Toyah Willcox In Conversation with Dave Haslam
15 November 2017
The original punk princess Toyah Willcox, is interviewed by legendary Manchester DJ, journalist and author Dave Haslam during her run as Elizabeth I in the Royal Exchange Theatre’s production of JUBILEE.
From award-winning rock legend to critcally acclaimed cult actress of stage, film and TV, Toyah’s eclectic, outspoken and colourful career spans over 40 years, amassing thirteen top 40 singles, twenty-four albums, two books, over forty stage plays and fifteen feature films (working alongside Sir Laurence Olivier and Katherine Hepburn).
Toyah will explore her creative beginnings playing MAD in Derek Jarman’s seminal punk art house film, JUBILEE, her dominance of the 80s music and fashion scene, and her evolution and endurance as a much loved actress, performer and household name.
Punk princess, pop icon, acclaimed actor and all round nice girl, well nice with a saucy edge, that’s what you get from this remarkable survivor of an industry that is notoriously destructive. Toyah steps out onto the stage with just two excellent acoustic guitar players to accompany her on a musically illustrated romp through here career. A romp that she has finely honed to create a good balance of story and song, an evening spangled with hits and lightened by incisive comments and witty anecdotes. But above all Toyah can still deliver those hits, her own and some she chooses to cover with not only conviction but with artistry. The voice is better than ever, the accompanying slides remind us of her brilliant visuals and her pithy commentary rattles along creating a compact evening of fun and great music, at times nostalgic but overall there is a sense that this is a woman who is still a valid and relevant musical force.
‘A couple tried to kidnap my sister… was it Brady and Hindley?’ Inside the head of… Toyah Willcox
Eighties punk singer and actress Toyah Willcox, 59, has eight top 40 singles to her name. She is married to King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp, 71.
What is your earliest memory?
My mother putting a thick nappy on me. I used to deliberately hold everything in until she had done it, then would let loose. I was very naughty, even as a baby.
What sort of child were you?
I was completely unconventional in everything, which my mother found very difficult. I was a huge tomboy.
What has been your biggest achievement?
In 2010 I had to learn to walk again when I had my legs made the same length, after living with one leg two inches longer than the other until the age of 51.
Toyah has had a very busy year of gigs and festivals so far, and this is set to continue for the remainder of 2017. Included in the many dates still to come is a PA at Shaw’s in Stoke-On-Trent next month. Click below for more details, or view Toyah’s full official Gig Diary.
The Official Toyah newsletter – Breaking Through – recently revealed details of a new digital single release entitled 9 Hours which is astonishingly Toyah’s first ever real duet…. if we discount the Cabaret musical song Money, Money recorded with Nigel Planer in 1996.
The single is a collaboration with Peter Coyle of New Wave band The Lotus Eaters who also wrote the track. It will being released under the name Toyah & Peter (at Peter’s request) and will be released in early August 2017.
Toyah played a mind-boggling FOUR gigs over the weekend – Wellowfest 2017, Let’s Rock London, Party in the Park Dunstable and Party in the Park Cookley – Below is a press report on Wellowfest and check out Toyah’s Twitterfor direct updates from the incredibly busy lady herself!
Wellowfest: Big names and local acts mix for village festival
More than 40 bands and singers will perform over three days at the annual Wellowfest music festival this weekend. They include headliners Hazel O’Connor, Toyah Willcox and The Blockheads.
It takes place at Chapel Farm, Wellow, from tomorrow (Friday) until Sunday. The festival, launched in 2014, covers a wide range of genres, including pop, punk, country and 1980s classics.
The organisers said: “In its fourth year of running, Wellowfest maintains its roots as a family-friendly festival with a chilled out and relaxing vibe. Kick back and enjoy the best of the English countryside while listening to an eclectic mix of sounds.”
Punk princess Toyah lights up village music festival
Eighties punk star Toyah Willcox topped the bill at a village festival near Marlborough that attracted music lovers all the way from London.
Families picnicked, children played games and locals caught up with the gossip as laid-back MantonFest treated them to a day of music that featured an international tribute act Creedence Clearwater Revived and sets by bands like Josie and the Outlaw, The Clive Collective and local outfit Barrelhouse, who this week reached number 20 in the blues charts.
One of the organisers, Roger Grant, said he thought the event was the best yet. “All through the day there was just such a happy atmosphere. It was absolutely unbelievable.”
Quadrophenia: Sky Select HD: Tuesday 25th July: 9.55am
The Who wrote and produced this energetic story of a young man disillusioned with his life in 1960s London. Phil Daniels excels as the alienated anti-hero Jimmy Cooper. Director: Franc Roddam. Starring: Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Toyah Willcox, Philip Davis, Mark Wingett, Sting, and Ray Winstone.
It was a show billed as classics, hits and anthems and with a full band behind her the pint-sized punk princess Toyah delivered them all with aplomb.
Of late, many of Toyah’s live appearances have been acoustic evenings where stories from her career have shared the stage with re-worked versions of her songs.
Enjoyable they may be, but this was a night of 100 per cent full-on Toyah with swirling synths, pounding drums and howling guitar.
Somehow she’s 59, but looks amazing and her energy on a sweaty Saturday night in Blackburn never once faltered.
Jubilee: London Live: Monday 3rd July: 10pm
Queen Elizabeth I travels through time from 1578 to 1978, where she sees what has become of her once glorious kingdom: law and order have broken down and punks roam the streets. Director: Derek Jarman. Starring: Jenny Runacre, Nell Campbell, Toyah Willcox, Hermine Demoriane, Ian Charleson, Karl Johnson.
Quadrophenia: Sky Greats HD: Friday 30th June: 3.20am Quadrophenia: Sky Select HD: Sunday 2nd July: 7.05am Quadrophenia: Sky Greats HD: Wednesday 5th July: 2.20pm Quadrophenia: Sky Greats HD: Thursday 6th July: 1.30am Quadrophenia: Sky Select HD: Friday 7th July: 2.05pm
The Who wrote and produced this energetic story of a young man disillusioned with his life in 1960s London. Phil Daniels excels as the alienated anti-hero Jimmy Cooper. Director: Franc Roddam. Starring: Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Toyah Willcox, Philip Davis, Mark Wingett, Sting, and Ray Winstone.
Jubilee: London Live: Monday 26th June: 1.05am
Queen Elizabeth I travels through time from 1578 to 1978, where she sees what has become of her once glorious kingdom: law and order have broken down and punks roam the streets. Director: Derek Jarman. Starring: Jenny Runacre, Nell Campbell, Toyah Willcox, Hermine Demoriane, Ian Charleson, Karl Johnson.
NB: London Live is available on: Freeview 8, Sky 117, Virgin 159, YouView 8.
Derek Jarman’s punk classic Jubilee to be reignited on stage
Toyah Willcox plays the time-travelling Elizabeth I in the Royal Exchange’s version of the film that caused outrage after 1977’s silver jubilee
Derek Jarman’s anarchic punk film Jubilee is to be adapted for the stage with a cast including Toyah Willcox who made her screen debut in the original version 40 years ago. Willcox played the cackling pyromaniac Mad, a member of a girl gang whose fights, orgies and random acts of cruelty are witnessed by Queen Elizabeth I when she is magically transported to the 1970s. The new stage version, which will open at Manchester’s Royal Exchange theatre this November, casts Willcox in the role of the time-travelling queen.
“At the time it was made, it was utterly outrageous,” says Willcox of the film, which she describes as the tale of “women who are trying to kind of kill everything that controls them or that has exploited them. It’s a very resonant story today. Nothing’s changed except the technology.” The stage version will be firmly set in the modern day, with the script updated throughout the show’s run to acknowledge current events.
“If there’s something noteworthy in the news at 1pm, hopefully you’ll be hearing a reference to it in the show in the evening,” says Chris Goode, the show’s director. Goode, who first saw Jarman’s film as a teenager and has been influenced by the DIY punk ethos throughout his theatre career, added: “We didn’t want our version to be an exercise in nostalgia. Part of the impulse was thinking about where punk is at now.”
Toyah Willcox In Conversation with Dave Haslam
