Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

Festival season is well and truly here with live outdoor music events taking place all over the country and right here on our doorstep too.

One of the biggest in our area is Chilfest and this second year sees the best ever line up of sounds from the 80s and contemporary pop playing over the three days. The gig at Pendley Meadow in Tring kicks off on Friday with the Boomtown Rats, Heaven 17, From The Jam, Big Country, China Crisis and Dr and The Medics.

On Saturday Jason Donovan tops a bill that includes Toyah, Leee John (Imagination), Boney M featuring Maizie Williams, Go West and Bad Manners.

• Continue reading at The Bucks Herald.

If you’re never quite sure whether you preferred the music of the 70s, 80s or 90s, you will be in for a treat if you plan a short break in Blackpool next month.

On Saturday July 12th the city will host Rocking Through the Decades, a free show that will see a range of musical acts from various decades perform to the crowds. Representing the 70s, for instance, will be the three Dynamos from Mamma Mia, while Toyah Willcox – who is best known for songs like It’s a Mystery and Thunder in the Mountains – will be there to showcase the sounds of the 1980s.

• Continue reading at Superbreak.

After a sell-out success in its first year, Let’s Rock Bristol! returns to Ashton Court this weekend with a line-up of artists guaranteed to recapture the sounds of the 1980s.

The biggest festival of its type, Let’s Rock sees a huge line-up of chart-topping artists from the decade including Level 42, pictured, Bananarama, Rick Astley, Tony Hadley, ABC, Belinda Carlisle, Go West, Heaven 17, Midge Ure, China Crisis, Alexander O’Neal, Imagination, The Blow Monkeys, The Christians, Boney M, Toyah, Dr & The Medics, T’Pau, Sonia and Johnny Hates Jazz.

• Continue reading at Bristol Post.

• New Quay Music Festival 2014: The festival, taking place at the beginning of August, has recently updated its website with more artists and bands. Both Toyah and Hazel O’Connor are playing on Saturday 2nd August – which sounds like a fine line-up to me – Visit the site…

• Toyah Live 2014: View all of Toyah’s confirmed live dates for 2014 at The Official Gigs page.

• Hit Fix: 11 Fun Facts About U2, Duran Duran And Tears For Fears From ‘Mad World’: Toyah is namechecked (by Limahl) in this article on the new book “Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists And Songs That Defined The 1980s.”… “I’d go out to nightclubs in London with a spaceman’s outfit on and weird oil paint over my face, which was a bit punk/Toyah/Adam and the Ants,” says lead singer, Limahl – Continue reading…

• Concert News Online: SohoCreate: 50 of the country’s top creatives gather in Soho to make the case for creativity. SohoCreate features some of Britain’s best creatives discussing their art, inspiration and story so far. Creative people talking about what they do and why they do it – Continue reading…

• The Humans US: Toyah and The Humans American adventure is over, for now. She tweeted yesterday: “Portland was AMAZING! Totally won audience over. Even got a round 4 Psychopath vocal……just fab“.

• Take The Leap!: Bid on a black long sleeved t-shirt, size large. It has Take The Leap printed down the left sleeve. The shirt was bought at a 1993 Toyah concert at Lincoln Theatre Royal. It is in excellent condition. All proceeds from this auction will be going towards a Three Peaks mountaineering, charity challenge for The Myton Hospices – View/bid here…

The biggest music event that Tring has ever seen is returning for a second year with the very best sounds from the 1980s and contemporary pop.

July’s event saw 11,000 people flock to see some of the biggest names in the industry – and judging by the line-up – this year will be no different for Chilfest music festival. And the advice for this year’s three-day concert is to book early in order to avoid disappointment.

…While on Saturday, July 5, Chilfest presents Jason Donovan, Toyah, Imagination, Bad Manners, Go West and Bony M featuring Maizie Williams.

• Continue reading at the Leighton Buzzard Observer.

• Go Cruise With Jane: P&O Cruises Announce Star Studded Cruises: Here And Now – The Very Best Of The 80s with Paul Young, Toyah, Heaven 17, Howard Jones, Carol Decker from T’Pau and Clare Grogan from Altered Images perform on a 12-night Western Mediterranean cruise on Oceana (E325) departing October 22, 2013 – Continue reading…

• Travel Weekly: Michael Ball and David Essex to perform on P&O’s celebrity sailings: Oceana’s 12-night western Mediterranean sailing on October 22 will include performances from 80s stars Paul Young, Toyah, Heaven 17, Howard Jones, Carol Decker from T’Pau and Clare Grogan from Altered Images – Continue reading…

• Love Is The Law & More: We are very pleased to announce that SHH will be supporting Toyah at the O2 Islington Academy on Saturday 9th November 2013. The tickets have a face-value of £20, but we have secured a batch at a very special SHH price of £15. All tickets are available now from shhsounds.com (Thanks to Michael Cooney)

• Jack Up The 80s: More photos of Toyah at yesterday’s Isle of Wight festival – View here…

Birmingham’s well known landmarks: But for a city so linked to heavy metal, many sounds have left its clubs to find fans aroud the globe. In the 1980s in particular, Birmingham bands were among the biggest around. While Toyah found fame in post-punk pop, UB40 were at the forefront of British reggae and Duran Duran became the biggest band on the planet.

• Trey Gunn’s The Third Star album, originally released in 1996, was reissued in a remastered/extended edition last year, with six unreleased tracks. Toyah, of course, co-wrote and sings vocals on the brilliant ‘Symbiotic’. More info here.

• The Burbank Leader: DVD review: ‘Quadrophenia’ gets remixed: The visuals have been nicely restored, but the greatest effort has clearly gone into the creation of a 5.1 surround track.

• Toyah @ Twitter: Lots of tweets over the last few days from Seattle, and the recording sessions for The Humans’ third elpee!

• Shapers Of The 80s: Are giving The Changeling Resurrection II a great ‘plug’ at their website: ✱ Sep 19–Nov 3: Expect new sounds and new styles as Toyah Willcox celebrates various 30th anniversaries with her Changeling Resurrection II Tour, roaming the UK from Middlesbrough to Brighton.

• The Official Toyah Facebook is getting ready for The Changeling Resurrection II.

That photo seems to have a life of its own!

The latest sighting is at the, excellent, ’80s Actual’ website, in an article from Saturday. The article is a look back on a July 1982 press report on the rise of compact discs, but also included in the ‘The Sun/Bizarre’ scan is the Simon Fowler photo accompanying news about the book ‘Toyah’ by Mike West (again!)

Toyah Can’t Bare It: This is pop star Toyah as she hoped her fans would never see her. The bare-breasted portrait was taken by photographer Simon Fowler for Mike West’s new biography of the singer published by Omnibus at £2.95. (Typically ‘The Sun’ is incorrect. The photo was taken in 1979 as Toyah details in the Sounds interview from 1982)

‘Simply Eighties’ featured ‘Thunder In The Mountains’ in their “Songs of The 80s” yesterday, and Toyah on the cover of ‘Smash Hits’, May/June 1982 issue, on their “80s Heaven’ page at tumblr.

Wow! You can really feel the energy coming from this new wave track by Toyah. Very original, alternative music and having not heard it for such a long time it sounds so fresh, even though this is from the early 80s! Plus, you get meaningful lyrics. This puts much of today’s music to shame.

Thunder In The Mountains reached #4 in the UK singles chart during October 1981, making this the third consecutive Top Ten hit for the band fronted by Toyah Willcox. It was the band’s eighth single release overall.

• Continue reading, at ‘Simply Eighties’, here.

• View the Toyah/Brave New World/Smash Hits page at ’80s Heaven’ here.

More human than Human

Comprised of singer Toyah Willcox and bass players Bill Rieflin and Chris Wong, The Humans are a surprising group who combine waves of acid jazz, Massive Attack-like grooves and the occasional burst of ’80s pop and early ’90s industrial. It adds up to a mixed bag of tricks on their second album Sugar Rush, but still one worth a listen.

The album opens with “Titanium Girl” via a disjointed vocal “wah wah” effect before the ethereal voice of Willcox dances above it. Then it is slammed with a driving bassline and deep, guttural guitar pulses. After that, “Love in a Different Way” is a quiet, strummed track with a slightly ’80s feel thanks to the breathy vocals and synth. The same retro feeling is found in “Small Town Psychopath,” which mixes pure jazz club with a overdrawn beginning, as well as in “Sweet Agitation.” It seems with The Humans, the more subdued the song, the more it sounds like it would have been played in a late ’80s film.

• Read the full review at ‘mxdwm.com’ here.

Yet another glowing review for ‘We Are The Humans’. This one from ‘Tasty Fanzine’;

The Humans – ‘We Are The Humans’
If anyone ever asks me what my favourite King Crimson album is, I can answer without blinking that 1971’s ‘Islands’ is probably the group at the actual peak of their abilities. Robert Fripp is involved in ‘We Are The Humans’ at varying points. Toyah, for those of you born in the 80s, was a bit of a star around the beginning of that decade. If anyone asks me what my favourite Toyah song is, I might scratch and frown while comparing ‘I Want To Be Free’ and ‘Ieya’. ‘We Are The Humans’ is very much Toyah’s own album, and Bill Reeflin from REM plays bass and all sorts of other things. Toyah and Robert Fripp are married, and The Humans are inexplicably big in Estonia, where they can include the Estonian President and Justice Minister (these aren’t the same person) as committed fans (says the press blurb). Getting all of this?

Toyah, I am pleased to inform the Tasty readership has, after 25 years, still got it. In buckets. ‘We Are The Humans’ could’ve been released in 1983 to acclaim from her then legions of adoring fans, although it certainly sounds an altogether harder edged proposition than the girly synth punk Toyah was then known for. The combination of vocal aptitude and tunes that had me imagining a bluesier Scritti Politti make for an as ever challenging performance from the original diminutive ginger topped pop pixie, and I only want to ask, do the Humans perform ‘Good Morning Universe’ as an encore? I’m sure they could. [Review by JG]

• DSD, who reviewed ‘We Are The Humans’ at the end of last year, have also given a grudgingly positive-ish review to ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’. Read the review here.

Thanks so much to everyone who has shown interest in celebrating 25 years of Toyah in 2003.

BRILLIANT DAY – 25 Years Of Toyah (changed from Toyah’s Silver Jubilee), so long as enough people want to attend, will definitely be happening. So please, if you can make it to Stoke, late February (either a Saturday or Sunday) then let me know and I’ll add your name to the list (see below).

The info that’s available so far, though obviously could change, is as follows:

A ‘Brilliant Day’ of Toyah fun, celebration and partying for Toyah fans/followers old & new, young, young at heart, and not-so-young – sometime late February 2003 at ‘The Club’ in Hanley, Stoke-On-Trent (generously provided by John – aka Ruby). Possibly in conjunction with the release of the new “Little Tears Of Love” EP and even a possibility that Carlton TV may film a part of their new Toyah documentary on the day too (NB – Both of these are definitely NOT confirmed to happen as yet).

Anyone wishing to buy, sell, trade or swap Toyah memoribilia is welcome to bring it along to do so during the day. We are hoping to be showing retro Toyah TV appearances all day too. A Toyah impersonator, or a Toyah lookey likey competition, or both, will take place early evening.

The day will end with a party, Toyah sounds aplenty, interspersed with lots of other ’80s classics. Eighties pop star fancy dress is optional but hopefully some folks will rise to the challenge! It would be good to see Toyah, Adam Ant, Siouxsie, Madonna etc shaking their thang on the dancefloor:)

Susan Hailes from ‘The Stage’ is hoping to get us a few column inches to spread the word and maybe a few other papers/websites will help out too.

Stoke bound so far – David, John, Carl, Craig, Dan Greensmith, Paul & Sue Richards, Alec & friends, Richard, Brian, Paul Cable & friends, Michael O’Brien, Kev Tucker & friends, Claire Ormrod & friends, Dean Warren, Jonathan Benson, Steve Bennett, Karen Wadsworth, Roger & Shaun, Russell Eden, Sean, Anya, Dave Gilchrist…

More information soon.

Next year is, albeit completely unofficial, Toyah’s “Silver Jubilee”!

‘What are you talking about?’, I hear you holler!

Well, in 1978 things started “happening” for TW – big style. Her music, film, theatre and television careers all seemed to conspire to ensure she got very little sleep that year!

The Toyah band finally took shape – in the form of Joel Bogen on guitar, Steve Bray on drums, Pete Bush on keyboards and Mark Henry on bass (though very soon replaced by Charlie Francis), and, of course, Toyah on vocals/verbals/strange noises! They appeared on their first TV show too, Pebble Mill At One and soon-after signed to Safari Records.

Jubilee opened in UK and European cinemas in ’78, and Toyah spent a chunk of the year filming The Corn Is Green and Quadrophenia for the big screen and Quatermass for the small.

So 2003 really is, technically at least, the 25th anniversary of Toyahdom!

Thanks to Robbie and Deano over at Angels & Demons I’ve had an idea:) A one-day Toyah convention to celebrate this important landmark. I’m mentioning it now so that everyone has plenty of time to decide whether this is a good idea, where (Ruby’s – Stoke?) and when (Toyah’s 45th birthday or Summer 2003?) it could take place, and if they want to attend.

A rough guide to ‘Toyah’s Jubilee’ Convention:

• During the day – memoribila stalls, Toyah items – buy, sell, trade?
• Early evening – lookalike competition or Toyah impersonator?
• Night – Big party, 80s Popstar fancy-dress (Thanks Brian;), wall-to-wall Toyah sounds!

Other suggestions, so far, include a charity auction, competitions, Toyah footage video-wall, live performances by the lookalikes (soundalikes – ‘Stars In Their Ieya’s’).

Now at present this is all totally hypothetical but also completely possible. What does everyone else think? A good idea?, crap idea?, too tacky? Please contribute or make suggestions. If this is to become a reality then it would be fantastic to get as many Toyah fans (UK, Europe, US, everywhere) as possible to attend.