Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

Toyah’s debut single Victims Of The Riddle was released in April 1979. A brave choice as the first release as it was hardly a commercial sounding, radio friendly, song. The single reached number one on the Indie Chart in the UK and spent many months of 1979 there.

The sleeve featured an intentionally disturbing image. At the time of release few knew the gruesome story behind the photo and assumed it was a doll. Victims Of The Riddle was also released later in Spain, with the far more appealing Sheep Farming In Barnet artwork. The beginning of an amazing music career and a brave choice to get started with.

Safari Records’ late 70s/early 80s timeline of Toyah dates the band signing to the label as January 1979, though their “Our History” implies it may have been late 1978:

In 1978 a Melody Maker postage stamp picture of Toyah together with a small but glowing review of one of the very few gigs that her band had ever played led us to a leaky rehearsal space under Waterloo Bridge, where we saw the band and they signed with Safari who then were pleasantly surprised to learn of Toyah Willcox, actress, her performances in The Corn is Green (starring Katherine Hepburn), Jubilee, Quadrophenia and her current casting as Miranda in Derek Jarman’s forthcoming The Tempest.