Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

Lots of press for Toyah & Robert’s Sunday Lunch – This week covering Green Day. (Images © Toyah Willcox)

• NME: Watch Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp cover Green Day’s ‘Basket Case’: “May ur basket overflow with love” – King Crimson founder Robert Fripp and his wife, singer Toyah Willcox, have shared a cover of Green Day’s pop-punk classic ‘Basket Case – The cover is a part of the pair’s ‘Sunday Lunch’ video series which was launched in 2020. The series has so far seen the couple share renditions of songs by Ramones, Nirvana, David Bowie, Metallica, Billy Idol, The Rolling Stones, Judas Priest, The Prodigy, Guns N’ Roses, Alice Cooper and many more through Willcox’s YouTube channel – Continue reading…

• Classic Rock/Louder: Toyah beats aubergines and wears a basket on her head in latest broadcast with Robert Fripp: Green Day’s classic Basket Case gets a makeover from progman Robert Fripp and post-punk pioneer Toyah Willcox – Light entertainment icons Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp have completed their latest broadcast to the nation, covering Green Day’s 1984 punk banger Basket Case with the aid of two aubergines – Continue reading…

• Guitar.Com: Robert Fripp and Toyah Get Chaotic In Their Sunday Lunch Cover Of Green Day’s Basket Case: This week, Toyah dances around armed with a pair of aubergines – Robert Fripp and his wife, singer Toyah Willcox returned yesterday (13 March) for a fresh instalment of their Sunday Lunch series with a cover of Green Day’s pop-punk hit, Basket Case. In this week’s video, the couple left a handwritten message on their cabinets, which read “May Ur Basket Overflow With Love – Continue reading…

• Kerrang: Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp cover Green Day’s Basket Case… while wearing a basket: Green Day’s iconic Dookie single Basket Case gets the (very entertaining) Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp treatment – Green Day have got a huge year coming up with the potential release of their cryptic 1972 project and the upcoming UK and European leg of the Hella Mega Tour, and if that’s not enough they’ve just been honoured by the mighty Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp – Continue reading…

• Brooklyn Vegan: Watch Toyah and Robert Fripp cover Green Day’s “Basket Case”: This week on Toyah and Robert Fripp’s “Sunday Lunch” covers series, they take on Green Day’s classic 1994 single “Basket Case.” Always a fan of props, Toyah wears a basket on her head for part of the video and then plays a drum with eggplants. As you do. – Continue reading…

• Metal Sucks: King Crimson’s Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox Cover Green Day’s “Basket Case”: King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp and his wife, the actress and singer Toyah Willcox, are back with the latest entry in their ongoing “Sunday Lunch” series of cover videos. This morning, Fripp and Toyah are covering Green Day’s “Basket Case.” The song seems like an interesting choice, given that the duo have been on a real classic rock kick of late, but hey, you didn’t come here for normal – Continue reading…

• Far Out: King Crimson’s Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox cover Green Day: King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp and singer Toyah Willcox have just released another cover to their online repertoire with ‘Basket Case’. The Green Day cover is their newest cover, and it follows a canon of performances that includes songs by Ramones, Nirvana, David Bowie, Metallica and Billy Idol – Continue reading…

• Ultimate Guitar: Watch: Robert Fripp and Wife Toyah Willcox Cover Green Day’s ‘Basket Case’: The duo takes on a Pop Punk classic on their “Sunday Lunch” series – Continue reading…

• DGM Live: Toyah & Robert’s Weekend: Toyah And Robert’s Sunday Lunch – Basket Case… Toyah And Robert’s Burning Questions (March 12th, 2022) Is love capable of being expressed when we’re absent from those we would like to show love to? – If someone if behaving very, very badly, do we deny them love? – Is it possible to make love tangible in a disastrous and catastrophic event? … Toyah At Home – Don’t Fall In Love March 12th, 2022) – Continue reading…

• Sunday Lunch: Basket Case: Once again we at Toyah And Robert HQ are lost for words! – Watch the video…

80s pop legend Toyah Willcox terrorised by violent ghost who strangles people

Toyah Willcox says she was left was petrified after witnessing plenty of paranormal activity from a number of spirits at her Worcestershire home as part of a new TV show

Toyah Willcox has been terrorised by a violent ghost.

The pop legend, 63 was petrified after witnessing plenty of paranormal activity from a number of spirits in her Worcestershire home.

And when she staged an exorcism in a bid to scare them off, things turned nasty when one of them strangled someone.

evealing her torment, Toyah said: “I’ve always experienced haunted properties because I’ve constantly lived in very old places. This house is absolutely extraordinary. It is a very active house.”

“There are two obvious ghosts that are sisters and they’ve always been around. The evidence is mainly a whiff of cigarette smoke and perfume.”

• Continue reading at the Daily Star. Celebrity Help! My House Is Haunted is streaming now on Discovery +

Masked Singer fans ‘rumble’ celebrity on show – but for more than one character

The Masked Singer UK fans say they’ve got clues and proof that one star is under the mask, but she’s been named as playing multiple characters

The Masked Singer UK viewers have shared their thoughts on Twitter over the latest batch of characters. One name in particular has been shared constantly with fans believing they have proof she is on the show. However, the particular celebrity has in fact been suggested for multiple characters, while one in particular.

Musician, actress, and TV presenter Toyah Willcox is tipped to be unmasked as Panda on the hit ITV series, with fans convinced it is her. That said, she’s also been thrown into the mix for Rockhopper and Mushroom, as well as Firework.

Basically, fans are convinced the vocals and clues match her for all of the characters, but she can’t possibly be playing all of them can she? While we wouldn’t put it past the double-bluffing bosses on the show, the characters have all appeared on stage at the same time at one point, or at least most of them have. It is also very unlikely they have one celebrity performing as more than one character, meaning someone else has to be the other characters.

It’s Panda that has had the most guesses as being Toyah by viewers, with many convinced the vocals gave the game away.

• Continue reading at The Mirror. NB. The Sun, Express, Independent and others have a similar story but they have Cyndi Lauper as Panda. The Masked Singer continues this Saturday evening on ITV at 7pm. Have a listen…. Definitely not Toyah but it does sound sort of like Cyndi!

Toyah is interviewed, about creativity in lockdown, in the third digital issue of Burnt Frowner – The Chris Wade and Dodson & Fogg magazine. Read it here.

Toyah is someone I’ve always admired. She’s a proper artist in the truest sense, a wild creative spirit who has always stuck two fingers up to the face of convention. She’s a singer, artist, actress, producer, writer, TV personality – but just using those words doesn’t really do her justice. Yes she fits these descriptions, but she’s unique. She’s a pop icon, has been so for almost forty years, and she’s still selling tons of albums and playing sold out venues all over the world… well, when they’re open that is.

Despite years of fame, she still comes across as a creative spirit on the edge, an experimenter, a fearless individual defying expectations. She’s been in classic films like Jubilee and Quadrophenia, acted alongside the likes of Laurence Olivier on TV (in The Ebony Tower), scored hit singles across the world, achieved legendary status in the music business, influenced multiple generations of men and women alike, packed out venues all over the world, has maintained a high profile on TV for decades and been a mentor and role model for countless people.

• Continue reading at Burnt Frowner.

A lengthy new article, on the ever-enduring Quadrophenia, published today by The Independent as part of The Indy Film Club.

How Quadrophenia immortalises and scrutinises mod culture

It’s an indelible part of Brighton’s history but, as Clarisse Loughrey writes, the 1979 adaptation of The Who’s rock opera is really concerned with a search for identity

Brighton residents know the sound well – the stentorian rattle of engines, as a fleet of Vespas and Lambrettas zip down the promenade. It feels odd for a moment, as if there’s been a rip in the space-time continuum and a little of the Swinging Sixties has trickled out. But it’s tradition here. On sunny weekends, mod aficionados gather in the city to fraternise, evangelise, and compare the number of mirrors on their scooters. Brighton was a favoured hang-out spot for the original mods, who’d travel down from London to the south’s seaside resorts, eager to ruffle the feathers of middle-class daytrippers.

Trouble came in the form of the rockers, their rivals. It was like the Capulets versus the Montagues – divided not by blood, but by the way someone might wear their hair. The mods (short for “modernist”) embraced continental style, with their crisply tailored suits and Italian scooters. To protect said suit while on said scooter, parkas became a staple. The girls wore miniskirts, as popularised by Mary Quant. The rockers, meanwhile, were bikers. Their “tough guy” attitude complemented their black leather jackets, Doc Marten boots, and Elvis pompadours.

There were clashes. The most infamous of these took place in Brighton over the Whitsun weekend (18-19 May) in 1964. A small group of rockers were corned on the beach. Police tried to intervene, but it quickly spiralled into chaos. And though, in hindsight, it’s clear the press blew events out of proportion, it’s become an indelible part of the city’s history – due largely to the fact it was immortalised in 1979’s Quadrophenia.

The film, a loose adaptation of The Who’s 1973 rock opera, stars Phil Daniels as Jimmy, a disgruntled London teen. At home, his parents treat his non-conformity as a curse. At his mailroom job at an advertising firm, he’s just another drone. And so he throws himself head-on into the hell-raising, dandyish, amphetamine-fuelled world of mod culture. It becomes his entire identity. When he ends up at the centre of the Brighton brawls and gets arrested, the adrenaline sends him heavenward – only for a moment, before disillusionment sets in and he starts to spiral.

• Continue reading at The Independent/Culture (registration may be required).

Give someone you love (or even just like a lot!) a virtual hug with a personal video message from Toyah! Click below for more details.

A four star review for Invasion Planet Earth, the film which is showing in cinemas for one day only this Thursday.

Almost a decade from script to screen, the labour of love that is Invasion Planet Earth is bold, ambitious, with tongue in cheek humour that occasionally pops up in an otherwise solid science-fiction drama. It will appeal to fans of the science fiction genre from all eras, particularly. It may be pitched, by marketing people, as a British Independence Day (there’s a nod to that in the dialogue), but it’s far from that as Simon Cox, writer and director, flits between drama, science fiction and action with deft awareness of just how preposterous his story is. The story does deliver a tale that has depth and weight amongst its familiar “aliens attack earth” trope, especially as the truth is revealed.

• Continue reading at Vulture Hound. Browse our Invasion Planet Earth news.

Toyah was interviewed in the print edition of Friday’s Leicester Mercury. Here’s the full article:

Let’s Rock: The Winter Retro Tour is heading to Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham and among the line-up are 80s headliners Toyah and Dr and the Medics. Helen Barnes caught up with both of them

With a career spanning more than 40 years, 61-year-old Toyah Willcox is making the most of her voice being in “fantastic” form.

What’s so great about Let’s Rock? It’s one of those fantastic events where it’s a real party atmosphere – because every song you get, everyone knows. The audience can dance and sing along – it’s about them and their memories too. I think 80s music has a real narrative to it, a story to it, and people identify their lives with it. I think all of that brings an audience together – and let’s not forget it’s Christmas!

Will you be singing any Christmas songs yourself? Absolutely! We are all doing our hits and then doing Christmas songs, so the finale will be a big Christmas finale where we will all be on stage together. It’s really very exciting, as the line-up is stunning – which is why I love doing them. You’re always working with people you admire and have followed for 40 years.

Who are your favourite 80s artists then? Well, I love Talk Talk and Depeche Mode too – I absolutely adore their music still and find it very uplifting. It has transcended the decade. I’ve also just been travelling around the world with Marc Almond and he is so much fun. Every song in his set is groundbreaking because at the time his music came out, the world was changing but hadn’t yet changed. Marc is one of the people that changed the world and music is just fabulous – I always stay behind to watch his sets when we are working together!

What’s the best thing you’ve discovered since turning 60? I think there’s an independence that comes with your 60s. I’m starting to just clear my life of of everything that’s niggly and doesn’t work – and that’s usually to do with bureaucracy. I am clearing my desk of the unnecessary, without any form of guilt and just looking for things that are fulfilling. I think when you hit your 60s and realise that you’ve done your best, that’s all that matters.

Which has been your favourite hair colour over the years? The only colour available back then was a vegetable dye called Crazy Colour – today the colours are much more sophisticated. I think I just loved the orange and cerise pink together; It was so vibrant that no matter how you felt, as soon as you looked in the mirror, it was like a cup of coffee!

Have you had any hair disasters? Early on, in the punk days, my hair was crimson red, and I remember standing at a bus stop; There was a deluge and I was without an umbrella. People were just staring at me with concern on their faces. It really didn’t look good – it looked like I’d been attacked.

You’ve done tons of TV presenting, what are you more confortable doing these days – presenting, acting or singing? At the moment my voice is fantastic, so I’m honouring that and this year I’ve done a hell of a lot of concerts and next year is fully booked, but I will only do that whilst I feel I can be 100 percent. I feel grateful that here I am at 61 and I can do it. Work for me is 99 percent of who I am. I’ve never felt like a home bird or a family orientated person, so it’s all incredibly important to me.

What have you got planned for next year? Well, eight re-releases of my album – I have a very good relationship with my record company, and I have a box set coming out. I’m touring with Hazel O’Connor and then doing all the Let’s Rocks, so it’s a very busy year.

As a mummy of young children, I heard you daily on Teletubbies! How did that come about? I am friends with the creator and she just asked me to come in and read the start and end, ast the narrator. It literally took me about 30 seconds to do, but “Over the hills and far away, Teletubbies some out to play” and “The sun is setting in the sky, the Teletubbies say goodbye” are probably the most famous two lines I have ever said, in the history of entertainment!

My eldest shares the same birthday as you, May 18th. On that day, this year he was blowing out eight candles and eating a football themed cake. What were you doing? Well, I have a home in France, and I was there with my husband. We’re right by the sea so we were probably eating sea bass, caught that morning, with some wonderful French vegetables. I’m a bit of a sensible eater. To completely contradict what I’ve just said, we would have gone and had ice cream after – and lots of it!

Your name is unusual – I have never come across another Toyah. Did you come across any others when growing up? No, not at all. I think you will find that the Toyahs that exist are all younger than me, so named after me. It has now become quite popular.

You’ve spoken before about your childhood and being bullied. Were you ever tempted to get back in touch with them once you became famous? A lot have been in touch with me. I did have one quite serious connection from someone who abused me at school and wrote to me – she was so distressed by what she did to me that she had been in therapy all her life. She asked if I could forgive her and I said I never even think about it. It may have formed who I am, but I don’t give it any thought. I live in the present. I’m a pretty tough cookie and even though I hated every minute of school, I’m a survivor.

There’s another chance to catch Toyah’s Sack The Stylist?! Top 30. It airs again this Wednesday, at 12pm, on NOW 80s

Here’s the show’s full playlist: 30. Love and Pride – King, 29. Fade To Grey – Visage, 28. Bad Boys – Wham!, 27. The Slightest Touch – Five Star, 26. Synchronicity II – The Police, 25. You Think You’re A Man – Divine, 24. I Found Someone – Cher, 23. The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow) – The Jam, 22. Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye – Bananarama, 21. What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For? – Shakin’ Stevens, 20. Touch Me (I Want Your Body) – Samantha Fox, 19. You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) – Dead Or Alive, 18. Things Can Only Get Better – Howard Jones, 17. Lucky Star – Madonna, 16. Just Say No – Grange Hill Cast, 15. London Town – Bucks Fizz, 14. The Look Of Love – ABC, 13. More Than This – Roxy Music, 12. Open Your Heart – The Human League, 11. Just Can’t Get Enough – Depeche Mode, 10. Blue Jean – David Bowie, 9. Ant Rap – Adam & The Ants, 8. Starting Together – Su Pollard, 7. The War Song – Culture Club, 6. Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) – A Flock Of Seagulls, 5. Thunder In The Mountains – Toyah, 4. Too Shy – Kajagoogoo, 3. The Wild Boys – Duran Duran, 2. Wired For Sound – Cliff Richard, 1. I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect For You) – Grace Jones. Bonus Track: Sensational – Toyah

“Well, I’ve been taking an affectionate look at fellow pop stars and their styles so I had to balance things out with that. My hair, make-up and outfit on Thunder In The Mountains was pretty crazy. But I loved it!”

Full transcripts of a selection of Toyah’s recent radio interviews are available to read at the Toyah Willcox Interview Archive. A collection of 11 are linked to below. Toyah talks In The Court Of The Crimson Queen… and much more! (Photos © Official Toyah)

• BBC Radio Ulster: The Arts Show: 26.03.2019 – I believe my generation will always be punk. We were born to rebel and I think that is the generation that is forgetting to grow old – Continue reading…

• BBC Radio Guernsey: John Randall: 27.03.2019 – I was sixty last year on May the 18th and my fans downloaded me to number 1. The unusual thing about that is that I was at that time an unsigned artist. That led to me to having a record deal and re-imagining the album because it’s been around for about ten years – Continue reading…

• BBC Radio Kent: Dominic King: 27.03.2019 – When we released it in 2008 it was literally like a fan release. Very limited edition, only available to the fans who knew my work, who came to see the band. Last year on May the 18th I turned 60 and unbeknownst to me my fans downloaded me to number one in the charts and there was a slight problem with this good news. Because I was not signed to a record label we couldn’t ask for radio play even though I was number one – Continue reading…

• BBC Radio Cornwall: David White: 28.03.2019 – It’s kind of confusing that you have to say it’s a re-working because for the majority of people who only remember me from the 1980’s this is actually a brand new album – Continue reading…

• BBC Radio Derby: Steve Jordan: 28.03.2019 – Vinyl is just the phenomena of today isn’t it – because vinyl is selling more than every other product at the moment – Continue reading…

• BBC Radio Wales: Eleri Sion: 29.03.2019 –  For many people it is a new album. For my dedicated fans – they know it. The writing for this started in 2007 and the first single from this album “Sensational” was the Weight Watchers campaign song on TV – Continue reading…

• BBC Radio London: Jo Good: 12.04.2019 – I have all the social media outlets and I provide the content but I employ someone, who I met when he was 4 years old, a Toyah fan, who was considered to be my youngest fan – he’s now just hit 40 and he now manages my archive, my social media, he’s even the executor of my will – Continue reading…

• BBC Radio Sussex/Surrey: Mark Carter: 14.04.2019 – Some people have described it as pure joy and is a joyous album and there’s absolutely no point in me trying to be serious and adult. I do energy and I think this album has it and yes, I really love it. I’ve been living with some of these songs as long as ten years – Continue reading…

• BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester: Tammy Gooding: 09.04.2019 – I’m having a really good time. Everything with the album has had such a positive reaction and I’m 61 this year and I didn’t expect this to be happening in my life and it’s really good – Continue reading…

• BBC Radio Devon: Richard Green: 20.04.2019 – At that time I was an unsigned artist and politically to get radio play and presence you have to be on a label. So a label called Demon Records said “we have to release this because there’s an audience who desperately want it”. So the first song of the album, “Sensational”, did start its life around 2009 – Continue reading…

• Gaydio: Phil Marriott Meets: 03.04.2019 – It’s very crimson. It’s “In The Court Of The Crimson Queen”. We started writing it ten years ago and we slowly drip-fed it to the fans as we toured constantly. So what happened – the only way I can explain is because if people know nothing about me … I was 60 on May the 18th last year and the fans downloaded me to number one in the charts and it was really quite extraordinary because I’m an unsigned artist – Continue reading…

• All of the above Toyah interviews transcripts, and numerous others, can also be read at the Toyah Willcox Interview Archive at Tumblr.

Emma Goswell remembers the weekend that was

Similarly, punk priestess Toyah was in her element and thrilled to be at L Fest. Before she went on stage, I asked her if she thought there was a need for lesbian festivals and she really did. “I think its really important,” she told me. “I think it’s community. People who live in a hostile environment need to know there is somewhere they can go and be safe and included and they can express themselves. It’s so important that things like this exist!”

As well as her hits, Toyah treated the crowd to singalong versions of rock classics like Sweet Child Of Mine, Rebel Yell and I Love Rock N Roll. It’s so wonderful, having seen her at Pride events too, to know that someone I was a fan of when I was in the closet is now such a supporter of the LGBT community. Jumping up and down singing Toyah songs with hundreds of other sleep-deprived lesbians filled my little-exhausted heart with glee and it was hard not to feel – at least for a moment – that everything was right with the world.

• Continue reading at Diva.

NO FUTURE: Brendan Macdonald reviews Chris Goode’s stage version of Derek Jarman’s Jubilee

“It’s funny isn’t it? In 1977, someone shouting NO FUTURE sounded like the most extreme nihilistic punk. Forty years on, it’s a fact. It’s mainstream climate science.”

As Amyl Nitrate (played by Travis Alabanza) perceives, ‘NO FUTURE’ was once a rallying cry of the punk movement, not just a closing refrain to a Sex Pistols anthem. It spoke of a stark fatalism imbued with fury, frustration, and a deep distrust in the current status quo. Chris Goode’s adaptation of Derek Jarman’s 1978 film Jubilee toys with this articulation, hurtling the punk movement into a future that seemingly shouldn’t exist, to see how it survives.

Goode’s adaptation spars with Jarman’s film, keeping faithful to the central tenets of the piece while modernizing it to reflect the current age. It’s messy, chaotic, sex-fueled, and driven more by affect than narrative. Queen Elizabeth I, brilliantly played by one of the film’s original stars Toyah Willcox, travels to the present day with the help of Lucy Ellinson’s Ariel, and passively witnesses the countercultural energy that’s brewing beneath 21st century neoliberal consumerism.

• Continue reading at Exeunt Magazine. Read Exeunt Magazine’s review of Jubilee at Royal Exchange, Manchester, here.

Jubilee, Lyric, Hammersmith, London, review: In the Lyric Hammersmith’s fine tradition of reanimating controversial classics

Chris Goode’s stage adaptation of Derek Jarman’s 1977 punk classic ‘Jubilee’, recasts Toyah Willcox who played Mad in the film, as Queen Elizabeth I, who time-travels to today

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” says Amyl Nitrate, towards the end of the end of Chris Goode’s raucous, shrewd and free-wheelingly rude re-imagining of Derek Jarman’s cult movie.  “In 1977, someone shouting “NO FUTURE” sounded like the most extreme nihilistic punk.  Forty years on, it’s a fact.  It’s mainstream climate science.”  To mark the ruby jubilee of Jubilee (1978), Goode’s stage version — a co-production between his company, the Lyric, Hammersmith and Manchester’s Royal Exchange — does more than pay tribute to the inherent theatricality in Jarman’s apocalyptic vision or recreate the paradoxical ethos of a broken Britain sodden with royalist propaganda during that flag-waving year.

• Continue reading at The Independent. Review by Paul Taylor.

Jubilee is a riot. From the slogans spray-painted on to plywood surrounding the Royal Exchange’s in-the-round space to the chaotic way the cast commandeer the stage, it is obvious from the start that this is no ordinary night at the theatre.

An adaption of Derek Jarman’s punk film from the 1970s, Jubilee revolves around Amyl Nitrate (Travis Alabanza) and her loose collective of societal outcasts. As Amyl, Alabanza is a revelation – her heartfelt, angry, intelligent monologues are highlights of the show and I have never witnessed someone engage an audience more skilfully.

Forty years on from starring as Mad in the film, Toyah Willcox plays Elizabeth I. She spends most of the time presiding over the production from a throne on the first gallery with very little to say, but the moments when she does speak allow for welcome periods of calm – something you won’t find anywhere else in the show.

• Continue reading at Upstaged Manchester.

80’s legends invade the stage at Rhyl Pavilion

The 1980s, is synonymous with big hair and big aspirations.

It was also undoubtedly one of the best decades for music. Not only did it give birth to the music video but also left us with an eclectic mix of styles and genre’s many of which can still be heard in today’s charts.

Such is the fondness for this power dressing period and its place in our relatively recent memories, 37 years on artists from the day are still singing to scores of fans up and down the country at festivals or gigs. An example of this nostalgia package – The 80’s Invasion Tour – was at Rhyl’s Pavilion Theatre on Thursday.

… A quick turn around enabled the next act Toyah to capatalise on the feel good mood. The diminutive diva, who looked remarkable for someone set to celebrate her 59th birthday, launched into her set of defiant early 80s anthems including ‘ It’s a Mystery’ and ‘I want to be free’ – enjoyed by scores of fist pumping audience members. A strong contender surely for national treasure Ms Willcox was followed by international recording artist Martika…

• Continue reading at News North Wales.

WISE WORDS: Toyah Willcox Shares Her Idea Of Perfect Happiness

Toyah is joining Paul Young, Martika and China Crisis on tour in 2017.

For the latest in our WISE WORDS interview series – where stars from a whole range of fields share the important life lessons they’ve learned along the way – we’re posing some of the big questions to TOYAH WILLCOX.

Next year finds her joining the roll call for the 80s Invasion Tour. As she prepares once again to take to the road, she talks to HuffPostUK about some of the harder lessons she’s learned along the way, and what brings her greatest happiness…

What do you do to switch off from the world?
I love walking and I love being in big, wide-open spaces like hill tops or relatively easy to climb mountains. I just get everything I need from silence and being outdoors. It allows me to think and clear my mind. I like being very active and I can walk up to around eight miles a day every day.

How do you deal with negativity?
I don’t! I don’t deal with negativity at all! I think we’re naturally more tuned to hearing negativity than positivity and I find that aspect endlessly fascinating, that I can pick up two pages of glittering reviews and just one bad sentence is what you’ll remember. I think that says a lot about the human psyche, so the way I try and deal with it is I remind myself that most negativity has been expressed in passing and it isn’t held permanently. Someone that is negative is flippant and has just released a sentence and moved on to something completely different. I just don’t allow it to have a solid existence, I don’t allow it tangibility.

• Continue reading at The Huffington Post.

Torrential rain is about as welcome at a 80s summer festival as a wasp in your leg-warmers. But when rain soaked the Rewind Festival South crowd every day, forcing them to cover up their colourful costumes, a true disco fever helped to revive their dampened spirits.

Other upbeat acts included the ever-exuberant Leo Sayer who at 68 danced around the stage to songs like You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, with the energy of someone half his age.

And it was certainly a mystery to the audience how Toyah, who sang hits like I Want To Be Free, retains her youthful good looks.

Ringing in the changes at Rewind South for the first time ever was Erasure’s flamboyant Andy Bell who headlined on Saturday night. The Henley crowd were treated to classics like Sometimes and Respect as Andy dazzled the audience in his sequinned shorts.

• Continue reading at Music-News.

A rare interview with Jordan, punk’s enigmatic frontwoman

Working with Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McClaren, performing with the Sex Pistols and acting for Derek Jarman – Jordan Mooney reflects on a life of iconoclasm

With her legacy being celebrated in new tome Fashion + Music (out now, by Laurence King Publishing), punk legend Jordan discusses some of her most significant moments with the book’s author, Katie Baron.

Still one of punk’s most-fetishised poster women, Jordan Mooney’s pivotal role at the nexus of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s riotous (Sex and Seditionaries-era) world was vital to the looks of bands like the Sex Pistols and Adam and the Ants. She’s often immortalised in grainy black-and-white photography, as a severe vision of bleach-blonde-beehived, Cleopatra-eyed, latex-sheathed, fuck-you defiance, yet, there is far more to her influence than straightforward anarchic provocation. Rebellion was actually something of a by-product. Art (“I often described myself as a living work of art”), personal expression and a militant desire to champion the outlier were all at the real crux of her infectious perspective. As punk celebrates turning 40 this year, Jordan revisits her iconoclastic life.

At 14 you changed your name – why?

Jordan Mooney: I truly felt like I’d been labelled the wrong thing, like a kind of name dysmorphia.

You were suspended from school for your haircut, and famously given your own spot in a first-class carriage on the train to avoid your outfits provoking outrage in fellow commuters – do you think dressing the way you did was an act of bravery?

Jordan Mooney: People often refer to the name and the things that I wore as demonstrating bravery and shaking things up, but while I showed off to the best of my ability it wasn’t about bravery because I didn’t care what people thought. I’ve always been extremely comfortable in my own skin. It’s like being in an art movement – someone has to start it.

• Continue reading at Dazed.

Toyah discusses, the inspirational, Katharine Hepburn in an upcoming edition of BBC Radio 4’s Great Lives.

Great Lives: BBC Radio 4
Tue 29th Sep: 4.30pm/Friday 2nd Oct: 11pm
Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives, presented by Matthew Parris. Toyah Willcox champions the life of Katharine Hepburn, who she met and worked with.

• Fairport’s Cropredy Convention: View a selection of photos from Saturday’s concert here…

• Fairport’s Cropredy Convention: Watch Toyah perform ‘Jungles of Jupiter’ at the festival here… (Thanks to Kevin Tucker)

• Oxford Mail: Anthem sung by 17,000 helps to bring top festival to a finish: After two days of rain and cloud, revellers were rewarded with blue skies and sunshine for the final day, which also featured sets by singer-songwriter Paul Carrack and 80s punk icon Toyah Willcox – Continue reading…

• Aaaaaaaah!: Special Screening + Q&A: Steve Oram’s insane debut film begins a residency at Picturehouse Central with this exclusive screening + Q&A with special guests (Fri 4th Sep) – Continue reading…

• Eastbourne Herald: Super Saturday draws a record crowd to Airbourne: Friday proved popular too and many stayed into the evening to watch De’Vide on the Airbourne Live stage, sponsored by TJ’s Nightclub, or to see Toyah at the Bandstand, which proved to be a sell out success – Continue reading…

• Trip Advisor: Toyah @ Eastbourne: A few fan “reviews” of Toyah’s bandstand gig were even posted at TA – Continue reading…

• Hartlepool Mail: Stars of mod film Quadrophenia set to ride into Hartlepool: “Phil Daniels said he wanted to come but unfortunately he is away filming in Eastern Europe on the day. We are still waiting to hear on Leslie Ash and Toyah Willcox.” – Continue reading…

• Scriptuality: Bad Samaritan: “Mrs Tembe has an encounter with someone whose importance she doesn’t realise, while Howard tries to get involved in a clinical matter. Al has to deal with a patient who he suspects might be a stalker.” And, yes, that’s Toyah Willcox (the one in the camouflage, not the one in the suit or the one with the poppy). And there is just a tiny weeny bit of weirdness in this one. – Continue reading…

• Proper Music: Cropredy 2015: This feature brings together the main releases, back catalogue, bestsellers plus Fairport & Friends releases from the majority of artists appearing at the 2015 Cropedy Festival (where products are available). As usual, we’re also there manning the CD Tent so this feature offers a great chance for Festival-goers to purchase any of the albums that you didn’t or weren’t able to purchase at the event… or if you weren’t there then it’s a great way to catch up on the buzz of the best sellers – Continue reading…

Give or take a day or so :) After posting the link to Melissa Mailer-Yates’ feature the other day, I received a couple of messages with some very kind comments about this website over the weekend.

Although it is always nice to receive feedback  I have never been a glory seeker type so I don’t particularly enjoy “praise” – This site isn’t my life, it’s essentially a hobby of mine that takes up a small part of my life (most updates are completed in an hour or so every few days, got it down to a fine-ish art lol) – and has always been about Toyah’s crazy-busy career (not her personal life, which any self respecting fan would understand any artist is entitled to) –  I have zero interest in self promotion, especially reflected from someone else’s career and achievements… And on that self indulgent note, I’d like to welcome any new visitors to the site, as we rollercoast through our 16th year online, and invite you to take a browse. Thanks to Toyah having such a vast and eclectic 40 year career, there is a huge archive to explore…

Take a look at Downloads, Press Archive, Features, News Archive and Gallery…