Carol Decker’s 30 Rock Chicks!: NOW 80s: Friday 6th November: 10pm
T’Pau’s Carol Decker brings a bit of Heart and Soul to a countdown of ’80s ladies who like to rock! With Joan Jett, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks and Pat Benatar. (as well as Toyah via the Thunder In The Mountains video)
Who Won Wot? 1980 – 1989: NOW 80s: Sunday 25th October: 9am
From Smash Hits “Most Unwanted Person of 1980” to the Brits “Best Group” of 1989 – Mark Goodier’s 10 hour marathon of 80s award winners lasts nearly as long as the Oscars. (The first artist played from 1981 is Toyah, with the Thunder In The Mountains video. Mark said: “We begin 1981 with a 4ft 11 pop star who had the biggest hair of the entire decade, here’s the Most Fanciable (as voted by Smash Hits magazine readers) Toyah Willcox with Thunder In The Mountains“). Click on the screen caps to zoom.
Now available, personalised artworks hand-drawn by Toyah, with your favourite Toyah lyric and an autograph, on high quality paper, and ready for mounting and/or framing. A great gift for a friend, relative or even yourself! Watch Toyah’s info video at Instagram, and click below for more details or to order your personalised gift from Toyah or Robert Fripp.
Last Saturday’s episode of Toyah At Home featured two archive performances: The mighty Danced, from Sheep Farming In Barnet, and one of the best pop songs of the 1980s (or any other decade), Thunder In The Mountains.
Click below to watch/rewatch episode 16, in which Toyah reveals there are plans to release a trio of live Toyah/Toyah & The Humans concerts from Trading Boundaries, East Sussex, and O2 Islington in the not too distant future.
Carol Decker’s 30 Rock Chicks!: NOW 80s: Friday 9th October: 1am
T’Pau’s Carol Decker brings a bit of Heart and Soul to a countdown of ’80s ladies who like to rock! With Joan Jett, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks and Pat Benatar. (as well as Toyah via the Thunder In The Mountains video)
Carol Decker’s 30 Rock Chicks!: NOW 80s: Wednesday 16th September: 1pm
T’Pau’s Carol Decker brings a bit of Heart and Soul to a countdown of ’80s ladies who like to rock! With Joan Jett, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks and Pat Benatar. (as well as Toyah via the Thunder In The Mountains video)
Carol Decker’s 30 Rock Chicks!: NOW 80s: Sunday 26th July: 2pm
T’Pau’s Carol Decker brings a bit of Heart and Soul to a countdown of ’80s ladies who like to rock! With Joan Jett, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks and Pat Benatar. (as well as Toyah via the Thunder In The Mountains video)
NOW 80s’ mammoth 10-hour Who Won Wot? 1980 – 1989 aired yesterday, hosted by Mark Goodier. The first artist played from 1981 was Toyah, with the Thunder In The Mountains video. Mark said: “We begin 1981 with a 4ft 11 pop star who had the biggest hair of the entire decade, here’s the Most Fanciable (as voted by Smash Hits magazine readers) Toyah Willcox with Thunder In The Mountains“. Click on the screen caps to zoom.
Carol Decker’s 30 Rock Chicks!: NOW 80s: Friday 8th May: 9pm
T’Pau’s Carol Decker brings a bit of Heart and Soul to a countdown of ’80s ladies who like to rock! With Joan Jett, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks and Pat Benatar. (as well as Toyah via the Thunder In The Mountains video)
Carol Decker’s 30 Rock Chicks!: NOW 80s: Monday 24th February: 4am
T’Pau’s Carol Decker brings a bit of Heart and Soul to a countdown of ’80s ladies who like to rock! With Joan Jett, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks and Pat Benatar. (as well as Toyah via the Thunder In The Mountains video)
Carol Decker’s 30 Rock Chicks!: NOW 80s: Thursday 12th December: 10pm
T’Pau’s Carol Decker brings a bit of Heart and Soul to a countdown of ’80s ladies who like to rock! With Joan Jett, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks and Pat Benatar. (as well as Toyah via the Thunder In The Mountains video)
Carol Decker’s 30 Rock Chicks!: NOW 80s: Thursday 5th December: 11am
T’Pau’s Carol Decker brings a bit of Heart and Soul to a countdown of ’80s ladies who like to rock! With Joan Jett, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks and Pat Benatar. (as well as Toyah via the Thunder In The Mountains video)
Carol Decker’s 30 Rock Chicks!: NOW 80s: Wednesday 9th October: 9pm
T’Pau’s Carol Decker brings a bit of Heart and Soul to a countdown of ’80s ladies who like to rock! With Joan Jett, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks and Pat Benatar. (as well as Toyah via the Thunder In The Mountains video)
A great mini article on the Thunder In The Mountains single, just published by From The Stacks.
From The Stacks: Toyah, “Thunder In the Mountains” (Picture Disc)
Toyah never made a dent in the American charts, but lead singer Toyah Willcox left a big impression on the new wave kids. Willcox had it all: Big hair, beauty, and that “new wave diva” vocal style shared by so many early ’80s Brit artists. She was an art school kid’s dream.
And speaking of art school dreams, the video for “Thunder in the Mountains” is a Mad Max meets Spartacus fever dream:
Willcox is still getting things done, both as an actress and a musician. Her latest release is an extended version of In the Court of the Crimson Queen, featuring a guest appearance by her husband, King Crimson’s Robert Fripp.
As for this beautiful “Thunder in the Mountains” 7-inch: Expect to pay about three bucks, and just imagine how cool it will look hanging behind your turntable. Happy hunting.
• Continue reading at From The Stacks by clicking below on the Thunder In The Mountains collage I created circa 2012 (which, much like a lot of the other Toyah imagery I’ve created over the past 20 years, has been posted all over the internet/Facebook/Pinterest etc but never with any sort of link back to this website or design credit).
Carol Decker’s 30 Rock Chicks!: NOW 80s: Wednesday 19th June: 6pm
T’Pau’s Carol Decker brings a bit of Heart and Soul to a countdown of ’80s ladies who like to rock! With Joan Jett, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks and Pat Benatar. (as well as Toyah via the Thunder In The Mountains video)
There’s another chance to catch Toyah’s Sack The Stylist?! Top 30. It airs again this Wednesday, at 12pm, on NOW 80s
Here’s the show’s full playlist: 30. Love and Pride – King, 29. Fade To Grey – Visage, 28. Bad Boys – Wham!, 27. The Slightest Touch – Five Star, 26. Synchronicity II – The Police, 25. You Think You’re A Man – Divine, 24. I Found Someone – Cher, 23. The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow) – The Jam, 22. Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye – Bananarama, 21. What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For? – Shakin’ Stevens, 20. Touch Me (I Want Your Body) – Samantha Fox, 19. You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) – Dead Or Alive, 18. Things Can Only Get Better – Howard Jones, 17. Lucky Star – Madonna, 16. Just Say No – Grange Hill Cast, 15. London Town – Bucks Fizz, 14. The Look Of Love – ABC, 13. More Than This – Roxy Music, 12. Open Your Heart – The Human League, 11. Just Can’t Get Enough – Depeche Mode, 10. Blue Jean – David Bowie, 9. Ant Rap – Adam & The Ants, 8. Starting Together – Su Pollard, 7. The War Song – Culture Club, 6. Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) – A Flock Of Seagulls, 5. Thunder In The Mountains – Toyah, 4. Too Shy – Kajagoogoo, 3. The Wild Boys – Duran Duran, 2. Wired For Sound – Cliff Richard, 1. I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect For You) – Grace Jones. Bonus Track: Sensational – Toyah
“Well, I’ve been taking an affectionate look at fellow pop stars and their styles so I had to balance things out with that. My hair, make-up and outfit on Thunder In The Mountains was pretty crazy. But I loved it!”
Carol Decker’s 30 Rock Chicks!: NOW 80s: Sunday 28th April: 9pm
T’Pau’s Carol Decker brings a bit of Heart and Soul to a countdown of ’80s ladies who like to rock! With Joan Jett, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks and Pat Benatar. (as well as Toyah via the Thunder In The Mountains video)
It’s the 1981 Gallery! It’s Anthem, it’s I Want To Be Free, it’s Thunder In The Mountains, it’s At The Rainbow, it’s Good Morning Universe, it’s the College Tour, it’s The Old Grey Whistle Test, and yes… It’s A Mystery!
Toyah was included on Carol Decker’s Rock Chicks which aired on NOW Xmas on Boxing Day and a few other times over Christmas. Toyah was number 30 on the rundown, with the Thunder In The Mountains video being shown.
From our friends NOW 80s T’Pau’s Carol Decker brings a bit of heart and soul a countdown of 80s ladies who like to rock.
The Vintage TV Sessions, with Toyah performing acoustic versions of Thunder In The Mountains and I Want To Be Free, which originally aired in March 2014, is repeated this week.
The Vintage TV Sessions: Vintage TV: Thursday 5th July: 4am
Five great acts sing two songs apiece at our Vintage TV Sessions: indie rockers The Struts, punk princess Toyah Willcox, singers Judie Tzuke and Josephine and Nik Kershaw.
Over the past 40 years Toyah has provided the world with numerous “Iconic Images” (good name for a fanzine, that!) but has there ever been imagery as mesmerising as that which Toyah adopted for Thunder In The Mountains in 1981? The book ‘Pop Styles’ seemed to think so even back in 1984…
Pop Styles, by Ted Polhemus & Lynn Procter (1984) An A-Z Guide To The World Where Fashion Meets Rock’N’Roll
Crazy Colour: Perhaps the most important pendulum swing in the history of pop styles is that between nature and artifice. One of the best ways to join the against-nature school of thought is to dye your hair a bright colour or better still a whole collection of colours which nature never intended to appear on the head of a human being. Historical examples are few, however, as the technology has only been widely available a short time. Only impermanent vegetable dyes were available before the seventies and it was punks who first combined an anti-natural attitude with the new chemicals. Special credit therefore goes to Wee Willie Harris who caused a furore in the fifties when he dyed his hair so pink it dripped down his collar in the rain, Roy Wood who fronted Wizzard behind a mass of multicoloured locks and of course David Bowie. Ultimately, however, the first prize must go to post-punk Toyah Willcox who with dyes and hair spray has resculpted her head into a homage to artifice which even the most daring of science fiction films have failed to equal.
• Toyah’s Offical website/social media spaces will be counting down to Toyah’s Birthday with Forty From Toyah – 40 classic images spanning Toyah’s amazing career.
