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.
Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Tuesday 6th February: 1am
15/10/1981. David ‘Kid’ Jensen presents the TOTP hits of the week, first broadcast on 15 October 1981. Includes appearances from BA Robertson & Maggie Bell, Squeeze, Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin, This Year’s Blonde, Toyah, the Creatures and Bad Manners. Also includes a dance sequence by Legs & Co. (NB: Toyah’s appearance is via the TITM video)
Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Thursday 1st February: 1.40am
01/10/81. Mike Read introduces the pop programme. Includes appearances from Godley & Creme (Under Your Thumb), Sheena Easton (Just Another Broken Heart), The Teardrop Explodes (Passionate Friend), The Creatures (Mad Eyed Screamer), Ottawan (Hands Up [Give Me Your Heart]), Toyah (Thunder In The Mountains), Bad Manners (Walking In The Sunshine), Altered Images (Happy Birthday), Dollar (Hand Held In Black & White), Adam & The Ants (Prince Charming).
Who Had Four #1’s In The 1981 Indie Singles Chart?
Treat yourself to a chocolate biscuit if you got that one correct. If you don’t have such a thing close to hand then go buy one from a nearby shop and I’ll reimburse you as long as you send me the receipt.
Toyah, contrary to popular belief, was not just a solo project for Ms Willcox. Back in 1977, three friends had spent a brief period playing under the name Ninth Illusion, without recording any music. In the beginning of 1978 they added some more musicians and settled on a new, taking it from their female vocalist who was also just beginning to forge a name for herself as an actress.
By mid-1979 the band had signed to the London-based Safari Records and over the next 18 months here would be a handful of singles and LPs that didn’t really do all that much. By late 1980, there had been further line-up changes with only Joel Bogen remaining from the earlier line-ups and the decision was taken to focus on a more pop-orientated sound.
• Continue reading at The (New) Vinyl Villain.
Toyah’s ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ Top of The Pops studio appearance, which re-aired on BBC Four last week. (Thanks to MadFranko008)
Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Friday 20th May: 7.30pm
Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Saturday 21st May: 0.00am
15/10/1981. David ‘Kid’ Jensen presents the TOTP hits of the week, first broadcast on 15 October 1981. Includes appearances from BA Robertson & Maggie Bell, Squeeze, Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin, This Year’s Blonde, Toyah, the Creatures and Bad Manners. Also includes a dance sequence by Legs & Co. (NB: Toyah’s appearance is via the TITM video)
Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Thursday 19th May: 7.30pm
Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Friday 20th May: 0.30am
01/10/81. Mike Read introduces the pop programme. Includes appearances from Godley & Creme (Under Your Thumb), Sheena Easton (Just Another Broken Heart), The Teardrop Explodes (Passionate Friend), The Creatures (Mad Eyed Screamer), Ottawan (Hands Up [Give Me Your Heart]), Toyah (Thunder In The Mountains), Bad Manners (Walking In The Sunshine), Altered Images (Happy Birthday), Dollar (Hand Held In Black & White), Adam & The Ants (Prince Charming).
Toyah’s recent interview on Sky High Radio, plus acoustic performances of It’s A Mystery, Thunder In The Mountains and Sensational, have been uploaded to You Tube…
Toyah on The One Show earlier this evening. Recreating the iconic Thunder In The Mountains hair and make-up, with the help of make-up artist Sean Chapman and hairdresser Michael Douglas. Toyah also made a surprise appearance live on the programme, joining guests Simon Le Bon and John Taylor of Duran Duran on the sofa. Watch the programme at BBC iPlayer.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
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.
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)
Where the mountains meet the sea…
I’ve always loved ‘Thunder In The Mountains’. It’s a great pop song; slightly over the top lyrics, excellently synth-driven, with a pulsating rhythm and memorable chorus/hook, “Can you hear it breaking through…“, and a huge production by Nick Tauber. I’ve always said that if this was used in a big budget movie it would easily be as massive again as it was back in 1981. Music this well produced doesn’t date!
Of course this was Toyah moving further away from their early ‘Sheep Farming in Barnet/The Blue Meaning’ “coolness”, eras that are still popular 30-odd years later with fans, but most bands and artists want to progress and reach bigger audiences.
Toyah did this by evolving and adopting a more commercial sound and embracing mainstream/kid’s television, but they still managed to retain a quirkiness that set them way apart from the run-of-the-mill popsters of the early 80s. ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ illustrates that perfectly. This was Toyah’s eighth UK single, written by Toyah, Adrian Lee and Nigel Glockler, with a spectacular promo video by Godley and Creme.
Toyah’s visuals were a significant aspect of her, and the band’s, appeal. The imagery for TITM was possibly the most adventurous yet. Why Toyah isn’t lauded far more loudly in New Wave/Romantic/80s documentaries and articles really is a mystery. Thankfully fans in their own way are ensuring the wonderful imagery isn’t being forgotten.
I’m hoping to add a new ‘Song Of The Week’ each Monday. If anyone would like their’s added here please get in touch. It doesn’t have to be a single.
