Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

Toyah’s legendary 1980 single, Bird in Flight, is included on the new Make More Noise! 4CD compilation.

The set is sub-titled Women In Independent Music UK 1977 – 1987 and retails as a Bookpack. It is released on 25th September 2020.

• 4CD / 90 track set exploring the work of female artists in the decade following the punk explosion.

• From household names and legends – Alison Moyet, Toyah, Kirsty MacColl, Nico, Tracey Thorn, Chrissie Hynde, Neneh Cherry, Pauline Murray, Sinead O’Connor, Tracey Ullman, Cosey Fanni Tutti – to underground figureheads and unsung pioneers.

• Spanning the genres – from the punk howl of X-Ray Spex and the NWOBHM stylings of Girlschool to Cosey Fanni Tutti’s post-TG electronica, the experimental dub of Vivien Goldman and the the High Street pop of Bananarama.

Hardback book format includes over 14,500 words of sleeve-notes (including artist-written pieces) and introductory essay. Produced by the team behind the critically acclaimed “Scared To Get Happy”, the “C86” series, “Electrical Language” and a number of other essential box sets.

• Further info and full tracklist at Cherry Red Records. Browse our recent “Toyah included on Compilations” news archive.

Great News! The Noise In Your Head box set by Toyah & The Humans, released on 3rd July, has entered the Sales Top 100 at number 29 and the Independent Top 50 at number 6 on The Official Charts, published yesterday. Click below to see Toyah’s tweet. (Photo © Toyah Willcox)

• Browse our recent, Toyah related, Official Charts news posts.

Toyah reveals the final vinyl by Toyah & The Humans, Live At Scala London. The album features Robert Fripp as guest human with Toyah, Bill Rieflin and Chris Wong. It’s out now on translucent purple vinyl (as are We Are The Humans (orange vinyl), Sugar Rush (olive vinyl) and Strange Tales (red vinyl). Click below to watch. (Screenshots from a video that is © Toyah Willcox)

Toyah gives a sneak peek at the first ever vinyl release of the Toyah & The Humans album Strange Tales. Pressed on translucent red vinyl, the album was released yesterday. Click below to watch. (Screenshots from a video that is © Toyah Willcox)

A digital deluxe version of Toyah & The Humans debut album, We Are The Humans, was also released today. See download/listen links here or click below for direct link to Amazon.

Happy Humans Day! – Toyah & The Humans Day to be more specific! The Noise In Your Head box set is released today, as are the albums We Are The Humans, Sugar Rush, Strange Tales and Live At Scala London. All on gorgeous colour vinyl. Click below to see Dreamscape’s second “Releases” feature page of 2020, focusing on Toyah & The Humans.

Toyah unwraps the first ever vinyl pressings of We Are The Humans (translucent orange vinyl) and Sugar Rush (translucent olive vinyl). Both of these are released tomorrow. Click below for links to all Toyah & The Humans new releases. (Screenshots from videos that are © Toyah Willcox)

Get ready for Noise In Your Head. Toyah & The Humans new retrospective five-disc box set – three studio albums, live concert CD, live concert DVD + 40-page booklet – is released this Friday. Pictured below is the regular box set (without signed print) which is still available to order here. Watch Toyah unbox the set by clicking here.

Toyah unboxing her second box set release of 2020 – Noise In Your Head by Toyah & The Humans. The retrospective set, which looks yet again fantastic, is comprised of four CDs, a DVD and comprehensive information booklet. The set is dedicated to, the late, Bill Rieflin. Click below to watch the unboxing at You Tube. (Screenshots from a video that is © Toyah Willcox)

Toyah tweeted and instagrammed yesterday that she had just received her Toyah & The Humans Noise In Your Head box set. Please click on either of those links to see the photo. Toyah’s second box set of 2020 is released on 3rd July and can be pre-ordered by clicking below.

It’s not often, Toyah’s debut 1979 single, Victims Of The Riddle is included on a compilation!

It is one of 58 tracks on the forthcoming Musik Music Musique – 1980 | The Dawn Of Synth Pop, A new 3CD set exploring the arrival of synth pop and the dawn of a new musical era. Released by Cherry Red Records on 31st July 2020.

The set features music by OMD, The Human League, Ultravox, Toyah, Spandau Ballet, Kim Wilde, Philip Lynott, The Buggles, Fad Gadget, Suicide, John Foxx, DAF, Dalek I Love You, Visage, The Residents, Yello.

58 tracks marking the transition of electronic pop from the outer reaches of eccentricity and novelty to the very heart of a musical mainstream it would quickly dominate.

• Contine to the Cherry Red Records website for further info.

Great news! The Signed Box Set version of Toyah & The Humans’ Noise In Your Head – An Amazon Exclusive – is available again to order. This will no doubt be very temporary so get yours while you can! **Update – It’s Sold Out again**

Seriously amazing. Seven minutes of magnificence! We miss you Bill.

The Limited Edition Amazon Exclusive edition of Toyah & The Humans’ Noise In Your Head box set sold out in just a few hours of being available to order yesterday. This included a signed print “from one human to another” by Toyah. The edition of the box set which doesn’t include the print is still available to order online.

NOISE IN YOUR HEAD is a 4 CD + DVD box set released 3 July 2020 that brings together the complete works of Toyah & The Humans.

The box set contains four albums (‘We Are The Humans’, ‘Sugar Rush’, ‘Strange Tales’, ‘Live At Scala London’) and six bonus tracks, including home demos and the previously unreleased track, 21st Century Schizoid Man. It also includes a DVD featuring a previously unreleased 90 minute concert, and four promo videos.

A strictly limited edition exclusive Amazon version includes a postcard print signed “from one human to another” by Toyah Willcox.

PRE-ORDER AMAZON EXCLUSIVE SIGNED EDITION
PRE-ORDER THE BOX SET

The Humans were Toyah, her musical director Chris Wong and multi-instrumentalist, the late Bill Rieflin (drummer for King Crimson and latter-day REM, as well as Ministry, the Revolting Cocks, Lard, KMFDM, Pigface, Swans, Chris Connelly, and Nine Inch Nails).

Toyah put the ensemble together in 2007 for the birthday celebrations of Toomas Hendrik Ilves, president of Estonia, a country already dear to Toyah.

As Toyah explains in her note in the 40-page booklet, “I was very keen to work on an idea where mid-range frequencies didn’t cancel out the natural space of the voice. Always having been in love with the bass I wanted to create a trio of just my voice and two basses, allowing power, prose and top line melody to dominate the audio spectrum. The Humans were to be music stripped bare.”

WE ARE THE HUMANS, released in 2009, features “Noise In Your Head”, “Quicksilver” and “Is It Wrong”. The CD now includes four bonus tracks: a cover of “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” featuring Robert Fripp, and three of Toyah’s original home demos, demonstrating her original concept for the ensemble.

SUGAR RUSH (2011) features “Sea Of Size” and “Small Town Psychopath” and Guest Human throughout, Robert Fripp. The bonus track is a version of “Small Town Psychopath”.

STRANGE TALES (2014) album features “Get In Your Car” and now closes with a previously unreleased 7 minute version of the King Crimson classic, “21st Century Schizoid Man”.

LIVE AT SCALA LONDON is the first full 16-track release of an entire 2010 concert at London Kings Cross’ Scala venue, including the encores of “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” and “Purple Haze”. Guest Human Robert Fripp features throughout.

On the DVD, LIVE AT TRADING BOUNDARIES is a previously unreleased 90-minute, 21-song concert filmed in April 2015. Also included are four promo videos, issued on DVD for the first time.

All discs feature faithful artwork on facsimile wallers and a lavishly-illustrated 40 page booklet featuring annotation written by Toyah herself. Also featured is an essay on the period covered by the box by Toyah’s official archivist and compiler of this box set, Craig Astley.

The box set is dedicated to Bill Rieflin, who sadly passed away on 24th March 2020. Recorded in summer 2019, “21st Century Schizoid Man” was only recently mixed and is one of Bill’s last completed recordings.

Sarcastically and affectionately, Bill referred to this anthology as The Humans’ Greatest Hits. Bill exchanged with Toyah this March, as included in her online tribute to him, that “We made good things together. Some of my best work ever.”

These look gorgeous! Following the fantastic solo Toyah vinyls earlier this year, come four Toyah & The Humans vinyls. All four vinyls are also released on July 3rd 2020. Click below for order links.

The three studio albums by Toyah & The Humans – We Are The Humans, Sugar Rush, Strange Tales – make their vinyl debut on 180g heavyweight coloured translucent vinyl. Strange Tales now closes with the previously unreleased 7-minute 21st Century Schizoid Man, the last track Toyah and Bill Rieflin recorded together.

The full 2010 concert album Live At Scala is released for the first time in its entirety, featuring a cover of Purple Haze alongside songs that later appeared on Sugar Rush but were not yet recorded at the time of the gig.

Updated! Toyah Releases 2020 – Just added information and images for the latest new Toyah release, the forthcoming Desire white vinyl album, released on 24th April. Click below to visit the Toyah Releases 2020 page. See also our Releases news archive.

The Planetary Invasion Mix of Step Into New World is available to download and stream. Click below for official links.

Music: Toyah Delivers Alien-Themed Bop ‘Step Into the New World’

Toyah Willcox has delivered a synth-heavy new mix of her track Step Into the New World. The iconic British pop-rocker leads us the dancefloor in the Planetary Invasion Mix – and when we say dancefloor, in quarantine, that’s probably our living room floor.

The track featured in 2019 British sci-fi film Invasion Planet Earth which starred Toyah alongside Simon Haycock and Lucy Drive. It was directed by Simon Cox – his first narrative feature since 1998’s indie horror Driven. As for the new mix, it is an absolute delight to see Toyah return with a bit of dystopian dance music – something that she shined with in her recently re-released 2008 album In the Court of the Crimson Queen.

Toyah released the excellent EP Four from Toyah in 2018. Listen to the new mix of Step Into the New World below.

• Continue reading at Culture Fix. Browse our Invasion Planet Earth posts.

The new compilation: Rare, Remixed and Revisited, released as part of the Toyah Solo box set, is now available as a digital download and to stream via Spotify.

The album includes previously unreleased songs, a number of demos, remixes and re-recordings (Revisited) and features 16 tracks:

1. Tears For Ellie (Demo), 2. God Ceases To Dream (Remix), 3. Poland (One Day On Earth) (Demo), 4. Now I’m Running (Remix), 5. It’s a Mystery (Whispered Elixir Mix), 6. Lust For Love (Demo), 7. Angel (Demo), 8. Rebel Run (Revisited), 9. Good Morning Universe (Revisited), 10. Be Proud, Be Loud (Be Heard) (Revisited), 11. Desire (Revisited), 12. Obsolete (Revisited), 13. Danced (Revisited), 14. We Are (Revisited), 15. Angel & Me (Revisited), 16. Believe In You (Demo)

As previously posted, Desire, Take The Leap! and Velvet Lined Shell are also now available in standalone digital Deluxe Editions – all featuring bonus songs. These albums are also available to stream via Spotify (click the links above for official links to streaming and more).

Following the release of five of Toyah’s solo albums on amazing colour/clear vinyl on Friday, is the news that the classic 1987 album Desire is to be released/reissued on 180 gram white vinyl next month (24th April 2020).

The album is released by Demon Records.

Featuring the original artwork, along with an inner sleeve (as with the Record Store Day Red Vinyl release of Desire in 2018) which will include the album’s lyrics and Toyah photographs. Click below for more info or to pre-order.

“Desire” was Toyah’s first album for the EG label, and features her hit single cover version of “Echo Beach” as well as a cover of Donna Summer’s “Love’s Unkind”.

Produced by Mike Hedges, the album features Robert Fripp (who co-wrote the title track) and Ronnie Wood. The LP is pressed on 180 gram white vinyl and the inner sleeve features the lyrics.