Toyah is the subject of the latest “My Family Values” series in The Guardian today. A poignant interview.
The actor and singer talks about not getting on with her mother, but idolising her father
My father was having a dirty weekend in Weston-super-Mare with a woman he was engaged to when he saw my mother and fell in love with her. He pursued her for about 14 months, followed her around the country and proposed to her. He was nine years older than her when they got married, and she was pregnant immediately, aged 19, and I think she regretted it.
My early family life was incredibly happy but I was very, very protected and very much living in a bubble.
• Continue reading at The Guardian.
Toyah talks family life, her varied career, Hormonal Housewives and much more to Wales Online.
Toyah Willcox prepares to bring the Hormonal Housewives to Wales
From punk princess to pantomime, Shakespeare to the Teletubbies, Toyah Willcox has certainly had a diverse career. Abbie Wightwick chats to her about it and discovers why she’s happy to be hormone free
She may be appearing in Hormonal Housewives but Toyah Willcox is happy to be free of pesky monthly mood swings.
The former high priestess of punk cheerfully announces she has had a hysterectomy, been through the menopause and, as she approaches 55, has never felt better. “I had everything removed four years ago,” Toyah declares as she prepares to tour to Wales with the stage show.
• Continue reading at Wales Online.
Another new, Hormonal Housewives related, interview. This one from today’s North Wales Daily Post.
Toyah Willcox stars in show at Rhyl Pavilion
It’s naughty fun and guaranteed to make you “howl with laughter” according to Toyah Willcox one of the stars of a show called Hormonal Housewives on tour right now.
Former punk icon Toyah joins writer Julie Coombe, and former Hollyoaks actress Sarah Jane Buckley, in a follow-up to a much-enjoyed 2012 production which starred Margi Clark and Carol Smillie.
• Continue reading at the North Wales Daily Post.
A new interview with Toyah, published yesterday, by the North Devon Journal.
Rosanna Rothery chats to Toyah Willcox ahead of Hormonal Housewives
Hormones can wreak havoc with your life. Just ask Toyah Willcox. The singer and actor visits Barnstaple next week with the hilarious show, Hormonal Housewives.
Throughout her thirties, the former punk icon was plagued with severe PMS. “I have not one positive thing to say about PMS,” she says with feeling. “It was a complete waste of my youth. I can’t look back and say, ‘ooh I was wonderfully creative during that period’. I wasn’t. I was frustrated. I was emotional. Probably not the best person to be near.”
For Toyah the intense monthly madness could only be described as “sheer hell”.
• Continue reading at the North Devon Journal/This is North Devon.
• Daily Cruise: Stars battle with snow: Toyah’s weather/travel woes even made it to the ‘Daily Cruise’ magazine, available onboard the QM2. Toyah Instagrammed this photo – View the full version here.
• The Hormonal Housewives sketch, mentioned yesterday, by Swindon Wyvern Theatre is also available at iTunes.
• This is Dorset: Preview: Toyah Goes Hormonal: Toyah Willcox, actress, former punk star and wife of Robert Fripp, is one of the stars of the Hormonal Housewives UK tour, coming to Poole’s Lighthouse on Thursday 28th March.
• This is Somerset/Western Gazette: Now if you fancy a giggle and a night out with the girls then you won’t want to miss the Hormonal Housewives who are back on tour and visiting The Octagon on Wednesday, March 27. The show is almost sold out so you will need to be quick to snap up those last few tickets. This year the show will star Toyah Willcox and promises a very funny evening.
• It’s A Mystery: Another cover of Toyah’s 1981 hit. This was recorded 10 years ago by Chris & Graham but has just been uploaded to You Tube.
• A full transcript of Toyah’s interview on Steve Wright’s ‘BBC Radio 2’ show is also now available to read at The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive.
A new interview with Toyah, from ‘Woman’s Own’ magazine.
Actress and singer Toyah, 54, reveals how her life was plagued with insomnia for 40 years before she discovered acupuncture…
You might think staying up all night is part of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, but four decades of insomnia left former punk princess Toyah sick and very tired! Last year she finally found a solution with acupuncture – just as well now she’s busy touring with the two-woman stage show Hormonal Housewives. Toyah, who lives with her husband of 26 years, musician Robert Fripp, tells us about her new zest for life…
Have you always had trouble sleeping?
Yes. It started when I was 14, triggered by the pressure of exams. I was doing revision all night and, once you’re in that stress-related pattern, it sticks. Then in my late teens it was ideal, as I was working in music and theatre, where everyone stays awake until the sun comes up!
How bad did it get?
I could go 10 days without sleeping, by which time I’d be delirious and feel very poorly. I’d get nauseous and stop functioning. I’d have an episode as bad as that about once a year. But I won’t take sleeping pills. I tried them in my twenties and found them very negative. Read more…
A new edition of Quadrophenia is released on DVD and Blu-ray next month.
Universal Pictures have commissioned new cover art for a selection of their classic and iconic titles on Blu-ray & DVD in the form of two series: Reel Heroes: superhero films reminagined in a comic-book artwork style and Screen Outlaws: which pays homage to street art and hip hop graffiti from the UK and the USA.
Release Date: 08 April 2013
Special Features: Exclusive Artwork and Artcards
Jimmy is a teenager growing up in the first half of the 1960’s; he rides through London on his scooter, pops pills, is mad about rock and roll and wears a Parka and Levis, nothing to extraordinary about that. But Jimmy’s life comes to an aggressive climax during a violent Holiday weekend controntation between Mods and Rockers on Brighton beach.
Starring: Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Michael Elphick, Toyah Willcox. Director: Franc Roddam.
Toyah’s interview from yesterday’s Steve Wright In The Afternoon show on ‘BBC Radio 2’ is also now available for the next week as a podcast. It’s included in the latest “Steve Wright’s Big Guests”, which also includes Charlie Watts and Marcus Brigstoke.
Steve Wright’s Big Guests: 20 Mar 2013: Daily highlights from Steve Wright’s afternoon show on BBC Radio 2. Featuring chat with top showbiz guests. Steve and the team chat to The Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts about his latest live gigs. Plus Marcus Brigstocke tells Steve about his comedy tour and Toyah Willcox tells all about her new touring show.
• Visit the BBC Podcasts & Downloads page.
Another new Summer 2013 live date for Toyah (please check for confirmation), the Isle of Wight’s Jack Up The 80s two day festival.
Jack Up The 80′s is a two day family party to celebrate 25 years of Wight Crystal Spring Water which started production at their Newport plant in 1988. The event will take place on the 10th & 11th August at the Garlic Festival field in Newchurch, Isle of Wight.
A 25th anniversary is always a milestone and this is a great way to let the people of the South, old friends and new know that Wight Crystal are still going strong and are looking forward to the next 25 years.
Jack Up the 80s tweeted yesterday: “Pleased to announce that Toyah sings her greatest hits at our two day family party in August at Jack Up The 80s“.
• Further info on this festival at the ‘Jack Up The 80s’ website.
• This is South Wales: Toyah Ready To Rip: The neat and sweet pink dress from the promo photos might make Toyah Willcox look like a Stepford Wife or an extra from The Hour, but Hormonal Housewives, she says, is far from sugar-coated. She and her sisters-in-theatre, Julie Coombe and Sarah Jane Buckley, will let rip on everything from domestic chores to challenging teenagers in the show, at Swansea Grand Theatre on Monday.
• Swindon Wyvern Theatre: Toyah Willcox, Julie Coombe and Sarah-Jane Buckley perform a sketch from Hormonal Housewives. Listen at Soundcloud.
• Shropshire Live: Hormonal Housewives visit Telford as part of national tour: Hormonal Housewives are in Telford as part of their Spring Tour 2013 and you are in for a treat with this hilarious show presented by British pop icon Toyah Willcox, writer Julie Coombe, and former Hollyoaks actress Sarah Jane Buckley.
• This is Surrey Today: Understanding what makes women tick: Pop princess Toyah Willcox and Julie Coombe take you on a journey through everything that makes women tick – or ticked off.
• Toyah tweeted yesterday: “Since steve wright this afternoon the box office for Hormonal Housewives has gone bonkers! Thank u SW“.
There’s just two days to go until voting in the Slicing Up Eyeballs Best Albums Of 1981 poll closes. If you haven’t already voted please visit and add your voice to the sound of the crowd… (PS. Toyah’s 1981 masterpiece ‘Anthem’ is included as a choice)
A great interview with Toyah on today’s Steve Wright In The Afternoon show on ‘BBC Radio 2’, with Steve delving into Toyah’s past and talking about her early career and pop success in the Eighties. He also enquired whether her late 70’s/early 80s image was actually a persona or real.
Toyah also talks about currently touring with Hormonal Housewives, impersonating Madonna on crutches and much more. There were plays of ‘It’s A Mystery’ and ‘I Want To Be Free’.
The full show is available to listen to at BBC iPlayer (Toyah’s interview begins approximately two hours into the show and runs for around 20 minutes including the plays of the songs) or you can listen directly here or by clicking on the photo of Toyah below, taken at ‘BBC Radio 2’ last week when the interview was recorded. (Photo © BBC Radio 2)
A new report, by the King’s Heath Walf Of Fame website, on Toyah’s star being laid.
Toyah’s Star gets laid in King’s Heath’s York Road
Toyah’s star has now been laid in King’s Heath’s York Road. The marble star, which is set in the frontage of Maurice Robinson’s Sports Shop, is the first of many that will make up King’s Heath’s very own Walk of Fame.
Bob Prew and Ken Whittaker who came up with the idea of the Walk of Fame said, “This is the start of a major new attraction for King’s Heath. Toyah’s star has taken longer to manufacture than we had originally hoped but future stars should now take a lot less time to appear. We hope that there will eventually be at least 20 stars stretching down York Road and encouraging more visitors to King’s Heath”.
• Continue reading at the King’s Heath Walk of Fame. (Photos © KH Walk Of Fame)
Toyah’s star on the King’s Heath Walk Of Fame, in York Road, has been laid. Congratulations to Toyah. There will eventually be at least 20 stars. View the full star by clicking below.
Steve Wright’s interview with Toyah airs today on his BBC Radio 2 show. It was pre-recorded at the beginning of last week.
Steve Wright In the Afternoon: BBC Radio 2
Wednesday 20th March: 2.00pm
Steve chats to comic Marcus Brigstocke, singer Toyah Willcox and Stones drummer Charlie Watts. Plus, more fascinating Factoids to impress your friends and family with, the very latest lifestyle and entertainment news, half an hour of Non-Stop Oldies and a load of great music to see you through the afternoon.
The programme can be listened to live online at the ‘BBC Radio 2’ website. The show will be available to listen to at BBC iPlayer after it airs. Toyah’s interview may also be included on Steve Wright’s Big Guest’s Podcast: Daily highlights from Steve Wright’s afternoon show on BBC Radio 2. Featuring chat with top showbiz guests. The podcasts are updated daily and available for seven days.
• A rare contact sheet of photos, taken at the Nordoff-Robins Musical Therapy lunch in 1983, is currently up for auction at ebay. Toyah is included in some of the photos.
• The Wrath Of Blog: Review #595: ‘Jubilee’ (1978): One particular group, consisting of, amongst others, Amyl Nitrate (Jordan), Mad (Toyah Willcox), Bod (Runacre in a dual role), Crabs (Nell Campbell) and Chaos (Hermine Demoriane), tend to spend their time smashing cars, having sex, participating in the odd murder, and generally giving the two-finger salute to anything resembling conformity.
• This Blackmore Vale: Have a girls’ night out with Toyah Willcox at Poole Lighthouse: Rock star and actress Toyah Willcox heads the cast of Hormonal Housewives at Poole Lighthouse next Thursday, 28th March.
• Noel’s House Party: A clip from the 1990’s of Toyah guesting, and being gunged, on Noel’s House Party, alongside John Stapleton and Nick Owen.
• Jelly: Troubador, Wizard, Queen and Machine – The band launch their debut album on 11th May at the “Punk ‘N’ Roll Rendez Vous” at The Unicorn in Camden.
A full transcript of the episode of Ramblings Toyah guested on, at the end of last month, is now available for your reading pleasure at The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive.
The interview was recorded at Croome Park, Worcestershire in January and aired on ‘BBC Radio 4’ on 28th February. It’s still available to download as a podcast from the BBC’s Podcast & Downloads page.
Read all of Dreamscape’s news on Ramblings here.
Pop icon Toyah Willcox is to star in the latest production of Hormonal Housewives, which will arrive at The Castle in Wellingborough on Tuesday.
A spokesman said: “Charismatic, outspoken and impossible to categorise, Toyah will be bringing the laughs to Wellingborough this spring.
“Ideal for a girls’ night out, Hormonal Housewives is guaranteed to be a hilariously funny evening.”
• Continue reading at the Northampton Chronicle & Echo.
The first Gallery update for a while. Great photos of Toyah from 1994 on the Leap 2 Dream UK Tour. These were taken at The Fridge, Brixton in April of that year. Click below to view more at Dreamscape’s Gallery. (Thanks to Mark Evans)
• There’s a previously unseen photo of Toyah from the Hormonal Housewives session (the one with the wine) at the Poole Lighthouse website. The show plays there on 28th March.
• The Lighthouse also have a special offer: Come early and join us at Lighthouse for a ‘Girls Night Out’ event before the show. We will have cocktails, cupcakes and FREE beauty treatments all available before the show. See their Facebook page for more info.
• Great post about Hormonal Housewives by LDE Creative who saw the show at the Victoria Theatre, Halifax last week.
• Toyah’s Hormonal Housewives interview on ‘BBC Three Counties Radio’ is available at BBC iPlayer until Friday (interview begins 3hrs 7m into the programme).
• There’s also a full transcript of the interview at The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive.
• This week the Hormonal Housewives play the New Victoria Theatre, Woking; The Castle, Wellingborough; Leeds City Varieties; Beck Theatre, Hayes; Hawth Theatre, Crawley and the Carmarthen Lyric. Click the links for full ticket info.
An imaginary Toyah collection, or a real Toyah playlist. You decide… Yes it’s been pointed out that the song the collection takes its name from isn’t included… Click to zoom!
