Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

Toyah is, again, the pictured artist on the BBC website for an upcoming re-airing of a retro Top Of The Pops. This will include Toyah’s studio performance of I Want To Be Free from May 1981.

Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Friday 4th March: 7.30pm
Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Saturday 5th March: 00.30am
Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Sunday 6th March: 2.25am
14/05/1981. Tommy Vance introduces the pop programme. Includes appearances from Toyah (I Want To Be Free), Thin Lizzy (Are You Ready?), Department S (Is Vic There?), Tenpole Tudor (Swords Of A Thousand Men), Sheena Easton (When He Shines), Kim Carnes (Bette Davis Eyes) and Adam & the Ants (Stand & Deliver), plus a dance performance by Legs and Co.

There’s another retro 1981 Top Of The Pops appearance from Toyah on BBC Four in early March.

I *think* this is the edition that originally aired on 14th May 1981 and was a “Cup Final Special”, with Toyah performing I Want To Be Free in the studio. More detailed info should be available soon. (Update: BBC website have now confirmed it is!!)

Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC4:
Fri 4th March: 7.30pm / Sat 5th March: 00.30am
Sunday 6th March: 2.25am
Tommy Vance introduces the pop programme. Includes appearances from Toyah, Thin Lizzy, Department S, Tenpole Tudor, Sheena Easton, Kim Carnes and Adam and the Ants, plus a dance performance by Legs and Co.

Toyah’s iconic first Top Of The Pops performance aired on Thursday night on BBC4. Watch the full episode at BBC iPlayer. TOTP is repeated late Saturday night/early Sunday morning, at 1.45am.

Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Thursday 4th February: 7.30pm/11.30pm
Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Sunday 7th February: 1.45am
Mike Read presents. Duran Duran (Planet Earth), Talking Heads (Once In A Lifetime), Adam & The Ants (Kings Of The Wild Frontier), Toyah (It’s A Mystery), Shakin’ Stevens (This Ole House), Motorhead & Girlschool (Please Don’t Touch), Phil Collins (I Missed Again), Kool & The Gang (Jones Vs Jones), Teardrop Explodes (Reward), The Who (You Better You Bet), Joe Dolce (Shaddap Your Face). This originally aired on BBC1 on 5th March 1981. Toyah’s appearance is a repeat of their first studio performance which aired two weeks previously on 19th February 1981.

Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Thursday 11th February: 7.30pm/11pm
Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Sunday 14th February: 1.40am
Peter Powell presents. The Jacksons (Can You Feel It?), Sharron Redd (Can You Handle It?), Shakin’ Stevens (This Ole House), Dave Stewart & Colin Blunstone (What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted?), The Who (You Better You Bet), Stevie Wonder (Lately), Phil Collins (I Missed Again), Bucks Fizz (Making Your Mind Up), Visage (Mind Of A Toy), Duran Duran (Planet Earth), Toyah (It’s A Mystery), Roxy Music (Jealous Guy). This originally aired on BBC1 on 19th March 1981 and was Toyah’s second studio appearance/performance (pictured above).

Last Thursday’s repeat of Top Of The Pops on BBC4 included Four From Toyah in “The Charts” rundown. The EP had climbed into the Top 30 for the first time. Click here to view larger versions of the screen caps and below to watch the programme at BBC iPlayer.

Top Of The Pops: 26/02/1981: Peter Powell introduces the pop programme, featuring Status Quo, Kim Wilde, Madness, Kiki Dee, Coast to Coast, the Passions, Roxy Music and Joe Dolce, and a dance performance from Legs & Co.

Another retro Top Of The Pops appearance from 1981 for Toyah, airing 35 years later on BBC4 in February. There’s more info at the BBC website.

Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC4:
Thursday 11th February: 7.30pm/11pm
Peter Powell introduces the pop programme, featuring Sharon Redd, Bucks Fizz, Colin Blunstone and Dave Stewart, Toyah, the Who, Phil Collins, Shakin Stevens, Visage, Roxy Music and Duran Duran, and a dance performance from Legs and Co.

• Look out for further retro Toyah on Top Of The Pops appearances this year on BBC4 – In 1981 Toyah guested in the Top Of The Pops studio six times, performing ‘It’s A Mystery’ (three times), ‘I Want To Be Free’, ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ and ‘Good Morning Universe’.

Toyah’s amazing very first appearance on Top Of The Pops, from February 1981, re-airs 35 years “almost” to the day it was first broadcast on BBC4 early next month…

Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC4:
Thu 4th Feb: 7.30/11.30pm|Sun 7th Feb: 1.45am
Mike Read introduces the pop programme, featuring Duran Duran, Shakin Stevens, Phil Collins, the Who, Adam and the Ants, Toyah, Motorhead and Girlschool, Joe Dolce, Talking Heads and the Teardrop Explodes, and a dance performance from Legs and Co.

• Look out for further retro Toyah on Top Of The Pops appearances this year on BBC4 – In 1981 Toyah guested in the Top Of The Pops studio six times, performing ‘It’s A Mystery’ (three times), ‘I Want To Be Free’, ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ and ‘Good Morning Universe’.

Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1976: Yesterday: Christmas Day: 1.55am
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1976: Yesterday: Wednesday 30th December: 1am
Documentary examining how the BBC’s flagship pop show reflected changes in British music and culture during 1976. As the popularity of glam rock faded, no dominant musical scene emerged to replace it, leading to chart success for bands including Abba, Showaddywaddy, the Brotherhood of Man and the Wurzels – while outside the mainstream, punk rock was rapidly growing in popularity. Contributions by Tony Blackburn, Paul Morley, Toyah Willcox, David Hamilton and Dave Haslam.

Originally shown in April 2011 on BBC4. Top Of The Pops: The Story Of 1976 is airing again over the festive season, on the Yesterday channel, with showings on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Toyah appears throughout the programme.

Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1976: Yesterday: Christmas Day: 11am
Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1976: Yesterday: Boxing Day: 11.20pm
Documentary examining how the BBC’s flagship pop show reflected changes in British music and culture during 1976. As the popularity of glam rock faded, no dominant musical scene emerged to replace it, leading to chart success for bands including Abba, Showaddywaddy, the Brotherhood of Man and the Wurzels – while outside the mainstream, punk rock was rapidly growing in popularity. Featuring contributions by Tony Blackburn, Paul Morley, Toyah Willcox, David Hamilton and Dave Haslam.

Originally shown in April 2011 on BBC4. Top Of The Pops: The Story Of 1976 is airing again this weekend on the Yesterday channel. Toyah appears throughout the programme.

Top Of The Pops: The Story of 1976: Yesterday: Sunday 12th January: 9.00pm
Documentary examining how the BBC’s flagship pop show reflected changes in British music and culture during 1976. As the popularity of glam rock faded, no dominant musical scene emerged to replace it, leading to chart success for bands including Abba, Showaddywaddy, the Brotherhood of Man and the Wurzels – while outside the mainstream, punk rock was rapidly growing in popularity. Featuring contributions by Tony Blackburn, Paul Morley, Toyah Willcox, David Hamilton and Dave Haslam.

On this day, 21st October 1982, exactly 30 years ago Toyah made their final studio appearance on Top Of The Pops – performing Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard).

• Toyah Willcox is topping the bill for this year’s Music in the Park

• The 56-year-old is headlining the annual event in Vale Park

• Toyah is best known for her 80s solo hits including It’s a Mystery

Popstar, author and presenter Toyah Willcox has been announced as the headline act for this year’s Music in the Park. The 56-year-old is top of the bill for the free outdoor music event in Vale Park, Aylesbury on Saturday August 29.

“I am thrilled to be playing Live in the Park” Toyah Willcox

Toyah will be on stage at 8.30pm and she said she is very excited to be performing in the town.

Toyah said: “I am thrilled to be playing ‘Live in the Park’ in Aylesbury! “It will be a wonderful, fun day with great music.”

• Continue reading at the Bucks Herald.

Organisers of a popular summer music festival are drawing up exciting plans to attract even more families from Worcester and across the county.
 
Upton Music Festival returns to the town from August 23 to 25 with a host of big acts including 80s Brit pop sensation Bucks Fizz, local superstar Toyah Willcox and former chart toppers Slade.
 
New to the festival this year will be a variety tent packed with family entertainment as well as a Top of the Pops tent where DJs including former Fun House presenter Pat Sharp will get people of all ages filling the dance floor.

• Continue reading at the Worcester Standard.

A new interview with Toyah, from the Yorkshire Times, ahead of the Sounds Of The 80s gigs later this month.

BBC Radio 2 presenter Gary Davies has announced a nationwide 2024 tour for the live version of his show Sounds of the 80s, which will include an appearance from Toyah.

Ahead of the tour, Toyah spoke to the Yorkshire Times.

What can people expect when they come to the Sounds of the 80s show?

Anyone who attends one of the evenings will find an atmosphere where the audience can be themselves dancing and singing to their favourite tracks from a classic period in pop music. There was such a broad spectrum of music at the time from artists like Bananarama, Prince, and T’Pau, among others, including myself.

I think what will work beautifully is that the stage will be constantly active. Gary will be on there plus the dancers, and a stage set that is Gary’s Radio 2 studio and there will also be live performances from myself and other artists such as Carol Decker from T’Pau and Denise Pearson from 5 Star.

Why do you think the 1980s were such a golden period for popular music?

It was all very hedonistic, none of us thought beyond the 80s. It was difficult in the 90s to sell music from the previous decade, but that all changed with the Millennium. People wanted to hear all those iconic songs again. Part of the success of those tracks is the narrative of the songs; we really were traditional song writers then, writing about people’s attitudes and what they needed in their lives.

So, Toyah, tell us about your best 80s memories.

There were many good memories appearing on Top of the Pops. One of the happiest memories is the magnitude of what we did. For instance, on Christmas Eve in 1981, I played the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, which went out live on television, bringing in twelve million viewers, which at the time was phenomenal.

• Continue reading at the Yorkshire Times. Further information and ticket links available at toyahwillcox.com.

Top Of The Pops – The Story Of 1976: BBC Four: Saturday 6th January: 00.30am
Documentary examining how the BBC’s flagship pop show reflected changes in British music and culture during 1976. As the popularity of glam rock faded, no dominant musical scene emerged to replace it, leading to chart success for bands including Abba, Showaddywaddy, the Brotherhood of Man and the Wurzels – while outside the mainstream, punk rock was rapidly growing in popularity. Featuring contributions by Tony Blackburn, Paul Morley, Toyah Willcox, David Hamilton and Dave Haslam.

Welcome to the first day of our Countdown To Christmas…

Christmas 2022, Toyah wished everyone a Merry Christmas Eve on Toyah At Home, on, yup, Christmas Eve. The show aired at You Tube and Facebook. It was a wonderfully festive show, adding to the excitement and anticipation that is always in the air on Christmas Eve – Such a magical day!

Toyah talked Christmas, as well as taking us back to a vintage performance of It’s A Mystery on Top Of The Pops, Christmas Day 1981. It was great to see that performance again as I could still clearly remember watching that edition of Top Of The Pops on Christmas Day all those years ago!

Toyah’s Christmas Eve At Home festive special is still available to watch/rewatch at Toyah’s official You Tube channel – Click below to return to Christmas 2022. (Image © Toyah Willcox)

Toyah wishing everyone a Merry Christmas Eve this morning on Toyah At Home, and taking us back to a vintage performance of It’s A Mystery on Top Of The Pops, Christmas Day 1981. I can still clearly remember watching this that day all those (41) years ago! (Image © Toyah Willcox)

Christmas 2016, and BBC Four aired a repeat Top Of The Pops, which was originally broadcast in October 1982 on BBC1, which included Toyah’s studio performance of the single, Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard). This website described Toyah’s performance/appearance as “iconic, classic and utterly unforgettable“.

While the retro TOTP aired, BBC Four also tweeted: “In 1982, Toyah was so famous, she even had a lion-tailed macaque named after her on Animal Magic, and appeared on the show to meet it“.

One of the most long-awaited titles by Toyah fans finally comes home this November. ‘Toyah Live At The Rainbow’ will be released on CD+DVD and aqua-blue transparent vinyl LP by Cherry Red Records on Friday 25 November 2022.

Featuring the original 12-song concert film released for the first time ever on DVD, much requested and sought after by fans for decades.

The previously unreleased concert audio is released for the first time ever on CD with seven additional songs, all previously unheard and unreleased; restored exclusively for this release. These include ‘Bird In Flight’, ‘Mummies’, ‘Computer’ and ‘Love Me’.

For this release, the original Rolling Stones multitrack reels have been revisited and remixed from scratch by Nick Watson at Fluid Mastering to create a new full stereo mix of the gig for the first time in its history. All audio remastering was approved by Joel Bogen.

This newly remastered and expanded release is the fifth in the Toyah reissue programme.

Celebrating the much-loved February 1981 concert at North London’s legendary Rainbow Theatre, this hotly anticipated title marks the first time ever the concert audio has been released on vinyl.

At the time, the Toyah band had seen a new line-up with Willcox and Joel Bogen joined by Nigel Glockler, Phil Spalding and Adrian Lee. In February 1981, the lead track ‘It’s A Mystery’, from the EP ‘Four From Toyah’, rose up through the charts and following an appearance on BBC’s Top Of The Pops, saw the band ‘Toyah’ crossover to mainstream singles chart success. This concert, originally due to take place at the Lyceum, was upgraded to the Rainbow following the EP’s success and demand for tickets.

Safari Records decided to record this unique moment in history as the band were ascending to greater fame and recognition, and before they’d recorded an album to follow the success of ‘It’s A Mystery’.

‘Toyah Live At The Rainbow’ includes the classic tracks ‘It’s A Mystery’, ‘War Boys’, ‘Angels & Demons’, ‘Race Through Space’, ‘Danced’ and ‘Ieya’.

• Pre-Order “Toyah Live At The Rainbow” on CD+DVD and Transparent Aqua Blue Vinyl at Cherry Red, where you can also see the full tracklist for both formats.

A reminder the Second City Firsts episode “Glitter” airs tonight on BBC Four. Starring Toyah in the lead and in her first professional screen role. It is being repeated, for the first time since originally airing in November 1976, alongside two other Second City Firsts‘ episodes.

Second City Firsts: BBC Four: Wednesday 20th July: 10.35pm
Glitter. Series 1, episode 2. Drama from 1976 about Sue, a teenage singer whose dream is to perform on Top of the Pops. Toyah Willcox stars in her first professional role, with Phil Daniels and Noel Edmonds. Director: Tony Bicat. Also features: Doremy Vernon and Bilbo Baggins.

This is exciting! Glitter, a television drama made as part of the BBC’s 1970’s Second City Firsts series, is being repeated later this month for the FIRST TIME since it originally aired in 1976! Significantly, Glitter was Toyah’s first professional onscreen acting role (and music performances)!

Second City Firsts: BBC Four: Wednesday 20th July: 10.35pm
Glitter. Series 1, episode 2. Drama from 1976 about Sue, a teenage singer whose dream is to perform on Top of the Pops. Toyah Willcox stars in her first professional role, with Phil Daniels and Noel Edmonds. Director: Tony Bicat. Also features: Doremy Vernon and Bilbo Baggins.