Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

Toyah & Cherry Red Records are delighted to announce the long-awaited newly remastered and expanded release of Toyah’s debut album Sheep Farming In Barnet which kickstarts a reissue programme of Toyah’s entire Safari Records catalogue.

Sheep Farming In Barnet will be reissued on 4 December 2020 as a limited edition white vinyl LP and expanded 2CD+DVD package.

Limited quantities of both formats come with a different design postcard signed by Toyah.

Produced by Steve James and Keith Hale (Blood Donor), the album reached number 1 on the UK Independent Albums in February 1980 and celebrates its fortieth anniversary in 2020.

The album has been remastered from the original mastertapes and the 2CD+DVD package includes 30 bonus tracks including 20 that are previously unreleased.

The 7” single Victims Of The Riddle (1979) was Toyah’s very first release and is included here. This was followed up by 6-track mini-album Sheep Farming In Barnet that 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) 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. Non-album Double A-Side single Bird In Flight/Tribal Look produced by The Boys’ lead singer Matt Dangerfield is also included.

2CD+DVD digipack with a fully illustrated 24-page booklet containing a brand new introductory note from Toyah plus rare and unseen imagery including album cover shots taken at RAF Fylingdales Early Warning site, Yorkshire.

The album has been remastered by Nick Watson from the original mastertapes with mastering approved by Joel Bogen.

The expanded 2CD+DVD edition features 30 bonus tracks compiled by Craig Astley and is made up of non-album singles, rarities and demos. Amongst the 20 previously unreleased tracks are versions originally recorded for Shoestring, the original improvisation vocal that became Victims of The Riddle and the band’s first ever pre-signing 1978 demos.

Includes a sleevenote by Toyah’s archivist Craig Astley, researched with input from co-writer/guitarist Joel Bogen, chronicles the creation of the album, musician line-ups and reveals the recording origins of the album and bonus material for the first time.

The package includes a DVD (NTSC/Region Free) containing two brand new features with Toyah Willcox; ‘The Story Behind The Album’ is an in-depth interview about the album/period, a Track-by-Track Album Commentary interview plus an exclusive acoustic three-song session of songs from the era – all filmed August 2020.

The DVD also includes rare archive TV footage available on DVD for the first time ever including a 1979 interview/performance clips of Race Through Space filmed at Toyah’s Battersea warehouse ‘Mayhem’ for broadcast on What’s On (ITV Midlands-only region) and two songs, Danced, Indecision, filmed February 1980 for BBC’s The Old Grey Whistle Test.

• Continue reading at toyahwillcox.com to see the full tracklist, hear a preview track and read further details on the release. Pre-order Sheep Farming In Barnet, 2CD/1DVD Deluxe Edition, and Limited Edition Colour Vinyl LP here.

Band shots, solo shots, live shots! – Amazing, previously unseen, photos from the Sheep Farming In Barnet era and beyond have been shared on Toyah’s official social media spaces over the past fortnight… (Photos © 1, 3 & 4. Cherry Red Records Ltd, 2. Watkins/Astley)

Something special coming soon on Cherry Red – Announcement on Toyah At Home, airing from 11am, today at the official Toyah You Tube channel and Facebook page. (Photos/Images © 1. Neil Anderson, 2. Official Toyah, 3. Cherry Red Records Ltd)

The bold beginning of an awesome music career! Welcome to Sheep Farming in Barnet Saturday!

Toyah’s September 2020 blog is available to read at toyahwillcox.com.

A rare photo of Toyah at the Duke of Lancaster in August 1978. The line up at this times was; Toyah: Vocals⁣⁣, Joel Bogen: Guitar⁣⁣, Jonathan Miller: Bass⁣⁣, David Robin: Drums, Pete Bush: Keyboards. There’s been lots of other rare Sheep Farming in Barnet era photos and content recently at Toyah’s official social media spaces, including Instagram. (Photo © Watkins/Astley)

I was barely familiar with Toyah from seeing a review of “Anthem” in the pages of “Dogfood,” our local New Wave newspaper that was published by Record Mart chain in Orlando in the late 70s/early 80s. The positive review piqued by interest as it was written by Robin Shurtz; a guy I knew from teaching English at my junior high school. Robin had interesting music tastes.

Then, in 1981, I bought an issue of Flexipop that had an ad for Toyah’s “Thunder In The Mountains” single. The extreme styling and pose of the photo was sort of like a femme take on “Aladdin Sane” but the eerie calmness of the singer’s pose looked interesting.

• Continue reading at Post Punk Monk.

Toyah played two further dates of the Crimson Queen Tour this weekend, in Manchester on Friday and Nottingham last night. There’s just one more Crimson Queen gig this year, in Brighton on Saturday 2nd November, with two final dates in January.

Here’s a selection of shots from last weekend’s Southampton and Bristol gigs. The set list includes songs from Sheep Farming in Barnet, in celebration of it’s 40th Anniversary this year. Click below to view more photos at Dreamscape’s Toyah Gallery. (Photos © Ian Davis)

Look out for exclusive new mugs and signed prints for sale on the Crimson Queen Tour dates – Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Sheep Farming In Barnet and Toyah’s 2019 double album In The Court Of The Crimson Queen. The 2019 Dance In The Hurricane T-shirt, CQ purple vinyl and signed vintage vinyl will also be for sale.

Toyah’s newly published blog – for October 2019 – is available to read at toyahwillcox.com – Toyah talks the 40th Anniversary of Sheep Farming in Barnet and more. Click below to go there…

I can’t wait for the AUTUMN TOUR. We have some surprises for fans from way back in the late 70s! After all it’s the 40th anniversary of SHEEP FARMING IN BARNET. This album continues to surprise me every time I revisit it. The synth sounds are a joy, the songs are highly original and fresh today.

LAST GOODBYE is going into the set plus a few songs that haven’t been performed since 1980. Pete Bush, one of the co-writers on Sheep Farming came to St. Alban Arena last week and we dedicated Neon Womb and Danced to him.

A belated Happy Anniversary/Birthday to an incredibly important single/AP/EP!

Not only is it one of the most important but also one of the best – all six songs are amazing and all stand the test of time, still sounding fresh, vibrant and way ahead of anything else that was released in 79!

Toyah’s second single, the Sheep Farming In Barnet (EP/AP) – following the debut single, Victims Of The Riddle, a few months earlier – was released in July 1979. The traditional EP contained four songs, Toyah’s record label wanted to differentiate from that format and decided to release SIX songs on one single (a mini album really). This was the first, and last, AP release. Tracks were: A. Neon Womb, Indecision, Waiting; B. Our Movie, Danced, Last Goodbye.

The band members were Pete Bush: Keyboards, Mark Henry: Bass, Joel Bogen: Guitar, Steve Bray: Drums, Toyah Willcox: Verbals. As with the debut single, this was a huge hit on the UK indie chart, and also increased the band’s, already growing, popularity in other parts of Europe. The, now iconic, cover shot for the single was taken at the RAF Fylingdales radar station near Whitby in Yorkshire. Unfortunately, the “golf balls” were demolished in the mid 1980′s.

• Continue the celebration – See Official Toyah’s Sheep Farming in Barnet collage/info post at Instagram (part of the Crimson Queen Tour countdown). Visit the SFIB AP page at the Toyah Discography. You can also check out our Toyah 40 Archive.

It’s a double-whammy anniversary/birthday celebration today for two of Toyah’s legendary career landmarks! Sheep Farming in Barnet (the album rather than the AP) was released on this day in 1980, and Toyah played At The Rainbow on The College Tour this very evening in 1981…

A great new Official Toyah 40th Music Anniversary feature on social media, with entries so far for Sheep Farming in Barnet, The Blue Meaning, Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!, Anthem, The Changeling, and Warrior Rock – Toyah On Tour… with lots more still to come!

Toyah’s second single, the Sheep Farming In Barnet (EP/AP), was released in July 1979. The traditional EP contained four songs, Safari Records wanted to differentiate from that format and decided to release SIX songs on one single (a mini album really). This was the first, and last, AP release. Tracks were: A. Neon Womb, Indecision, Waiting; B. Our Movie, Danced, Last Goodbye.

The band members were Pete Bush: Keyboards, Mark Henry: Bass, Joel Bogen: Guitar, Steve Bray: Drums, Toyah Willcox: Verbals. As with the debut single, this was a huge hit on the UK indie chart, and also increased the band’s, already growing, popularity in other parts of Europe. The, now iconic, cover shot for the single was taken at the RAF Fylingdales radar station near Whitby in Yorkshire. Unfortunately, the “golf balls” were demolished in the mid 1980′s.

Toyah’s debut single Victims Of The Riddle was released in April 1979. A brave choice as the first release as it was hardly a commercial sounding, radio friendly, song. The single reached number one on the Indie Chart in the UK and spent many months of 1979 there.

The sleeve featured an intentionally disturbing image. At the time of release few knew the gruesome story behind the photo and assumed it was a doll. Victims Of The Riddle was also released later in Spain, with the far more appealing Sheep Farming In Barnet artwork. The beginning of an amazing music career and a brave choice to get started with.

2019 is a very special anniversary year. It marks 40 years since Toyah’s first recordings – Victims Of The Riddle and the Sheep Farming in Barnet AP were both released by Safari Records in 1979.

The genesis of an astonishing, and ridiculously underrated, music career. Did Toyah record and release even one duff song during five years at Safari?

Even tracks that were given away free by Flexipop magazine – Sphinx, For You – were far superior to actual single releases by other bands at the time.

Post-Safari saw Toyah become really experimental and release albums and music that are now considered works of genius – Prostitute, Ophelia’s Shadow, In The Court Of The Crimson Queen – Toyah’s 40 year discography is one of the finest of any artist/musician/pop star, with incredible song after song after song. Soaring choruses, unforgettable melodies, wonderful lyrics – Each album is a completely different experience. For sure, the past 40 years of music would have been far less of an adventure without Toyah!

Stay tuned to Dreamscape for sporadic anniversary updates to mark Toyah’s 40 years of music.

On This Day, 21 Oct in 1979, Toyah played at London Marquee with Joel Bogen, Pete Bush, Steve Bray & Charlie Francis. This slideshow includes images from that evening, set to an audio clip of the early (abandoned) song “Watch Me Sane” from a bootleg of the gig. Get your tickets for Toyah’s four anniversary gigs this autumn.

A fantastic treat for Toyah fans yesterday from Official Toyah. Click here for a gallery of the images. and below to view the post at Instagram.

Burning Shed are now stocking the first four Toyah studio releases, Sheep Farming In Barnet (1979), The Blue Meaning (1980), Anthem (1981) and The Changeling (1982).

Featuring copious bonus tracks, these editions were pressed in 1999 and 2002 (N.B. These are not new pressings or remasters) and showcase Toyah’s adventurous and sophisticated fusion of Post-Punk and Art Rock at its very best.

The Changeling was produced by Steve Lillywhite and featured Be Bop Deluxe’s Andy Clarke on keyboards plus the formidable rhythm section of Phil Spalding and Simon Phillips (both soon to depart for Mike Oldfield’s band).

• Further info at Burning Shed. Pre-order for 21st April shipping.

On this day – February 22 – in 1980, Toyah’s Sheep Farming in Barnet album was released. It began life as six-track EP (or AP – Alternate Play – as Safari Records called it), in August the previous year, but was expanded to full album status by Safari.

Yesterday was day nine of toyahwillcox.com’s, excellent and eclectic, countdown to the start of the Songs From The Intergalactic Ranch House tour, with an acoustic version of ‘Dreamscape’ being made available. Today a Sheep Farming In Barnet archive has been added to Toyah’s Official Website. Open door ten by clicking below…

• Toyah has been tweeting over the last few days about possible outfit ideas for the Intergalactic Ranch House tour, saying she may wear something different for each date, and posting a photo of a previously unseen design by Melissa Caplan.