Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

Screen caps from Dear Heart. Please click below to view larger versions.

Sending Best Wishes to Toyah from Falling To Earth and all our visitors… Happy Birthday. Please return later today for our birthday updates… Nothing as elaborate as years gone by I’m afraid, but I hope you like them anyway… Click below to zoom in on our ‘card’!

• Toyah was quoted yesterday in an article by GScene on a new exhibition “f20-12” from the GPN: Actress and singer, Toyah Willcox, said: “The Gay Photographers Network Exhibition is a wonderful event exploding with vitality, fun, highly original ideas and inspirational images. I recommend it to everyone. it is one of London cultural gems that brakes taboos and enriches the city’s culture.”

• 2 up-top: Toyah: Anthem & The Changeling: Most people think Toyah Willcox is just some saucy older woman, who loves to talk about sex (FTE: do they?) and is married to guitar virtuoso Robert Fripp, but back in the early 1980’s Toyah was a very big pop star who released two very high quality albums ‘Anthem’ and ‘ The Changeling’; mixing pure pop, punk, dark gothic and prog rock in equal measures.

• Toyah will be compering the ‘Rock & Bike Festival 2012’ on Saturday 14th July…. AND performing as special guest with The Sweet on at least one song….. maybe more. (Source: Toyah’s Official Facebook)

• Win weekend passes for the  ‘Rock & Bike Festival 2012’ from Kerrang! Radio (entry via text message).

• Rest in Peace Donna Summer. Sad news. The Soul and Disco legend passed away today. Toyah covered Donna’s ‘Love’s Unkind’ on her second solo album, ‘Desire’ in 1987.

• Check out The Pauper Kings, aka The Lost Boys from Vampires Rock. View a photo of Toyah. Robert and two of The Pauper Kings doing lunch.

Just a reminder that the 1980 episode of Minder, ‘All Mod Cons’, in which Toyah appeared airs again this morning and tonight on ITV4.

Minder: ITV4: Thursday 17th May: 8.00am/8.00pm
Minder: ITV4 +1: Thursday 17th May: 9.00am/9.00pm
All Mod Cons. Arthur decides to sell Terry’s flat without his permission. Meanwhile, Terry gets a job minding at a local club and ends up getting into more trouble than he had planned for when he realises the club’s manager is on the fiddle. Starring: George Cole, Dennis Waterman, Toyah Willcox, Simon Cadell, James Ottaway, and Tony Osaba. (Series 2, Episode 8, 1980). Also showing on ITV4 HD.

Quadrophenia is also coming to Blu-ray in the US later in the year. Blu-ray.com have the film listed for release, through The Criterion Collection, with more information than there is for The Tempest.

Quadrophenia (1979)
London, 1965: Like many other youths, Jimmy hates the philistine life, especially his parents and his job in a company’s mailing division. Only when he’s together with his friends, a ‘Mod’ clique, cruises London on his motor-scooter and hears music such as that of ‘The Who’ and ‘The High Numbers’, he feels free and accepted. However, it’s a flight into an illusionary world.

Quadrophenia (August 28th, 2012)
• New high-definition digital restoration of the uncut version
• Original 2.0 stereo soundtrack as well as an all-new 5.1 surround mix, supervised by the Who and presented in DTS-HD Master Audio
• New audio commentary featuring director Franc Roddam and director of photography Brian Tufano
• New interview with Bill Curbishley, the film’s co-producer and the Who’s co-manager
• New interview with the Who’s sound engineer, Bob Pridden, discussing the new mix, featuring a restoration demonstration
• On-set and archival footage
• Behind-the-scenes photographs
• A booklet featuring an essay by critic Nick James, a reprinted personal history by original mod Irish Jack, and Pete Townshend’s liner notes from the album

• According to Blu-ray.com Derek Jarman’s 1979 film The Tempest, with Toyah in a lead role as Miranda, will be released on Blu-ray later this year. Kino Video will release The Tempest in America on 7th August 2012. (NB: This isn’t the Blu-ray cover :))

• Fans of The Tempest may be interested in a recent edition of BBC Radio 3’s Arts & Ideas: Philip Dodd presents a Landmark edition devoted to Shakespeare’s The Tempest, a drama reimagined by artists from Purcell to Derek Jarman via TS Eliot, Derek Walcott and Thomas Adès. The podcast is available here.

• Last night’s Dark Night Of The Soul with Julie, on WFMU, opened with two Toyah songs and one by The Humans: ‘Rebel Run’, ‘Angel & Me’ and ‘Love In A Different Way’.

Happy Anniversary to Robert and Toyah. It’s 26 years since they married, and also since their first collaboration, ‘The Lady Or The Tiger’, was released. Best Wishes from FTE.

A record crowd of 6,000 packed into the heart of Cookham for an eighties rock festival.

Let’s Rock the Moor, which took place on Saturday, was sold out.

The event, which began in 2009, attracted its biggest crowd yet with headliners Billy Ocean, Heaven 17, Toyah and Go West singing to 6,500 people on a brand new site at Marsh Meadow. Organiser Nick Billinghurst said: “The crowds were fantastic, full of energy. It was mostly local people from Cookham, Maidenhead, Marlow, Wycombe, so everyone was very well behaved. Toyah actually called them a posh crowd.”

• Continue reading at Bucks Free Press. (Photos © Bucks Free Press)

Not a “campaign”, just something fun and lighthearted…

Singing legend Billy Ocean serenaded nearly 7,000 people in Cookham on Saturday at the biggest Let’s Rock the Moor! festival to date.

The sell-out event attracted its largest crowd ever, with 6,500 tickets snapped up and a brand new site set up on Marsh Meadow to fit everyone in.

It was headlined by Eighties icon Ocean, who performed hits including Caribbean Queen and Love Really Hurts Without You to a crowd of all ages.

Children’s TV favourites Pat Sharp and Dave Benson Phillips shared presenting duties at the event, introducing acts such as Toyah, Boney M and Heaven 17.

Rain stayed away from the festival, which is now in its fourth year, and families enjoyed a range of food and drink as well as plenty of attractions for children.

Proceeds are expected to exceed £20,000; the majority of which will be split between two main charities which fit in with its family feel.

(All photos © Maidenhead Advertiser)

In it’s 30th birthday week… and the “album version” too. Take a bow ‘Brave New World’, and Toyah, live at Let’s Rock The Moor 2012 in Cookham.

Thousands of Eighties music fans descended on Cookham on Saturday to see the likes of Billy Ocean and Toyah play Let’s Rock The Moor.  The event, now in its fourth year, was held on Marsh Meadow and all 6,500 tickets sold out.

• Continue reading, and view their gallery, here. Read a review of the concert here.

Toyah tweeted today: “Ooooh! Just been asked to do a Dr. Who documentary for America! I’m such a fan! Tee hee“.

Anything that links Doctor Who and Toyah is fine by me. This gives me yet another chance to ask the question that has swirled through the time vortex and all of space… for centuries and evermore… it has sometimes been whispered, and other times roared… they ask: Why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why… hasn’t Toyah been in Doctor Who? Sort it out Mr Moffat (or maybe even RTD ;))

30 years ago this very week Toyah’s 10th single ‘Brave New World’ was released. It entered the UK charts the following week (on 22nd May 1982), ultimately reaching number 21 and spending eight weeks on the chart. The song is held in high regard by many of Toyah’s fans and the unique accompanying imagery, created without the use of digital trickery or airbrushing, on the single sleeve and in the fantastic promo video has, thirty years later, never been surpassed by any other artist. Happy Birthday ‘Brave New World’!

More photos from ‘Let’s Rock The Moor’. These, and more, have been added to Dreamscape’s 2010 – gallery. (Thanks, once again, to Angus Turner for his excellent photos)

A couple of photos, and that set list again, from yesterday’s concert. (Thanks again to Angus)

Yesterday’s ‘Let’s Rock The Moor 2012’ one-day festival was a roaring success, with a crowd of almost 7000 attending. Toyah’s great set list was: Good Morning Universe, Thunder In The Mountains, Brave New World, Echo Beach, It’s A Mystery, Rebel Run, I Want To Be Free (Thanks to Angus Turner). Photos soon. View all of our ‘LRTM’ news here.

• Sanctuary Music Presents: Toyah: The Changeling Resurrection II: Sanctuary’s promotional poster/flyer for the dates they are promoting during the Autumn tour. View a larger version here.

• Toyah at BBC iPlayer: Episode two of J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, (In The Mermaid’s Lagoon), is now available to listen to. It airs again today at 4.30pm and tomorrow at 5am on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

• Toyah Collectables: A new photo page at flickr, with lots of goodies already!

• Independent.ie: This week’s birthdays: FRIDAY: Toyah Willcox, singer and TV presenter, is 54.

• Let’s Rock The Moor 2012: Check back soon for photos of Toyah, courtesy of Angus Turner, from yesterday’s concert.

Toyah’s second single, the ‘Sheep Farming In Barnet’ (EP/AP), was released in July 1979. The traditional EP contained four songs, Safari Records wanted to differentiate from that format and decided to release SIX songs on one single (a mini album really). This was the first, and last, AP release. Tracks were: A. Neon Womb, Indecision, Waiting; B. Our Movie, Danced, Last Goodbye. The band members were Pete Bush: Keyboards, Mark Henry: Bass, Joel Bogen: Guitar, Steve Bray: Drums, Toyah Willcox: Verbals. As with the debut single, this was a huge hit on the UK indie chart, and also increase the band’s, already growing, popularity in other parts of Europe. The, now iconic, cover shot for the single was taken at the RAF Fylingdales radar station near Whitby in Yorkshire. Unfortunately, the “golf balls” were demolished in the mid 1980’s. (Thanks to Asher for the Fylingdales photo)

Coming Soon: More fantastic photos from ‘The Changeling Resurrection 2012’ tour, courtesy of Mark Evans and Kevin McNamara. Great shots of Toyah onstage in London and Wolves.

We are, yet again, back at, what I call, Facebook… Such fun! Please join us for lots of Toyah.