Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

Toyah continues the series of expanded deluxe reissues of her solo catalogue with Demon Records this autumn. On 21 November limited edition picture discs and Deluxe 2CD Editions of the solo Toyah albums Ophelia’s Shadow and Take The Leap! are issued. The releases can be pre-ordered now.

Rare and sought after material can be found on the Deluxe 2CD Editions whilst the vinyl picture discs carry on the set began earlier in 2025 with Minx, Desire and Prostitute.

Ophelia’s Shadow
Pre-order here… See also the deluxe 2CD full tracklisting.

Toyah’s 1991 solo album Ophelia’s Shadow is released as an expanded Deluxe 2CD Edition for the first time ever. Packaged in deluxe 7”-sized gatefold packaging, it continue the series of expanded solo Toyah albums released by Edsel.

Alongside the studio album that features Robert Fripp playing guitar on two tracks, CD1 adds six tracks Toyah recorded in 1993 with Kiss Of Reality, previously available on a very rare CD released only in Germany.

CD2 adds a full 1992 concert recording of Toyah and Kiss Of Reality in Warsaw, Poland. All 10 live tracks are previously unreleased with highlights being the otherwise unrecorded vocals for Amazon, Daydreaming and Shirt Of The Muse plus a rendition of Toyah’s 1987 album track Revive The World.

A selection of 1992 demos Toyah recorded with Kiss Of Reality in Berlin also feature including Dan The Man plus three demos (previously available only on a strictly limited self-released cassette) making this a treasure trove of Toyah rarities.

The booklet contains rare and previously unseen colour photography from the original album shoot. A new sleevenote by Toyah archivist Craig Astley chronicles the making of the album with reflections from Toyah herself on why this album is a personal favourite and so important to her.

Take The Leap!
Pre-order here… See also the deluxe 2CD full tracklisting.

Toyah’s 1994 studio album was recorded with Salisbury band Friday Forever and includes eight re-recordings of classic Toyah material and six original compositions. CD1 adds four tracks of which three are previously unreleased. This includes demos of album tracks Invisible Love and Lust For Love, first recorded in 1992 with Kiss Of Reality.

CD2 contains 16 rarities with seven of these previously unreleased. CD2 features the long-awaited release of original material Toyah wrote with members of Girlschool for their ‘supergroup’ project Strange Girls, who played live UK gigs and supported The Beach Boys in Germany. Long desired by fans who saw the Strange Girls live gigs; these three studio demos were recorded in 1991 but have remained unheard until their rediscovery in 2025.

Further rarities, demos and remixes include a rehearsal demo of live Strange Girls favourite King Of Pain and previously unreleased home demos recorded with Cris Bonacci. The booklet contains rare and unseen photography from the album original shoot. A new sleevenote by Toyah archivist Craig Astley chronicles the 1991-1994 period and reveals how the solo album Toyah originally envisaged from the extensive material recorded in 1992 morphed into the Take The Leap! project.

It’s another month and time for a brand new Toyah At Home episode. Toyah provides a catch-up on what’s been going on, and there’s also an announcement too of new releases coming out. Watch below of at YouTube for a preview and all the details.

Chameleon is currently in the Top 10 – at #10 – of the Official Chart’s Top 10 Albums (Chart Update).

Official Charts: Midlands-born singer Toyah may earn a third Top 10 with greatest hits compilation Chameleon: The Very Best of Toyah (10).

• Browse all of our ‘Toyah on the Official Charts’ posts here…

It’s Chameleon Release Day Eve… Less than 24 hours until one of the finest ever Toyah compilations is released, and there have been many since that first Toyah retrospective vinyl album, cassette and video back in 1984 – Which was, of course, Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! All The Hits.

Toyah has worked her socks off recently promoting the album via numerous radio, TV and press interviews. Scroll back through our recent news posts or visit Toyah’s official website, Facebook, Instagram and You Tube for much more.

Cherry Red will release Chameleon: The Very Best Of Toyah next month across three formats

A 3CD+blu-ray edition comes in clamshell box packaging with disc one devoted to the band Toyah with hits such as ‘I Want To Be Free’ and ‘It’s A Mystery’ while the second CD covers Toyah’s career as a solo artist. CD 3 is devoted to rarities, while the blu-ray includes 12 promo videos, 22 TV performances and concert footage.

The 2CD digipak edition omits the rarities and the blu-ray from the box set and a 2LP set pressed on gold-coloured vinyl offers 28 tracks from band and solo years.

Chameleon: The Very Best Of Toyah will be released on 5 September 2025, via Cherry Red.

• Continue reading at Super Deluxe Edition.

The trailer for the forthcoming Chameleon: The Very Best Of Toyah – released on deluxe box set, gatefold vinyl and double CD formats. Pre-order at Cherry Red.

Celebrating 45 years of music, Toyah will release a new career-spanning, hit packed collection Chameleon – The Very Best of Toyah on 5 September 2025 on Cherry Red Records. A pioneering figure in the UK’s new wave and post-punk movement, Toyah has made an indelible mark on the entertainment industry with her unique voice, electrifying stage presence, and artistic versatility.

Spanning 1979-2024, Chameleon – The Very Best of Toyah includes the top 40 singles I Want To Be Free, It’s A Mystery, Thunder In The Mountains, Brave New World, Good Morning Universe, Rebel Run and Don’t Fall In Love, alongside classic cuts right up to her 2021 Top 25 album Posh Pop.

Chameleon lives up to its name and highlights Toyah’s musical longevity as a singer/actress that burst out of the punk/new wave scene in the late 1970s, became a pop icon in the 1980s and who has remained an ever-evolving creative force across five decades. Her music, which blends theatricality with powerful rock energy has earned her a devoted fan base, Gold-selling records and respect as an acclaimed live performer and songwriter. Toyah played Glastonbury Festival and Isle of Wight for two consecutive years in 2023/2024 and has amassed a staggering 144 million views on YouTube with her inventive and creative weekly videos.

Chameleon – The Very Best of Toyah will be available on 2LP, 2CD and a 3CD+Blu-Ray Deluxe Edition. Pre-order begins from Monday 23 June at www.cherryred.co.uk

The double vinyl contains 28 tracks, the 2CD edition includes 40 tracks and a deluxe 3CD+Blu-Ray edition adds a third 17-track disc of rarities and a 40-track Blu-Ray featuring Toyah’s iconic music videos and classic TV performances and concert footage from 1980-2024.

All formats include the previously unreleased track Worst In Me, the 2CD and Deluxe Edition also adds a live version of David Bowie’s Fashion performed by Toyah & Robert Fripp on their summer 2024 tour.

The album’s artwork package is awash with the striking, inventive and chameleonic images that are synonymous with Toyah. The package is presented with meticulous photography of the iconic looks Toyah Willcox crafted herself alongside the world’s very best stylists and rock photographers.

Sleevenote contributions from Shirley Manson (Garbage) and Saffron (Republica) reflect on the impact Toyah had on them personally.

• Pre-Order Chameleon – The Very Best Of Toyah on 2CD edition, 3CD+Blu-Ray Deluxe Box Set, and 2LP Gold Vinyl at Cherry Red (The editions with signed postcards will no doubt sell out almost immediately!). Read the press release/news announcement at toyahwillcox.com. Browse the 2CD/2LP tracklist/info. Browse the Deluxe Edition tracklist/info. Watch Toyah announcing the release in yesterday’s bonus Toyah At Home.

Toyah’s trio of solo albums: Minx (1985), Desire (1987) and Prostitute (1988) were all released on vinyl picture discs last Friday. The latter two albums were also released on 2CD in 7″ packaging. Minx had already been available on this format, having been released in 2024.

• Further info, tracklists and ordering links are all available at the Music section of toyahwillcox.com.

Get 15% off Toyah’s back catalogue titles this month using code TOYAH15 at checkout at Cherry Red!

The discount ends at midnight (GMT) 31 May 2025

Out Now! Toyah’s Sheep Farming In Barnet & The Blue Meaning are now available as stunning picture discs vinyl LPs which come in die-cut jackets with rare and unseen imagery.

Happy Release Day to Sheep Farming In Barnet and The Blue Meaning – Two of Toyah’s three 1980 albums are released on gorgeous Picture Discs today. (Image © Toyah Willcox)

Toyah’s bold, defiant and most experimental work, the 1988 solo album “Prostitute” is released for the first time as an expanded CD edition in deluxe 7” sized gatefold packaging on 6 June from Edsel.

This Deluxe 2CD Edition features a previously unreleased live recording of the album from Chichester. In November/December 1988 Toyah formed a new band Fripp Fripp with musician Robert Fripp and embarked on a 22-date tour. On the 7 UK and 15 European gigs Toyah performed the Prostitute album live, accompanied by Paul Beavis on live drums as the tour’s first act

For Toyah fans and collectors, it’s a fascinating document of Toyah performing an impressive volume of vocals, dialogue and lyrics with precision and defiance. The package includes rare imagery, ephemera and a new sleevenote by Toyah archivist Craig Astley.

The album was written and played entirely by Toyah Willcox and Steve Sidelnyk who went on to record and play live with Madonna (Ray of Light, Music), Seal and Richard Ashcroft, amongst many others. A fiercely independent lyrical work, it is sonically also a radical departure from previous albums comprising drums, vocal and guitar meshed with a scrapbook of samples and found sound.

Toyah explains: “I would get up at four in the morning and capture the dawn chorus, record church bells, snippets of conversations and producer Tony Arnold would marry them into the tracks. We worked as if we were compiling a scrapbook with glue and paper, old newspaper cuttings, lost love letters, odd thoughts and tons of fractured emotions.”

• Pre-Order Prostitute on 2CD and/or Picture Disc here. Read more info/the press release at toyahwillcox.com. See also the reissued album’s page. Watch Toyah announcing the release during last weekend’s Toyah At Home.

Released by Edsel on 6 June, Toyah’s 1987 solo album “Desire” receives its first ever standalone CD reissue as a new expanded edition in deluxe 7”-sized gatefold packaging.

This deluxe 2CD edition includes a second disc of 18 rare and ‘desirable’ bonus tracks including the 12” mix of lead single Echo Beach plus outtakes and B-Sides. Excitingly six previously unreleased tracks feature including the long-awaited release of the post-Desire rarity We Play Machines.

Originally issued on the EG label, the album was produced by Mike Hedges (Siouxise & The Banshees) and recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in the autumn of 1986.

This deluxe 2cd edition includes a second disc of 18 rare and ‘desirable’ bonus tracks including the 12” mix of lead single Echo Beach plus outtakes and B-Sides from the album sessions. Excitingly six previously unreleased tracks feature including the long-awaited release of the post-Desire rarity We Play Machines.

Rare live concert recordings of Desire songs have been unearthed especially for this release; Revive The World performed at The Orange Club, Kensington with Kiss Of Reality in 1992, Desire and Moonlight Dancing from 1994 plus Echo Beach from Toyah & Robert Fripp’s summer 2024 Rock Party Tour.

The Desire album recording sessions ran concurrent to Toyah starring in the Strand Theatre revival of celebrated musical Cabaret. Toyah appeared as the lead Sally Bowles, alongside Wayne Sleep in the Gillian Lynne-directed production. Although a cast recording was made of the Strand production it was before Toyah took over the role of Bowles. Ten years later, Toyah revisited Cabaret with a recording of four songs, one of which is a duet with British actor Nigel Planer. This marks the first time these tracks have ever been included on a Toyah release.

The Desire album includes an eclectic set of musicians across the 11 tracks with guest guitar spots from Ronnie Wood, Robert Fripp, and The League of Crafty Guitarists. Engineered by Haydn Bendall (Hounds of Love), the album’s lead single was a sparkling cover of the 1980 Martha & The Muffins’ new wave hit “Echo Beach”. Reissue compiled/project manager; Craig Astley.

• Pre-Order Desire on 2CD and/or Picture Disc here. Read more info/the press release at toyahwillcox.com. See also the reissued album’s page. Watch Toyah announcing the release during last weekend’s Toyah At Home.

On Friday 6 June 2025, Edsel/Demon Records will issue Limited Edition Picture Discs of the solo Toyah albums Minx (1985), Desire (1987) and Prostitute (1988).

All three are housed in special die-cut vinyl outer sleeves containing rare and unseen imagery. Available exclusively from Townsend Music.

Minx is presented as a Deluxe Edition, adding the 2 tracks from the original 1985 cassette/CD formats – never previously available on vinyl. The album’s two B-Sides also feature on the 14-song track list.

A Minx Deluxe 2CD Edition, released summer 2024, containing a second disc of rarities & previously unreleased demos, is also available.

• Pre-Order the Picture Discs here. Read the press release at toyahwillcox.com. Watch Toyah announcing the release during last weekend’s Toyah At Home.

Toyah promised a bonus Toyah At Home last Saturday… and sure enough it is here, with a special announcement – and a cute cameo from Fripp the bunny!

Toyah’s 1980 studio album, The Blue Meaning, will be released on limited edition picture disc on 21st March, marking the album’s 45th anniversary.

• 45th anniversary release of Toyah’s 1980 album ‘The Blue Meaning’.

• Limited-edition picture disc features four stunning colour photographs from the album photography shot at gothic mansion, Wykehurst Place in Sussex.

• In addition to the full colour picture disc, pressed with the 2021 album remaster by Nick Watson, the vinyl come protected in a PVC sleeve and is housed in a special die-cut outer jacket that carries a further rare and unseen images unearthed from the archives.

Produced by Steve James and ‘Toyah’ the band – Joel Bogen, Pete Bush, Toyah Willcox, Steve Bray and Charlie Francis, the album reached number 1 on the UK Independent Album Chart and charted in the main UK Top 40 album chart in June 1980.

The album includes the ultimate fan favourite ‘Ieya’ considered a signature song by the band, which was also released as a single. It also includes ‘Blue Meanings’, ‘Mummies’ and the psychedelic ‘Spaced Walking’ for which Toyah’s vocals were recorded after inhaling helium.

• See further details/tracklist and artwork at toyahwillcox.com. Pre-order the release at Cherry Red Records.

Toyah’s 1979 AP, which evolved into the 1980 album, Sheep Farming In Barnet, will be reissued on limited edition picture disc on 21st March, marking the album’s 45th anniversary.

• 45th anniversary release of Toyah’s 1980 album ‘Sheep Farming In Barnet’.

• Limited-edition picture disc featuring four stunning unseen colour photographs from the album photography shot at RAF Fylingdales in West Yorkshire. The photos picture Toyah in front of the iconic white “golf balls” that were part of the early warning system for ballistic missiles to the UK and US governments.

• Pressed with the 2020 album remaster by Nick Watson, the vinyl comes protected in a PVC sleeve and is housed in a special die-cut outer jacket that carries a further two unseen images unearthed from the archives.

• Produced by Steve James and Keith Hale, the album reached number 1 on the UK Independent Albums Chart in February 1980.

The six-track mini-album ‘Sheep Farming In Barnet’ contained three tracks per-side on a 33 1/3 playing 7” vinyl. This mini- album was then expanded to a full length 11-track album (originally for the German market only) in early 1980 by adding the ‘Victims’ 7” A-Side/B-Sides and some further tracks also recorded at Chappell Studios, London.

This album contains the fan favourites ‘Race Through Space’ ‘Neon Womb’ and ‘Danced’, all of which went on to become signature songs for the band.

• See further details/tracklist and artwork at toyahwillcox.com. Pre-order the release at Cherry Red Records.

Coming tomorrow at 11am… The Toyah At Home / Love Is The Law special. The songs. the video, the tour, the recording process, the photos. Some of your questions answered by Toyah plus music and lots of unseen photos. Not to be missed. Toyah At Home airs at Toyah’s YouTube channel and Facebook page simultaneously.

• Love Is The Law is out next Friday, 8th November. Pre-order this exciting release at Cherry Red.

Cherry Red Records release a special limited edition 10” vinyl EP of Toyah’s 1982 version of the seasonal Greg Lake classic I Believe In Father Christmas.

Originally recorded for inclusion on the ITV special Pop Goes Christmas, the track features Toyah Willcox (vocals), Joel Bogen (acoustic guitar) and Keith Hale (keyboards). The much-loved version is newly remastered from the original master tapes, and the EP also includes three previously unreleased variations unearthed from the archives.

Side One includes the main version and the backing track that enables Toyah’s evocative backing vocals for the track to be heard clearly. Side Two features an alternate vocal from the November 1982 Marquee Studios session, without additional overdubs and backing vocals. An Instrumental version completes the EP.

The 10” vinyl is pressed on snow white vinyl and protected by a festive red die-cut inner disco bag inner sleeve that carries the a gift wrap design featuring a repeated classic Toyah logo motif. The EP outer jacket is a newly designed and sports fantastically festive and relevant period photography from the 1982 television programme the track was recorded for.

All EPs come with a colour Toyah Christmas Card (with a rare colour image of Toyah) in a throwback to the annual Christmas cards posted out to members of The Intergalactic Ranchhouse, the official Toyah fan club ran by Safari Records.

The EP is the third in a series of 10″ vinyl releases. The second 10″ EP, Rebel Run reached number 1 in the UK Singles Vinyl Chart, no.3 on the Physical Singles Chart on Friday 27 September.

• Pre-Order I Believe In Father Christmas on 10″ Vinyl EP at Cherry Red. Read the news at toyahwillcox.com. Watch Toyah announcing the release during, a surprise bonus episode of, Toyah At Home (which also includes a special video for The Vow from The Saturday Show in 1983).

Toyah’s 1983 studio album Love Is The Law receives new remastered and expanded editions, released by Cherry Red Records on Friday 8 November 2024. This follows the acclaimed and enthusiastically received series of remastered editions of four studio albums and four live albums that chronicle the band’s recording history from 1979-1983.

The album releases can be ordered from www.cherryred.co.uk.

For full track list and more details visit the Album page in the Discography of Toyah’s official website.

Reaching the UK album charts in November 1983, the album saw Toyah, Joel Bogen and Simon Darlow write and record the album whilst Toyah appeared as the lead in the successful theatre production of Trafford Tanzi at the Mermaid Theatre.

Previewed by the single Rebel Run, the album also includes fan favourites Dreamscape, Martian Cowboy and one of Toyah’s long-term personal favourites, I Explode. The title track features a group of fans singing on the song’s chorus after being invited into the Marquee Studios, Soho one evening in August 1983.

Following the acclaimed reissue Toyah series, this release once again features the album remastered from the original mastertapes by Nick Watson, overseen by Joel Bogen.

The LP reissue is pressed on translucent red vinyl and features a new colour inner bag plus a lyric insert. The 2CD+DVD edition features 31 bonus tracks, of which 21 are previously unreleased. Amongst these are B-Sides, alternate mixes, rarities, home demos, instrumentals and studio outtakes.

The DVD features two newly filmed 2024 interviews with Toyah Willcox reflecting on making the LP. These specially edited docu-features include extensive photographs from the Mermaid Theatre fan gatherings and several private studio session photos to bring the “Summer of ’83” story back to life once again.

The LP and 2CD+DVD artwork feature newly scanned archive negatives from the album photo shoot to both refresh the visuals with an alternate front cover and achieve a higher quality print finish, since the exact LP shot negatives are missing.

• Pre-Order Love Is The Law on 2CD+DVD, and semi-transparent red vinyl at Cherry Red (The editions with postcards sold out almost immediately!). Read the news/press release – and listen to a preview of Rebel Run (Extended) – and album page/full tracklist/release gallery at toyahwillcox.com. Watch Toyah announce the release on Toyah At Home.

One Week Today – Saturday 31st August – Toyah announces the remastered / expanded editions of the 1983 album, Love Is The Law in Toyah At Home. 11am at Toyah’s YouTube channel and Facebook. (Image © Toyah Willcox)