Two future gigs – The SAS Band All Star Christmas Special, at GLive, Guildford on Saturday 1st December 2018 with Toyah as a special guest – Book tickets here – and Toyah at the O2 Academy, Newcastle on Saturday 22nd June 2019 – Book tickets here or by clicking below.
Toyah is included in Classic Pop magazine’s Poparazzi feature in their latest issue – No. 46 with Spandau Ballet on the cover.
READERS SHARE THEIR FAVOURITE PHOTOS AS THEY GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH SOME OF THE BIGGEST NAMES IN PLANET POP
Toyah Willcox with Zak Jenkinson
“This photo of Toyah and myself was taken when my old band The Silent Age supported her at Corporation in Sheffield, in September 2012, on the Changeling Resurrection Tour.
“My first ever gig was seeing Toyah at Sheffield City Hall on the same album tour back in 1982 and I’ve been a massive fan ever since, so it was a dream come true to be supporting her 30 years later.
“She was so lovely to us all and came to chat with the band in our dressing room before the show, signed lots of vinyl and talked about how excited she was at the third album by The Humans that she was in the middle of writing, and then wished us good luck for the gig. It was such a fantastic night – I think this photo captures it perfectly.”
• Classic Pop magazine, Issue 46 is out now. See Dreamscape’s original post on The Silent Age supporting Toyah, back in 2012, here. (Thanks to Zak Jenkinson)
An interesting feature on Toyah, published by Punk Girl Diaries, in June.
Since the day we set up this blog and Twitter account, Polly and I have sometimes encountered the view that such-and-such ‘isn’t really punk’. By which they mean 1st generation saw-the-Sex-Pistols and lived-in-a-London-squat sort of punk. Here at punkgirldiaries.com, we tend to think that punk’s a way of thinking that lives on, and what’s more, it probably existed under another name back in Ancient Greece.
But having seen the Sex Pistols and then forming a band doesn’t even guarantee you full punk kudos. Some people seem to be sniffy about Toyah and whether or not she counts as a ‘proper punk’. There’s a Daily Mail article which describes Toyah as ‘the acceptable face of punk’.
Toyah cites the reason that punk attracted her was that it allowed her to be herself. As a child, she had many operations and years of physiotherapy to overcome spinal and leg problems. She was bullied due to her speech impediment and didn’t fit into the 1970’s version of fixed gender identity and roles.
• Continue reading at Punk Girl Diaries. See also Quadrophenia – Punk in Parkas.
“Can’t wait for the show tonight @ The Ruby Lounge. On stage at 21:15. Xx #Toyah60” – Toyah at Twitter this evening before debuting the Toyah60 Anniversary gigs. (Photo © Toyah Willcox)
Toyah’s 40th Year in Music/60th Birthday concerts launch this evening, with the first of four gigs, at Ruby Lounge in Manchester.
There’s an exciting new setlist to look forward to, and oodles of new official tour merchandise – Brave New World t-shirts, Brave New World mugs, Rebel Run/Love Is The Law tote bags, badges, stickers & more – will be on sale at the gig.
Toyah will also play The Fleece, Bristol (Thursday 1st November), Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton (Friday 2nd November) and O2 Academy Islington, London (Sunday 4rh November)
These special concerts – with Toyah’s full electric band – will be a celebratory retrospective including hit singles, album classics and fan favourites. Throughout October The Official Toyah Willcox website has counted down to the beginning of the four-date anniversary tour, via social media, with a series of special updates.
What do movies mean to you?
For me movies are vital escapism and deep expressionism. They also question everything in life. When you look at Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake, in comparison to John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place, the passion and belief behind these two extraordinary films runs equally deep. Film can be about truth as much as about speculation and metaphor.
What are three of your favourite films and why?
Oh boy! Where do I start? I have to relate to my most immediate experiences. A Quiet Place has recently blown me away. Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool has magnificent acting. Phantom Thread is my favourite Daniel Day-Lewis film, but I am a horror lover and I always return to Alien when I am relaxing! I can recite the script word for word!
• Continue reading at The Pitch.
Toyah is contributing to a new book – Quatermass – by Toby Hadoke.
The Quatermass book grows by the day. It’s pretty much my sole focus between now and Christmas. These past few months have found my securing contributions form David Tennant, John Carpenter, Barbara Kellermann, Indira Varma and Toyah Willcox. So it’s going to be pretty detailed! More info soon…
• Info Source: Toby Hadoke – October Updates.
Toyah is included in the Line Up section of the official festival website for next year’s W-Fest which takes place in Belgium in mid-August. Toyah will play the Synth Scene stage on Friday 16th August 2019. Click below to visit the website, though, as always, it is advisable to wait until Toyah is officially confirmed before booking tickets. (Thanks to Johny Vermeiren)
Toyah’s upcoming Toyah60 anniversary gig on Sunday 4th November at O2 Academy Islington, London is close to selling out… Please click below if you still need a ticket!
There’s just a day until the first of Toyah’s four 40th Anniversary in Music/60th Birthday gigs – tomorrow’s tour opener is taking place at Ruby Lounge, Manchester. See official updates in the run up to the gigs at Instagram, Twitter and Facebook – Click below to get your ticket(s) for the concerts that haven’t sold out…
Love Is The Law was released exactly 35 years ago this week. It entered the UK Album Chart the first week in November, eventually peaking at number 28. The album was reissued, with bonus songs, on CD in 2005 and to mark 30 years a digital release, with even more bonus songs, was made available in 2013. Love Is The Law still sounds as vibrant and fresh today as it did, upon first listening, back in late October 1983…
Years and years and, yes, years ago this website had a feature called “Somewhere In The Distance” – sporadic posts revisiting past Toyah events, releases and happenings. Now seems like a good time to resurrect it. Click below to browse all of Dreamscape’s Toyah news and updates from a busy February 2011. More “Somewhere In The Distance” soon.
2019 is shaping up to be another busy year of live dates for Toyah.
The eFestivals website has her confirmed for Let’s Rock Wales in June and The Great British Alternative Music Festival next October.
There are also forthcoming gigs in Stockton-On-Tees (February), Doncaster (February), Aldershot (March), Havering (May) and Newcastle Upon Tyne (June).
• Continue reading at efestivals.co.uk. Browse Toyah’s forthcoming, confirmed, gig dates and festival appearances at toyahwillcox.com.
Confirmed! Toyah to join the All-Star line-up for The SAS Band Christmas Special at G Live Guildford on Saturday 1st December!
“I LOVE THE SAS BAND. The music, the guest stars, the audience. The whole experience is of a quality like no other… For me it has always been an honour to share the stage with these legends!“. TOYAH
On This Day, 21 Oct in 1979, Toyah played at London Marquee with Joel Bogen, Pete Bush, Steve Bray & Charlie Francis. This slideshow includes images from that evening, set to an audio clip of the early (abandoned) song “Watch Me Sane” from a bootleg of the gig. Get your tickets for Toyah’s four anniversary gigs this autumn.
A fantastic treat for Toyah fans yesterday from Official Toyah. Click here for a gallery of the images. and below to view the post at Instagram.
Toyah’s brand new Brave New World tour t-shirt, in the sky blue variant, modelled by the changeling herself! On sale at the autumn concerts. (Photo © Toyah Willcox)
It’s the final week of the countdown to Toyah’s Autumn Anniversary Tour, with yet more great content – posted across the official social media – from Toyah’s career, as well as previews of the new merchandise which will be available at the gigs. The opening gig, at Ruby Lounge in Manchester is just six days away. See those below and more at Instagram, Twitter and Facebook – Buy tickets for the gigs here or by clicking on the images below.
Toyah’s four-date Autumn Anniversary Tour begins one week today – Friday 26th October – at Ruby Lounge, Manchester. There will be lots of new merchandise available at the gigs, including the Rebel Run/Love Is The Law tote bag.
Coincidentally, next Friday is almost 35 years to the day the Love Is The Law album was released. Click below to book tickets for the forthcoming concerts…
Celebrated make-up artist Val Garland has just published her book Validated. In a new interview with i-D she cites Toyah as one of her early influences.
How val garland became one of fashion’s most requested make-up artists
Her new book, ‘Validated’, charts the make-up mastermind’s 25-year career
Regarded as one of the most important make-up artists of our time, Val Garland has spent the last 25 years creating era-defining images with some of this generation’s greatest creatives. Her boundary-pushing artistry has seen her shoot with photographers such as Nick Knight, Corinne Day and Miles Aldridge and worked for agenda-setting fashion titles, including i-D and The Face. She’s the make-up artist of choice for designers including John Galliano, Gareth Pugh and Phoebe Philo, and spent years working closely with.
Growing up, what were your creative outlets?
Well I think when I was a child, we’d just go and play on the railways. I always had a vivid imagination, so we’d make up some amazing story using sticks and stones and that kind of thing. I was always looking for treasure, but we didn’t have loads of money, so treasure was just things you would find on the street, pebbles and bottle tops and things like that.
When I got older, I got into music. I could get lost in music and musicians and singers became the new icons. It was the 80s, so we’d moved through the punk and it was more about the new romantics and everybody was painting their faces. I loved Toyah Willcox, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Debbie Harry, Lene Lovich. It never occurred to me try to look attractive or like a glamorous, sexual being. I just wanted to be noticed, to be a character. I wanted people to go ‘wow, who is that person in head to toe newspaper with newspaper print all over her face? What is she?’ That’s how I my love of make-up started.
• Continue reading at i-D.
Definitely the best mug design ever – Drink your tea/coffee from a Brave New World mug. This was on sale at Toyah’s Acoustic… dates at the weekend and will also be available on Toyah’s Anniversary Tour dates later this month and in early November!
Toyah onstage at last Saturday night’s Acoustic, Up Close & Personal date at Trading Boundaries, East Sussex. This was the first of two Acoustic… dates at the venue over the weekend. Please click below to view a larger version of this photo and another at Dreamscape’s Toyah Gallery. (Thanks to Angus | Photo © Angus Turner)
