Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

After almost three weeks of work and hassle this website has been sorted and restored to the format which works best. The database was also saved, meaning the past eight years of Toyah news in this format are also restored. I quite liked the temporary version but this permanent format uses advanced functions to categorise and tag news posts, something Toyah’s eclectic and busy career needs. (Some photos from 2012 are still missing. I’m working on fixing this)

Updated! Toyah Releases 2020 – Just added information and images for the latest new Toyah release, the forthcoming Desire white vinyl album, released on 24th April. Click below to visit the Toyah Releases 2020 page. See also our Releases news archive.

In my spare time I’m slowly regenerating this website. The Features section has recently been updated (with more to follow) and currently the Press Archive is having a much needed overhaul. It’s taking a while as there are tons of past Toyah press interviews and articles in there.

Dreamscape’s Toyah 2020 Releases page has just been updated – With new information and photos related to Toyah’s busy release schedule this year.

So far there’s been the eight-disc + 48-page booklet box set, Toyah Solo (just released and just incredible!) and the five colour/clear vinyl albums; Minx (red translucent vinyl), Prostitute (yellow translucent vinyl), Ophelia’s Shadow (aqua translucent vinyl), Take The Leap! (double album clear vinyl), Velvet Lined Shell (10″ purple vinyl).

With a number of other releases to follow through the year this page will be added to and updated. Check out the page and revisit for new releases.

Dreamscape is almost 20! In my spare time I’m slowly bringing the Press Archive, Features and a few other slightly neglected site sections up-to-date.

I’m also planning on installing an SSL Certificate to the site. Though it isn’t necessary as Dreamscape does not collect any info on visitors or sell anything. But a secure site seems to be the way to go these days.

Whenever I sporadically question whether a “fan site” is still pertinent, appropriate or even relevant in 2020, when social media seems to be all, I check the hit stats for this site and I always find it mindboggling that so many Toyah fans from so many areas of the planet visit here.

It’s been almost a year since the last stats update, so… In the last day there have been visits from the UK, Australia, South Africa, Germany, United States, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Bulgaria, Philippines, China, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Japan, Turkey, Poland, New Zealand, India, Hungary.

Toyah has such a global fanbase. Thanks to everyone who still takes the time to visit.

Dreamscape’s Toyah news for October 2019 to January 2020 has now been archived. Interviews, press clips, official news, Toyah’s tweets, live gig info, radio appearances, releases, television listings and much more. Click below to visit our News Archive, where you can also explore 19 years and 10 months of past Toyah news – dating all the way back to March 2000!

Dreamscape’s Toyah news for May to September 2019 has now been archived. Numerous interviews, press clips, official news, Toyah’s tweets, live gig info, radio appearances, releases, television listings and much more. Including lots of coverage of the Quadrophenia 40th Anniversary celebrations. Click below to visit our News Archive, where you can also explore almost 20 years of Toyah news… news… news – dating all the way back to March 2000!

Dreamscape’s Toyah news for the first four, sensationally busy, months of 2019 have now been archived. Tons of interviews, press clips, live gig info, radio appearances, television listings and much more, including comprehensive coverage of the new release of Toyah’s album In The Court Of The Crimson Queen and related news… Click below to visit our News Archive, where you can also explore almost 20 years of news… news… news!

One of our sporadic looks at which countries are visiting this website, and thus interested in the latest news on Toyah and, currently, In The Court Of The Crimson Queen…

As always the majority of our hits are from within the UK, but there are numerous other countries checking in, including a significant total from the USA.

The last 500 visitors to www.toyah.net are from: United Kingdom (371), United States (51), South Africa (11), Finland (8), Canada (6), Netherlands (5), Italy (5), Ireland (5), Germany (5), Denmark (4), Australia (4), Estonia (3), Russian Federation (2), Korea (2), Spain (2), Luxembourg (1), France (1) and China (1).

Interest is truly global and not strictly limited to the digital world. The latest fanzines were posted out to the UK, US, Australia, Norway, Ireland, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Estonia, Switzerland, Spain and France.

This website is now in it’s 20th year – yes I’ve been furiously typing away here for over 19 years now – and before anyone accuses me of moaning about that, I’m not. Yes, I have been known to complain very occasionally :), but not at the moment! I’ve mostly enjoyed posting about Toyah’s amazingly eclectic career over the years. It’s been fascinating, fun, fulfilling, occasionally frustrating and fundamentally a fantastic hobby (lots of f’s from Fleming there!). I’ve been thinking about the future of this site, what with the absolute juggernaut onslaught of social media, one sometimes wonders if websites, particularly fansites, are a resource that is even needed anymore? I’m vaguely proud of keeping this site going as it proves I’m not as fickle as I thought. The only other thing I’ve stuck with for longer is being vegetarian. Almost 35 years of not eating animals. Veggies need to be louder and prouder in these ridiculous vegan-bashing times!!!

So with regards to all that I think Dreamscape is going to change. More streamlined, news-orientated/focused, and possibly a sporadic print version – sort of a back-to-basic newsletter type format – for people who aren’t completely living in a digital world. Watch this space!

Toyah has always been a great interviewee – Click below for a page of classic Toyah interviews!

In less than two month’s time Dreamscape will enter it’s 20th year online.

I started working on creating this website as something to help me deal with my Mother’s death in the late 1990s. Unfortunately it didn’t manage that but it did keep me occupied in my spare time through much of 1999. I put the site online on 10th March 2000 after a previous attempt to launch it on the 1st January that year. My initial intention was that it would be a rolling news service, constantly updated with all the latest Toyah happenings. Some people said the idea would never work. 19 years, and thousands & thousands of posts, later, I like to think it did!

Perhaps if I’d known the hate that would be directed at me over the years I wouldn’t have bothered. In 2012 I almost closed Dreamscape when things got particularly unpleasant, and recently there has been an undercurrent of nastiness again. On a far more positive note, through this site I’ve made fantastic lifelong friends who I really treasure. There were some fake friends too but they, thankfully, fucked off. Grrr, I always have to end on a negative lol!!

Hey! It’s Christmas, an ideal time to take one of our, very sporadic, looks at the visitor stats to this website.

In these times of social media essentially becoming the internet for many people, this site is still very busy and continues to receive 100′s of unique visitors each and every day.

Even on the quietest day of the last couple of months, which was Saturday 20th October, there were still 130 unique visitors. I have friends who run well-known Madonna, Doctor Who and U2 fansites and all say social media has seriously affected their visitor stats over recent years.

In the last 24 hours alone there have been visits to Dreamscape from: United Kingdom, United States, Israel, Switzerland, Japan, Italy, South Africa, Canada, Australia, France, Thailand, Sweden, Netherlands, China, Poland, Jersey, Estonia, Germany and Austria.

View a larger version of the stats graphic here.

Dreamscape’s Toyah news for the last 12 months has now been added to our News Archive. It’s been quite a year for Toyah, with a landmark birthday, numerous gigs, TV appearances, press, film roles, an anniversary tour and much more. Revisit at least some of it by clicking below.

Lay-oh lay-oh lay-oh layay man tey sa-ra-rai!!! After almost 18 months in the wilderness… this website’s Toyah Gallery is, at last, back online! Browse 1000′s of photos of Toyah, including numerous shots from many of the live concerts, festivals and anniversary tours from the past decade, by clicking below…

There’s also a large collection of photos from the early years of Toyah’s career, right through the Safari Records late 1970s/early 1980s, the Minx/CBS era and into the late Eighties, the Nineties and, yep, the Noughties!! Click below for more photos of Toyah than you can shake a 7″ single at!

NB: No infringement intended. All photos remain the copyright of their respective owners. Photos are mostly average quality scans from my magazine/fanclub collection of Toyah memorabilia and/or live gig photos generously gifted to Dreamscape by Toyah fans. This is a non-profit fansite, celebrating the 40 year career of Toyah Willcox.

Dreamscape’s Gallery section will be returning to the site in the not too distant future. There are 1000s of photos of Toyah to browse at the gallery from her mindbogglingly vast and eclectic career. Click below for a look at just one of the many Gallery pages – Toyah 2010 –.

Thanks to Sharon Dickson, Kevin Slyfield, Becky Varley, Claire Wade, Barry Delaney and Claire (FestivalFolkie) for the fantastic photos above of Toyah at Rewind Scotland 2011, Rebellion Festival 2011, Here & Now 80s Concert, Ascot and Wickham Festival 2011. (Great photos and fantastic memories!)

Dreamscape’s Gallery section will be returning to the site in the not too distant future. There’s 1000s of photos of Toyah to browse and I’ve been asked numerous times when it will be available again. Click below for a look at just one of the many Gallery pages – Toyah Live 2015.

Thanks to Brian Marsh, Official Toyah, Chesney Hawkes, Paul/P A C Photography, Damon King, Angus Turner, Ian Davis, Mark Evans and Rewind Scotland for the great shots above.

Just a day to go until Toyah’s 60th. Over the last few weeks we’ve been revisiting previous birthdays and retro content while counting down to 18th May. 12 years ago Dreamscape celebrated Toyah’s birthday with special updates all over the site. Click below to take a trip back to May 2006.

It’s Toyah’s 60th Birthday week… Listen to some retro Toyah interviews from throughout her 40 year career at Dreamscape’s Downloads section…

Just two weeks until Toyah’s 1987 album Desire is released on limited edition translucent red vinyl as a Record Store Day exclusive, on Saturday 21st April.

The LP will be available exclusively in independent record stores only on Record Store Day but will be available beyond this day until stocks are all sold. This new edition is mastered from the original master tapes.

Exclusive to RSD2018, this numbered 30th anniversary edition of Toyah’s Desire pressed on heavyweight red Translucent vinyl was her first album for the EG label, and features her hit single cover version of Echo Beach as well as a cover of Donna Summer’s Love’s Unkind. Produced by Mike Hedges (Tears For Fears, The Cure) the album features Robert Fripp (who co-wrote the title track) and Ronnie Wood. The inner sleeve features the lyrics. This is limited to 1000 units worldwide.

• In the meantime revisit Dreamscape’s celebration of Desire by clicking below… (Thanks to toyahwillcox.com and recordstoreday.co.uk for the above info)