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)
“Well…..30yrs on, I can still get into original Rebel Run outfit….just!” Toyah tweeted earlier today – View the full photo at Toyah’s Instagram. Watch Toyah perform ‘Rebel Run’ wearing the outfit on ITV’s Hold Tight in 1983. (Photo © Toyah Willcox)
• Four From Toyah (White Label): A rare ‘Four From Toyah’ promo 7″ is currently up for auction at Ebay – View here… (Thanks to Shaun)
• Four From Toyah 30: Dreamscape’s 30th anniversary feature on Toyah’s legendary 1981 EP – View here…
• Vintage TV: Toyah will film two specials at her home to air later in the year on UK music channel ‘Vintage TV’. The station has just celebrated its third birthday. View a photo of Toyah and the Head of Vintage (plus lashings of tasty looking treats!) at Toyah’s Instagram…
• Toyah Live 2014?: It looks like there will be further live Toyah dates to look forward to very early next year. At least two new gigs have recently shown up in news feeds: Holmfirth Picturedome on Friday 21st February and Queens Hall, Nuneaton on Saturday 22nd February. Toyah has already said that the Love Is The Law & More Tour will the last “anniversary” dates for a while so it’s a mystery (doh) what these could be for!!
• Upton Festival 2013: It’s A Mystery – Listen/Watch at You Tube…
• Manchester Pride 2013: Echo Beach – Listen/Watch at You Tube…
• Sky Tyne & Wear: Toyah Willcox Love Is The Law & More Tour: When & Where – Friday 18th October, Legends – View here…
• Rebel Run: We’re fast approaching the 30th anniversary of the release of Toyah’s first, and penultimate on Safari, single of 1983. Rebel Run was released in mid-September and entered the UK charts on the 24th. Over the years it’s become one of Toyah’s best loved singles. View Rebel Run’s Wikipedia page, Toyah’s charts stats at The Official Charts Company and Dreamscape’s Imaginary Love Is The Law Singles Collection.
• Now and Then: Rare 30 minute Toyah special from Carlton TV in 1997, hosted by the late Jim ‘Bullseye’ Bowen – Watch at You Tube…
• Toyah @ Twitter & Instagram: “In 1978 Derek Jarman gave me Complete Shakespeare when he offered me the film “The Tempest” & I’ve found it after 14yrs packed away” – View here…
• Edinburgh Evening News: Hazel O’Connor talks Beyond Breaking Glass: A namecheck for Toyah in this new interview with Hazel – Continue reading…
• Mirror: Cruise News: P&O Cruises has launched its biggest range of trips featuring stars, including Michael Ball, Paul Young and Toyah. David Essex will sing on a 15-night Caribbean transatlantic cruise on Azura, leaving Southampton on November 1. Prices from £999pp. Call: 0843 373 0111.
Toyah performing ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ at yesterday’s Jack Up The 80s festival in the Isle of Wight. Toyah tweeted a photo of the band just before they got the ferry. View more photos here and here.
Another unofficial extended version of a Toyah classic by Magnum Mixes, ‘Good Morning Universe (Spiral Tribe Extended)’. As with their previous mix of ‘It’s A Mystery’ this isn’t too far removed from the original, just simply extending it. ‘Good Morning Universe’ is a great feelgood song, and quite underrated!
A recreation of the info board that accompanies Toyah’s Melissa Caplan outfit at the, just opened, Club to Catwalk exhibition at the V&A. Click below for a larger version, view all of Dreamscape’s news on the exhibition here, and stay tuned for more coming soon!
As previously mentioned, Toyah’s Thunder In The Mountains image will be included in the forthcoming Victoria & Albert exhibition Club To Catwalk: London Fashion In The 80s, Toyah will also participate in a special accompanying event in November. Tickets will be available soon but Breaking Through has released further details:
CARYN FRANKLIN, TOYAH WILLCOX & BRIX START-SMITH: IN CONVERSATION
Friday 8 November / 18.30-19.30
Designed by women for women. Join Caryn, Toyah and Brix as they bring their thoughts, ideas, experiences and memories to a discussion on women who developed, fused and influenced fashion and music in 1980s London. An exclusive look at some of Toyah’s 80s performance costumes will also be part of the evening.
• Toyah also talks about the ‘Club To Catwalk’ exhibition and taking part in the ‘In Conversation’ event in her latest blog.
The 2011 single, Fallen, the song Toyah wrote with Yomanda (Paul Masterson) will shortly receive its hard copy CD debut when the Extended Mix appears on the compilation album GayFest 2013.
The album will be released by Rumour Records with an exact release date still to be confirmed. This is the 14th album in the Gayfest series of compilations.
The single, which made the higher reaches of the Electronic Chart at iTunes in September 2011, is available to download.
I Must Confess… This is a great pop song. Fusing together a brilliant production with Toyah’s unique and distinctive vocals.
• Visit the ‘Fallen’ page at toyahwillcox.com. Watch the video at You Tube. See Toyah perform the single at Wig Out back in 2011. News courtesy of Toyah’s Official Newsletter. Sign up to Breaking Through.
Following last month’s news that Toyah’s ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ image will be included in the forthcoming ‘Club To Catwalk’ exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum, Toyah’s Official Newsletter has revealed that Toyah will also participate in a linked event.
TOYAH CONFIRMED FOR ASSOCIATED EVENT
Breaking Through can also exclusively reveal that Toyah will take part in a panel discusion event at the V&A Museum on Friday 8 November 2013. Booking details will be available soon at the V&A website.
To celebrate the announcement of the Love Is The Law & More Tour two live Toyah recordings have been made available for the first time as downloads to add to your collection. They are the special soundcheck version of Rebel Run from The Regal, Oxford in 2011 and the brass version of I Explode from the Wasted Festival 2005. These download links will expire on 31st July 2013 so be sure to catch them while you can.
• It’s A Mystery: Following on from the fantastic ‘Mystery’ (Soft Mix by The Sonic Healer) comes another two, unofficial, remixes of ‘It’s A Mystery’, both just made available online this week. These don’t stray too far from the original, simply just extending the classic song. Listen at Magnum’s 1980s Extended Edits & Remixes.
• Uncut: Robert Fripp steals the show in David Bowie documentary: I don’t know if you saw it, but BBC2’s David Bowie documentary, Five Years, screened at the weekend, was very entertaining.
• Louder Than War: Top 10 Punk Rock Films: Jubilee: Derek Jarman’s 1978 film is as utterly ridiculous and campily bizarre as one of the several strands of early punk itself, Jubilee is a fascinating and ageing curio of the times and the reflection of one of the UK’s most imaginative film directors.
• Jubilee Art: While on the subject of Jubilee, some digital art by Neveryan at deviantart.com.
• Tanzi Libre: The original production, Trafford Tanzi, premiered at Contact Theatre in Manchester in 1980 before playing at the Edinburgh Festival and touring. It played at West End’s Mermaid Theatre starring Toyah Willcox in the title role and then later, on Broadway, as Tuebrook Tanzi: The Venus Fly Trap, starring Debbie Harry with Andy Kaufman as the Referee.
• Night Fever: Meanwhile in the 90s, Toyah and Sam Kane perform ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ in this, long forgotten, Channel 5 show presented by Suggs.
More info on the forthcoming V&A Club To Catwalk exhibition, in which Toyah’s ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ sleeve will be included, is now available at Toyah’s Official Website.
The classic single sleeve from ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ will feature in the forthcoming Victoria and Albert Museum exhibition Club To Catwalk which opens on 10th July. The exhibition traces the theatricality and experimentation of early 80s club fashions and includes the work of Melissa Kaplan amongst many others. (News Source: Official Toyah Facebook)
This is interesting, all 13 minutes of it…
‘Mystery’ (Soft Mix by The Sonic Healer): Mr Tones & Mr Burns featuring Toyah
Atmospheric & slow; kind of a remix of a remix, done at half tempo and using guitar as well as keys and samples. I think this was about 1998, and I used an early version of Cubase, a Yamaha A3000, and a Roland general midi keyboard. Also a soft synth of some kind that wouldn’t run without glitching. Oh yeah, there was that vocoder too – the one with the pink blobby pattern on the front panel. You know the one.
• Listen to ‘Mystery’ (Soft Mix by The Sonic Healer) at Soundcloud.
Toyah: Echo Beach (Surf Mix, 7″ Mix), Plenty
This is a cover. The original was by a Canadian new wave band called Martha and the Muffins. There were actually two Marthas in that band at one point, so they really should have been called Marthas and the Muffins, but I guess that doesn’t really roll off the tongue. What are the odds of having two Marthas in a band anyways? Is that like some crazy common name in Canada or something?
I’m getting off topic. This version is by perennial UK oddball Toyah, and I prefer it to the original. It has less horns and more synthesizers.
• Continue reading at The Lost Turntable.
Praying to the silent man…
‘Rebel Run’, released in September 1983, was Toyah’s 13th single in the UK. It’s fitting that the song is celebrating it’s 30th anniversary in 2013.
This was one of only two singles to be released by Toyah in 1983 and was the debut from the album ‘Love Is The Law’. It was written by Toyah and Simon Darlow and reached number 24 in the UK Top 40.
Toyah made a memorable video for the single and promoted it with numerous appearances and interviews on shows including TVAM’s Summer Run, Hold Tight, The Saturday Show, Saturday Superstore, and German TV show Jugendabend. The video was also played on Top Of The Pops.
Toyah said of the imagery: “This is the Rebel Run look. I was into armour. A friend, Simon, made a bronze headdress based on the skeletal structure of American football players.”
• Download ‘Rebel Run’ at iTunes, view the promo video, and the airing on Top Of The Pops. Watch Toyah perform the single on Hold Tight and Saturday Superstore. Listen to the song live at Hammersmith Odeon on the ‘Rebel Run’ Tour in December 1983. Andromeda Rising covered the song in 2005. Listen to their version here.
