Her biggest chart hits came in 1981 with the EP Four from Toyah and the single Thunder in the Mountains. Toyah forged a three-pronged career as an actress and media personality too but she will be returning to her first love when she hits the stage at Deal’s Astor Theatre this weekend with her Crimson Queen Greatest Hits show.
“It’s definitely a different part of me,” she says of her musical alter ego, known for a signature dramatic look which manages to combine a futuristic vibe with retro 1980s stylings. “The majority of the time I’m a businesswoman, but I can’t wait to get out of the office and become my on-stage persona, I love that freedom”.
• Continue reading at Kent Online.
Film Maker Profile: Simon Cox – Kaleidoscope Man
Simon Cox has worked in the UK TV and Film industry for over 20 years for the BBC, Channel four and five as well as directing a feature film of his own and is now attempting to make Independent film history by writing and directing a full-on sci-fi thriller – Kaleidoscope Man:
When psychiatrist and father-to-be Thomas Dunn’s patients begin to share terrifying visions of the destruction of planet Earth a chain reaction is begun which could threaten everything that he holds dear. He and a group of his patients must battle their own demons as well as invading aliens in Earth’s last stand.
• Continue reading at Graham Inman.com. Read another new interview with Simon Cox, at The Cutting Room Floor.
It was the mid-70s. The Bee Gees had discovered disco, Queen were breaking the mould with Bohemian Rhapsody and that tartan clad boy band from Scotland The Bay City Rollers were driving parents to distraction and their teenage daughters to the state of near hyperventilation!
Never the less, the moguls of the music industry were watching from afar green eyed with corporate jealousy. They all wanted what Bell Records had in The Rollers, and for one Coventry born A&R man his wish was about to become a reality, and he didn’t have to go to far to find it!
… It was pretty obvious the band had now reached its sell-by date and it was over as quickly as it began. Steve Bray joined The Toyah Willcox band, and appeared on her two first albums The seminal Sheep Farming In Barnet and The Blue Meaning.
• Continue reading at the Coventry Telegraph.
Eighties pop sensation Toyah Willcox gave a stunning performance in front of an audience of 250 people at the Peel Centenary Centre.
Dave Moncaster from Port St Mary sent us this photo from the gig and said: ‘She was brilliant and gave an absolutely worthy performance, appreciated by everyone in attendance. The evening was full of her well known songs and some that I don’t remember. The lady is funny, well spoken and a total professional. Please come back to the island soon, Toyah.’
• Continue reading at isleofman.com.
A look at the print version of the Isle Of Man Today article we linked to last week. Toyah played a Crimson Queen/Greatest Hits…Live! tour date The Centenary Centre in Peel last night.
Multi-talented 80s pop star Toyah Willcox comes to the Centenary Centre in Peel on Saturday, June 14. This will be Toyah’s second visit to the island after she performed at Jaks in Douglas in 2011.
She has had 13 top 40 singles, written two books, appeared in over 40 stage plays, made 10 feature films and presented TV shows from ‘Songs of Praise’ to ‘The Good Sex Guide Late’.
• View a larger version of the article here. (Thanks to Colin Dew-Parry for the scan)
The Crimson Queen herself, Toyah Willcox, has teased further information about Steve Oram‘s début directorial feature, Aaaaaaaah!
Since it was announced in January, news of the production has been thin on the ground. Filming was due to start in April, but was delayed for some unknown reason – potentially the top-notch cast and their hectic schedules!
The film, in which Oram, Willcox, Tom Meeten, Julian Barratt, Tony Way, Waen Shepherd, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Hannah Hoeskra will communicate entirely in ape-like grunts, shrieks and moans, promises to be a typically surreal treat from the unique mind of Steve Oram.
• Continue reading at The Velvet Onion.
Multi-talented 80s pop star Toyah Willcox comes to the Centenary Centre in Peel on Saturday, June 14.
This will be Toyah’s second visit to the island after she performed at Jaks in Douglas in 2011.
She has had 13 top 40 singles, written two books, appeared in over 40 stage plays, made 10 feature films and presented TV shows from ‘Songs of Praise’ to ‘The Good Sex Guide Late’.
Toyah’s biggest year musically was 1981 when she had three top ten hits, with her ‘Four from Toyah Ep’ and its lead track ‘It’s a Mystery’ reaching number four, follow-up ‘I want to be free’ reaching number eight, and ‘Thunder in the Mountains’ also peaking at number four.
• Continue reading at the Isle Of Man Today.
After a sell-out success in its first year, Let’s Rock Bristol! returns to Ashton Court this weekend with a line-up of artists guaranteed to recapture the sounds of the 1980s.
The biggest festival of its type, Let’s Rock sees a huge line-up of chart-topping artists from the decade including Level 42, pictured, Bananarama, Rick Astley, Tony Hadley, ABC, Belinda Carlisle, Go West, Heaven 17, Midge Ure, China Crisis, Alexander O’Neal, Imagination, The Blow Monkeys, The Christians, Boney M, Toyah, Dr & The Medics, T’Pau, Sonia and Johnny Hates Jazz.
• Continue reading at Bristol Post.
Look: Toyah Willcox’s Kings Heath walk of fame star is dug up
Only plaque laid on tribute pavement put into storage as Ritz Ballroom site is redeveloped
The only star laid on Kings Heath’s walk of fame has been dug up and put into storage. The tribute, to singer Toyah Willcox, was removed from its spot outside the old Ritz Ballroom in York Road after the iconic venue was gutted in a fire.
And two other stars, commissioned in honour of musician Trevor Burton and the late Olympic cyclist Tommy Godwin, have never been laid at all. Bob Prew, from the Walk of Stars scheme, said: “We were advised to remove Toyah’s star for safekeeping after the fire.
• Continue reading at the Birmingham Mail. Toyah was included in their main page slideshow.
Punk princess Toyah Willcox’s greatest hits live show is in Clacton next week.
The It’s A Mystery and I Want to Be Free singer is at the West Cliff Theatre on Friday, June 6, performing a full set including tracks from smash albums The Court and Crimson Queen
As well as a being an accomplished singer and multi-award winner, Toyah has starred in cult movies Epic and Quadrophenia and was even the voice who introduced the Teletubbies at the height of their popularity. With gravity-defying bright orange hairstyles and a career which turned her from punk pop idol to priestess of television Toyah is sure to have something for everyone.
• Continue reading at the Clacton Gazette.
Toyah Willcox is performing at a Bristol venue in November.
The ‘high priestess of punk’ and TV personality has a career spanning 30 years. She has had 13 top 40 singles, including I Want To Be Free, It’s A Mystery and Thunder In The Mountains, and recorded 20 albums.
During this time she has presented a variety of television programmes including Watchdog and Songs Of Praise.
She will be performing a set list featuring many of her classic songs and rarities from the Safari catalogue through to Crimson Queen.
• Continue reading at Mercury 24.
A new article at the Birmingham Mail, celebrating all that’s great about the city.
As our Pride of Birmingham awards are launched, we take a look at the city’s many achievements and claims to fame
11. MUSIC: Birmingham is the birthplace of heavy metal, with Black Sabbath and Judas Priest coming from the city. Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi – born and raised in Handsworth – shaped the sound when he learned to play guitar in a different way following an industrial accident that removed the tips of two of his fingers. He tuned the guitar down and relied on power chords, something guitarist Terry Butler also did – and together they produced the classic sound of metal. The later metal bands Napalm Death and Godflesh are also from Birmingham.
Also from the city are Dave Pegg (Jethro Tull, Fairport Convention), Martin Barre (Jethro Tull), and Blaze Bayley (Wolfsbane). Other music acts from Birmingham include ELO, Duran Duran, UB40, The Moody Blues, Fuzzbox, Ocean Colour Scene, The Move, Toyah Willcox, Joan Armatrading, Dexys Midnight Runners, Ruby Turner, Fine Young Cannibals, The Streets, Musical Youth, Jamelia and Pato Banton.
• Continue reading at the Birmingham Mail.
Lechlade Music Festival 2014 draws in visitors from all across the UK despite wet weather
Eager festival-goers donned their wellies and coats last weekend for three days of music and dancing in Lechlade.
Not put off by the rain and the mud, people travelled from as far as Scotland to enjoy this year’s eighties-themed Lechlade Music Festival at Riverside Park.
Punk princess Toyah Willcox headlined on Friday night to a packed crowd and was presented with an impressive birthday cake from Cotswold’s Finest Cakes, which she said she would rather take home to put on display than cut.
She said she was determined to “wake up Lechlade” as she played well into the evening.
• Continue reading at Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard.
Indie Film Focus: Director Simon Cox Shoots “Kaleidoscope Man” Star Lucy Drive’s First Scene
Kaleidoscope Man is an indie science fiction thriller — which involves an alien invasion of Earth — currently in production by its writer-director-producer, Simon Cox, via his UK-based Alphastar Productions company. This is a film that Simon has been working on for quite some time. He is currently in Phase 4 of shooting, having gotten about 35% in the can so far. The production is practically 100% crowdfunded — the current Indiegogo campaign aims to fund the remainder of production, including (if possible) scenes on an alien planet (to be shot on location in the Canary Islands).
• Continue reading at Frisco Kid At The Movies.
A new Toyah article, choosing her six favourite albums, is published in today’s Express.
David Bowie, Lou Reed and Muse: Rock singer and actress Toyah Willcox’s six best albums
Toyah Willcox, 56, is the singer and actress who had hits in the 1980s with It’s A Mystery, I Want To Be Free and Thunder In The Mountains and appeared in the films Quadrophenia and Jubilee. She is touring throughout the year with The Humans and will be speaking at the new SohoCreate festival in London, June 4-6. Visit sohocreate.co.uk
DAVID BOWIE: Ziggy Stardust (EMI)
Bowie took the creative bull by the horns and steered a generation through problematic times. He went back to his rock ’n’ roll roots with this and it’s a gem. I saw him live and knew that I could only carry on living if I was a singer, writer and actress.
LOU REED: Transformer (Sony)
Bowie produced this. Reed could be off the wall but this honed and anchored him. I saw him in about 1978 and his transvestite lover was with him on stage so it was thrilling and different. It laughed in the eye of conservatism.
• Continue reading at the Express.
