Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

The continuing adventures of the Brave New World doll. (Thanks to Andy | Photos © A Westhorpe)

• Angel and Me: Tears Of An Angel: A couple of lines of lyrics from Toyah’s iconic Angel and Me, from the 1982 album The Changeling, have been used in this Harry Potter fan story at fanfiction.net – See here…

• The Letters of Derek Philpott (and Wilf Turnbull): The Crowd Fund Kickstarter Campaign For The Book has succeeded!! The deadline to secure a copy is Sunday May 3rd at 3.40pm. I am only printing sufficient copies to provide for everyone that has pledged because I am one ordinary fellow who will be sending these out from where they are being delivered to .. my front room! The book will not be in the shops or available anywhere else – Continue reading…

• Get it On… With Bryan Burnett: It’s A Mystery, from The Safari Records Singles Collection Part 1: 1979 – 1981, was included in Bryan’s BBC Radio Scotland show playlist yesterday evening. I only mention it because I was listening at the time, and coincidentally I’ve also been playing both the Safari Collection CDs this week! #stillgetexcitedwhentoyahgetsplayedontheradio – Visit Bryan’s page…

• Kiss & Make Up – Carl Stanley: Yesterday I posted about Carl’s forthcoming book. Today I received an email from him saying thank you. A rare occurrence. Thanks Carl, wishing you every success with your book.

• FlexiPop! The Book: There’s still time to pledge and help get this fantastic book published – Further info here…

Incredible but true. Don’t Fall in Love (I Said), Toyah’s first bona fide solo single, entered the UK singles chart exactly 30 years ago tomorrow! Written by Toyah and Simon Darlow, and backed by, if truth be told, the far superior, Snow Covers The Kiss, it was taken from the album Minx, which would go on to be released in late July of 1985. Don’t Fall in Love (I Said) – A great pop single that brings back memories of happy times.

• Visit the DFIL page at Toyah’s official website, view an iconic appearance by Toyah on Formel Eins, listen to/watch Toyah performing the song live in 2014 at You Tube, view the single’s chart info at The Official Charts Company, browse some of Dreamscape’s previous posts relating to the song, and view photos from that era at our Gallery.

Two live Toyah classics, Thunder In The Mountains and I Want To Be Free, both from the 1982 Safari Records album Warrior Rock, are included in the new Vintage TV/HMV Digital link-up. Toyah played acoustic versions of both on The Vintage TV Sessions (Episode 4) in early 2014. That show is airing again soon.

Vintage TV is delighted to announce an exciting new relationship with HMV Digital!

Vintage TV music-lovers, you can now listen to all your favourite tracks from The Vintage TV Sessions, courtesy of HMV Digital. From Steve Harley to Lulu, Marc Almond to Lisa Stansfield, simply head over to HMV Digital to download your top songs and listen to them over and over again! There are over a 100 songs for you to add to your music library, so what are you waiting for?

• Continue reading at Vintage TV. Visit Vintage at HMV Digital.

A previously unreleased acoustic version of Toyah’s exuberant 1982 hit single Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard) is currently available to listen to at toyahwillcox.com.

You can also check out Toyah’s full live gigs schedule for 2015, which includes the Acoustic, Up Close & Personal Tour, Toyah and The Humans Telling Stange Tales UK Tour plus a variety of full band concerts and festival appearances.

Thanks to the Acoustic… gigs there is a renewed interest in The Acoustic Album, Toyah’s 1996 re-working of a selection of previous recordings, including Blue Meanings, Angels & Demons, The Vow and Moonlight Dancing. The album has been made available again recently with new artwork, and it is also available digitally. Visit the album’s dedicated page at Toyah’s Official website.

“The acoustic gigs have been so successful that I really need to consider doing another acoustic album.” said Toyah in an interview with The Argus last year. It would be interesting to hear which songs would make The Acoustic Album Two.

• Browse Toyah’s Official Gigs page. The Acoustic Album is available at iTunes.

Exactly 34 years ago today, Valentine’s Day 1981, Four From Toyah entered the UK Singles Chart. Toyah’s sixth single and second EP eventually peaked at number four and spent 14 weeks on the chart. The rest, as they say, is history…

Hot on the heels of the Has God Ceased To Dream You EP, as part of the Official Toyah Christmas 2014 Advent, comes another… The Whisper The Elixir EP.

Tracklist: 1. It’s A Mystery (Whispered Elixir Mix), 2. It’s A Mystery (Distant Sirens Mix), 3. It’s A Mystery (Acoustic Poolside), 4. Waiting (Alternate Mix).

The Official Toyah Willcox Website say: The final release to mark the twentieth anniversary of the 1994 album Take The Leap is a free digital EP exclusive to toyahwillcox.com. Whisper The Elixir brings together a further four related tracks/versions from the Leap! period.

On the A-Side (in the old money) or tracks 1/2 are two previously unissued remixes of It’s A Mystery prepared at the same time as the tribal version aka Weybridge Mix. On the b-side/ the final two tracks are alternate versions of songs recorded in the main album sessions for Leap…

• Continue reading/Download the EP at toyahwillcox.com.

A new four-song digital EP, Has God Ceased To Dream You, has just been released by Toyah.

Tracklist: 1. God Ceases To Dream (Remix), 2. Now I’m Running (Remix), 3. It’s A Mystery (Weybridge Mix), 4. Tears For Elie (Demo).

The Official Toyah Willcox Website say: This exclusive digital EP release is a companion piece to the full length Take The Leap! album. Has God Ceased to Dream You contains alternate mixes and demos related to the album which were previously issued on various hard copy CD releases which are now deleted.

The first three tracks did all originally appear on the Take The Leap! album but are presented here in quite radically different versions and are all re-vocalled. Tears For Elie originates from the same sessions and was previously available on the 2006 UK CD release of Take The Leap! issued by Demon Records.

• Buy at iTunes or Amazon. Stream at Spotify. This is Toyah’s 28th single (29th if 2010’s multi-artist “Re-Joyce (In The Bleak Midwinter)” is included in the tally).

Toyah is included on the, just released, Smash Hits 80s Annual 3CD Set.

‘It’s A Mystery’ is track 14 on the second CD of the 66 song collection, released by Warner/Universal Music.

Other artists include: Wham!, Bananarama, Duran Duran, Adam & The Ants, Madness, Soft Cell, Kim Wilde, The Human League, Dexys Midnight Runners, The Specials, Belinda Carlisle, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Yazoo. Echo & The Bunnymen, Tears For Fears and many more.

• View the full tracklist here, and a larger version of the cover here. The CD is available to buy at Amazon.

A new Toyah artwork, by Alison T Bond, based on the iconic ‘Brave New World’. View the full version at Twitter. (© Alison T Bond)

Willyfred, the wonder rabbit and now star of primetime Saturday night TV, has unearthed Toyah’s original Soul Passing Through Soul video outfit… Click below to see the photo at Twitter.

Thunder In The Mountains is included on a new three-disc CD (and download) compilation, Rewind – The 80s Album, released this Monday, 4th August.

The soundtrack to you Rewind Festival filled summer is here… This 3CD collection features a decade of classic pop hits from some of the most talented acts and Rewind performers past and present, all laced with nothing but pure nostalgia. Including Rick Astley, Chesney Hawkes, Jason Donovan, The Human League, Go West, Kool & The Gang, Earth, Wind & Fire plus loads more.

The enduring, and classic, Thunder In The Mountains, which thanks to Nick Tauber’s amazing production skills still sounds as fresh today as it did 33 years ago, is the final track on Disc Two of the collection.

• View further info on the CD set, at the Rewind Festival website. It’s available to order/buy at Amazon.

Dreamchild, Toyah’s 1994 album, will be released digitally for the first time in May of this year. There will also be digital EP releases for the album’s singles Now and Then and Out Of The Blue. These mark the 20th anniversary of the album’s original release, and will include some previously unreleased mixes and versions.

You can listen to the, also previously unreleased, ‘Anthemic Ambient’ mix of Out Of The Blue at The Official Toyah Willcox Discography by clicking on Dreamscape’s Dreamchild “advert” below. (News Source: Breaking Through)

Just uploaded to Dreamscape’s You Tube channel, a short interview with Toyah from BBC Breakfast Time on the day that ‘Echo Beach’ was released as a single in 1987. Click on the caps below to watch and view larger versions of the screen caps here.

Toyah has released a new EP for Christmas/Winter, Winter in Wonderland, features four songs recorded 20 years ago and all making their digital debut. This is Toyah’s 27th single release.

Toyah’s atmospheric ballad Winter In Wonderland is released digitally this December

Marking twenty years since the track was recorded, the release is also the first ever digital issue of any material from the fan-favourite album Take The Leap!. The track is released just in time for the winter holidays and also also includes three same era-demos as digital b-sides, previously available only on CDs.

Tracklist: 01. Winter in Wonderland, 02. Angel (Demo), 03. Requite Me (Demo), 04. Invisible Love (Demo).

• View further info, including links to download at iTunes & Amazon, at toyahwillcox.com.

The latest issue, number eight, of ‘Classic Pop’, is available to buy from today. The magazine counts down “The Top 100 Singles Of The 1980s – The Definitive Pop Playlist”, and Toyah’s classic 1981 single, the unforgettable ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ is included at number 51 in the list.

Classic Pop say: “Toyah had a run of eight UK chart hits from 1981 – 1985 and, joint with It’s a Mystery, this was the biggest, reaching number four in 1981. Toyah’s since become a mainstay of daytime TV and panel shows, but a quick Youtube look at Godley & Creme’s video for this song is a reminder of just how freaky and powerful she was in those days, appearing as a flash forward to the era of Florence, Marina and Paloma”.

• The magazine is available in selected stores, visit their Facebook page. (Thanks to Andrew Moore)

We are into the last few days of Love Is The Law Month, and Toyah has now completed over half of the LITL & More Tour. The next date is Halloween in Bristol (ticket info here). Back in 1983 there was a hectic promotional schedule for Love Is The Law, with interviews in numerous magazines and music papers, and Toyah guesting on many TV shows, including a performance of ‘Rebel Run’ on Jugendbund.

It’s Love Is The Law Month here at Dreamscape, and our latest post is an interview with Toyah from the Wide Awake Club on TVAM in 1983. Toyah talks ‘Rebel Run’, The Ebony Tower, writing her life story and more. Click below to watch the clip at Dreamscape’s You Tube channel. (Thanks to Andy)

• East Of The M60: Less Remembered 1980s Children’s Programmes #1: Hold Tight: This new article on Hold Tight confirms the dates the editions Toyah guested on aired on ITV – 20 September, 1982: Toyah, Ieya; 13 September, 1983: Big Country, Chance/Toyah, Rebel Run – Visit the site here…

• Roy Wood Official: T.V. Shows: Roy recently co hosted a Christmas TV programme called A Very Vintage Christmas, together with Toyah Willcox. They introduced clips from popular Christmas videos – Visit Roy’s site here…

• Steven Wilson: According to ‘Classic Rock Magazine’ Toyah and Robert attended Steven Wilson’s gig at the Royal Albert Hall, London on Sunday night. Visit his Official Website…

• ACM Plymouth: Toyah, in her role as a Keynote Speaker, appeared in Plymouth last Thursday at a WI event.

• RFTK Promotions: Toyah This Friday: A post on Toyah in the run up to the first LITL & More gig in Newcastle last week – View here…

We can’t look back at Love Is The Law without a play of this…

Welcome to October, there are only a couple of weeks until Toyah’s latest anniversary tour begins and here at Dreamscape it’s Love Is The Law Month. Over the next few weeks we’ll be bringing you regular updates connected to Toyah’s amazing 1983 album. Starting off with this great photo of Toyah, performing ‘Rebel Run’ on ITV’s Hold Tight. Click below to view a larger version. (Thanks to Andy)