What is the Rock and Bike Fest?
It’s a family-friendly music and bike/trike event in the grounds of Elvaston Castle over the weekend of July 12 to 14, with Pendulum, the Quireboys, the Sweet, Toyah Willcox and lots of tribute acts, plus a custom bike and trike show, live wrestling, tattoo competitions and more.
What is its history?
It was started five years ago by a team of people who share a passion for music and bikes. The first major event was in 2008 but there were a couple of smaller scale ones prior to that.
Who are the big music names who’ve played the festival in the past?
Saxon, Girlschool, T-Rex, Bad Company, the Levellers, the Quireboys, New Model Army, Toyah Willcox and Nazareth.
How many people are expected to attend this year? Around 5,000.
• Continue reading at This is Nottingham.
Pop Idol and punk princess look to build on success
The stars were out in force ahead of the new Marlowe Theatre pantomime for 2012, Sleeping Beauty.
Pop Idol star Gareth Gates and punk legend Toyah Willcox head the cast which also includes Katrina Bryan, better known as Nina from the CBeebies series Nina and the Neurons.
A stint on Dancing on Ice in 2008 prompted Gareth to change musical direction and he went on to take the lead role in Joseph And His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. He has since appeared in Les Miserables, both on the 25th anniversary tour and in the West End. Former punk princess Toyah appeared in six productions at the old Marlowe and is delighted to be returning to the new venue, where she will play the Wicked Fairy
Sleeping Beauty is at The Marlowe Theatre from 30 November to 20 January 2013. To book tickets, call the Box Office on 01227 787787 or go to marlowetheatre.com
• Continue reading at Kent News. (Photos © Kent News)
Gareth Gates made a promise to the county as he led the cast of Sleeping Beauty at the Marlowe Theatre pantomime launch. The singer and actor, who has sold more than 3.5 million records in the UK, will play a cheeky Prince who is “more Prince Harry than Prince William” when the show gets underway. Gareth, 27, was joined outside the theatre in Canterbury on Monday, June 25, by punk princess and actress Toyah Willcox and CBeebies’ Katrina Bryan from Nina and the Neurons.
Toyah Willcox, who has a home in Canterbury, has only had one Christmas off from panto since her first one in 1993. This will be her seventh Marlowe Theatre pantomime. She said: “It’s a great Christmas tradition which you get nowhere else in the world. It is a time for the family to be together. I love it. I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t do panto.”
• Continue reading at Kent Online. (Photo © Kent Online)
A new article on Toyah, from the Birmingham Mail.
Latest award in a varied career for Brum’s Toyah
The beat will go on for Birmingham star Toyah Willcox after it emerged she would be the first name on a new walk of fame in her home town.
• Continue reading at the Birmingham Mail.
Another report on Toyah’s inclusion on the King’s Heath ‘Walk Of Fame’, from today’s Birmingham Mail.
Eighties pop star Toyah first to be honoured on Kings Heath walk of fame
Brummie pop icon Toyah Willcox is to be the first star on a new Kings Heath Walk of Fame next month.And she will mark the occasion with a homecoming gig at the Hare & Hounds on July 16.
• Continue reading at the Birmingham Mail | The ‘Walk of Fame’ news has also been reported today by This Is Not Retro, UK Wired and Birmingham Local News.
BBC News reporting on Toyah being honoured on the King’s Heath ‘Walk Of Fame’.
• Also covered, so far, by The Brummie, i West Midlands and My Headlinez.
Toyah will be performing at the Tremayne Hall in Mylor later this month as part of the Mylor Sessions.
Toyah will be play a selection of songs from her Platinum-selling albums Anthem and The Changeling which celebrates its 13th anniversary this year, among many other tracks. This is a unique chance to hear Toyah’s well-known hits alongside cherry-picked songs and dark quirky anthems – many of which have not been heard live since her early tours from the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The Saturday, June 23 show starts at 8pm with doors from 7pm.
Headliners included Toyah Willcox, Ed Tudorpole and David Van Day.
Thousands of people enjoyed the warm weather and the atmosphere was electric around the town centre pubs, where the festival was based.
Toyah was perhaps the most anticipated artist in the build-up to the festival and she didn’t disappoint. The 1980s punk princess played to a bumper crowd at Club Ice on Saturday night Van Day was the headline act on Friday at Club Ice, performing cover hits from the 60s to the 90s with his wife Sue Moxley.
• Continue reading at In Cumbria. View all of our Decades 2012 news here.
Adam Ant was interviewed by BBC News today…
Goddard also appeared alongside a then unknown Toyah Willcox in Derek Jarman’s 1978 punk film Jubilee – but said it had been “surreal” rather than an anti-royal statement. The apocalyptic fantasy focuses on the activities of a wild girl gang in 1977.
He added: “I think Jubilee was really a piece of film, a surreal kind of journey that just happened to land slap bang into the middle of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. I wasn’t doing it to make a statement about the Royal Family or anything like that. I left that to people like The Clash, certain bands that love to be political, which I’m not.”
• Continue reading at BBC News.
Thousands of people were taken on a trip back through time at the first Decades Festival in Workington at the weekend.
The three-day music feast saw acts including Toyah Willcox, The Quireboys and David Van Day wow the crowds on a baking hot weekend. The atmosphere was electric around the town centre pubs where the festival was based.
Toyah Willcox was perhaps the most anticipated artist in the build-up to the festival and she didn’t disappoint. The 1980s punk princess played to a bumper crowd at Club Ice on Saturday night. The audience reacted wildly to her energetic stage presence, her flamboyant metal-studded dress and brightly-coloured headwear.
• Continue reading at the Times & Star.
… At Workington Festival
Music stars David Van Day, Toyah Willcox and Ed Tudor-Pole are among the acts performing at new Workington festival Decades this weekend.
The three-day festival of music, from the 1960s to the 1990s, kicks off tonight at 7pm and is based around the town’s popular pub ‘circuit’. Acts will perform at Club Ice, Red House, The Well, Circuit Bar, Dukes, Chasers, Vine Bar, The Royal British Legion, Curwen Arms and Yankees. Van Day will take the stage at Club Ice tonight, followed by local performer Tony Herald and folk musician Edwin Duke.
The club will tomorrow see performances from 80s star Toyah, The Kommitments and local band No Idea. Doors open from 7pm.
• Continue reading at the Times & Star.
Toyah playes ‘Birmingham Pride’ on Sunday 3rd June and she is included in the, just published, Birmingham Pride Guide. There’s a full-page ad on page 18 and a news clipping on 37.
A record crowd of 6,000 packed into the heart of Cookham for an eighties rock festival.
Let’s Rock the Moor, which took place on Saturday, was sold out.
The event, which began in 2009, attracted its biggest crowd yet with headliners Billy Ocean, Heaven 17, Toyah and Go West singing to 6,500 people on a brand new site at Marsh Meadow. Organiser Nick Billinghurst said: “The crowds were fantastic, full of energy. It was mostly local people from Cookham, Maidenhead, Marlow, Wycombe, so everyone was very well behaved. Toyah actually called them a posh crowd.”
• Continue reading at Bucks Free Press. (Photos © Bucks Free Press)
Singing legend Billy Ocean serenaded nearly 7,000 people in Cookham on Saturday at the biggest Let’s Rock the Moor! festival to date.
The sell-out event attracted its largest crowd ever, with 6,500 tickets snapped up and a brand new site set up on Marsh Meadow to fit everyone in.
It was headlined by Eighties icon Ocean, who performed hits including Caribbean Queen and Love Really Hurts Without You to a crowd of all ages.
Children’s TV favourites Pat Sharp and Dave Benson Phillips shared presenting duties at the event, introducing acts such as Toyah, Boney M and Heaven 17.
Rain stayed away from the festival, which is now in its fourth year, and families enjoyed a range of food and drink as well as plenty of attractions for children.
Proceeds are expected to exceed £20,000; the majority of which will be split between two main charities which fit in with its family feel.
(All photos © Maidenhead Advertiser)
Thousands of Eighties music fans descended on Cookham on Saturday to see the likes of Billy Ocean and Toyah play Let’s Rock The Moor. The event, now in its fourth year, was held on Marsh Meadow and all 6,500 tickets sold out.
• Continue reading, and view their gallery, here. Read a review of the concert here.
A couple of news reports on Sunday’s marathon five-hour-plus Dave Lee Tribute Show, at The Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, have been published today:
• This is Kent: Stars shine in tribute show for Canterbury panto star Dave Lee: Toyah starred with Dave Lee in four panto seasons. (Photo: Tim Stubbings)
• Kent News: Poignant Dave Lee tribute show raises a massive £30,000.
• Toyah is also namechecked in a new interview with Paul Hendy, of Evolution Pantomimes. Read Panto production is a family affair for Paul at, ‘This is Kent’, here.
The 11-date tour marks the 30th anniversary of legendary albums The Changeling and Warrior Rock – tickets on sale now/Friday 4th May
Toyah announces The Changeling Resurrection II UK Tour for Autumn 2012
Following the success of a sold-out spring tour mark three decades since the release of Toyah’s fourth album, The Changeling, the former punk pixie is taking the show back out on the road; this time coupling it with the anniversary of her second album of 1982, the live record Warrior Rock.
The new dates will see the diminutive star perform a ‘true celebration and re-interpretation’ of what is undoubtedly one of her finest works, alongside a collection of hit singles including I Want To Be Free and Thunder In The Mountains. In more recent times, Toyah has continued her highly credible career as a TV and film actress and made a number of high profile guest appearances. Thankfully, in recent years she has returned to her first love as a highly decorated punk pop star with a distinctly theatrical accent.
• Continue reading at ‘All Gigs’ here.
Toyah is included in a new article by ‘Vogue’: 100 Definitive Hairstyles: From Cleopatra to Kate Moss, see the 100 most definitive hairstyles: TOYAH WILLCOX – The singer’s choppy and wildly-coloured hairstyles epitomised her rebel spirit.
Thousands will be raised for disadvantaged children at a fundraising Eighties concert next month. Let’s Rock the Moor, on Saturday, May 12 is set to be the second biggest Eighties event in the country, with the proceeds going to worthy causes.
The line up includes Billy Ocean, Go West, Heaven 17, Toyah and Modern Romance, and will be hosted by Pat Sharp. Tickets are £24 for adults and £14 for children aged three to 12. Visit www.letsrockthemoor.com for details.
• Continue reading, at the ‘Maidenhead Advertiser’, here.
There’s something for everyone in the week-long Stortfest Crawl, a spectacular celebration of music and the arts which launches next Sunday.
Dozens of venues across town are getting in on the act, hosting gigs, poetry recitals, comedy nights, family fun days and loads more activities for all ages and tastes. The event is being co-ordinated by the team behind the long-running Stortford Music Festival, which is taking a break from its regular format at St Mary’s Catholic School in Windhill.
Headlining the proceedings is 80s New Wave and punk-pop sensation Toyah Willcox, who is marking the 30th anniversary of her celebrated album The Changeling with a concert at Rhodes.
• Continue reading, at ‘Herts & Essex Observer’, here.
A new article, by Chris Limb, on his memoir ‘I Was A Teenage Toyah Fan’.
After a while the novelty of there being an Amazon page for my book began to wear off. It was no longer enough for me to browse to it and look adoringly at a page on which the spaces in the dynamic web template were filled by my own creation’s meta-data. So I had self-published. How was I going to promote it? Even though it was now available in paperback and ebook, the thing wasn’t going to sell itself.
• Continue reading, at ‘Catmachine’, here.
