• Toyah tweeted a great photo yesterday from a ‘National Trust’ photo shoot that took place at Croome Park, Worcestershire this week. (Photo © Toyah Willcox)
• Tracey Ullman’s Toyah impersonation, from the first series of Three Of A Kind, has just been uploaded to You Tube.
• The Criterion Collection release a new Quadrophenia Region 1 DVD and Blu-ray in August, with all new artwork. They now have a page dedicated to the release at their website.
• As previously mentioned, The Tempest is also being released on Region 1 Blu-ray in August. No artwork has been released for this yet.
• Toyah was played on today’s David Jensen Double Top 20 on ‘Smooth Radio’. David was counting down the Top 20 from this week in 1981.
• After playing Mad in Jubilee in 1977 Derek Jarman wanted Toyah to play Joan of Arc in a new film he was planning to make. This isn’t just a rumour, Toyah talked about it when she guested at ‘Derek Jarman: A Celebration’ at The Tate in October 2001. Unfortunately Joan of Arc didn’t go past the planning stages but they worked together on The Tempest instead. View a larger version of our “Toyah of Arc” photo.
• Return to Falling To Earth soon for some screen caps from yesterday’s Saturday Cookbook.
• An interview with Phil Davis at the Mirror. This includes that iconic Quadrophenia photo!
• More new blog posts on Jubilee, from In The Dark, Film Fan and Random Ramblings, Thoughts and Fiction, The film is also showing this evening at 7pm at The Cube in Bristol.
• Toyah at BBC iPlayer: Hole In The Wall, with Toyah guesting, from November 2009, is available to watch online at iPlayer until Monday evening.
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’.
Derek Jarman’s 1979 film The Tempest, with Toyah as Miranda, will be part of a study day, focusing on Shakespeare on film, at The British Museum later this year. This role gained Toyah a nomination for Best Newcomer at The Evening Standard Film Awards in 1980.
Tony Howard, University of Warwick, introduces extracts from Macbeth films made in Britain, Madagascar, Japan, Australia, Brazil and the USA, exploring how they have mapped the play’s politics, psychology and ethics. The afternoon session will place Derek Jarman’s 1979 reimagining of The Tempest in the context of other film adaptations. Producer Don Boyd and actor David Meyer will relate their experiences of Jarman’s version.
Filming Shakespeare’s Magic
Saturday 17 November 2012, 10.30–16.30
Stevenson Lecture Theatre, TBM, London
Safari Records’ late 70s/early 80s timeline of Toyah dates the band signing to the label as January 1979, though their “Our History” implies it may have been late 1978: In 1978 a Melody Maker postage stamp picture of Toyah together with a small but glowing review of one of the very few gigs that her band had ever played led us to a leaky rehearsal space under Waterloo Bridge, where we saw the band and they signed with Safari who then were pleasantly surprised to learn of Toyah Willcox, actress, her performances in ‘The Corn is Green’ (starring Katherine Hepburn), ‘Jubilee’, ‘Quadrophenia’ and her current casting as Miranda in Derek Jarman’s forthcoming ‘The Tempest’.
The, just revealed, artwork for The Derek Jarman Collection 5 disc DVD set. This includes Jubilee and The Tempest and will be released in Australia (but available to everyone thanks to the internet) on 2nd May 2012.
A collection of five astonishing films from a visionary British filmmaker:
Jubilee (1978) Queen Elizabeth I travels to late twentieth-century Britain to discover a tawdry and depressing landscape where life mostly seems aimless and is anyway held cheap. Three post-punk girls while away their vacuous existence as best they can, from time-to-time straying into murder to relieve the boredom.
The Tempest (1979) Jarman’s Tempest is the story of Miranda’s growth from girlhood to woman; Prospero has retreated to a world of ideas but it is cold and loveless, he condemns Caliban as a monster but all Jarman’s Caliban is guilty of is possessing carnal appetites, the same appetites which Miranda is starting to discover for herself.
This has been available on Dreamscape for a few years but I thought I’d add it here in case anyone hasn’t heard it or wants to listen again. It’s a really interesting interview with Toyah in mid 1980, discussing details about her career up to that point. (Thanks to Giddy Gavin)
Toyah discusses the origins of her name, The Tempest and playing Miranda, how she was “discovered”, Jubilee, Quadrophenia, the forming of the first Toyah band, her career to date, future plans and more. (The sound is quite low so please crank up your volume)
• Read a full transcript of this interview, at ‘The TW Interview Archive’, here. (Thanks to Min)
Toyah guested on BBC1’s Ask Aspel on 16th June 1981, talking music, songwriting, acting, presenting and answering viewer’s questions. Includes clips from the ATV docu and The Tempest. Not great quality but interesting all the same.
A 5DVD box set of Derek Jarman films is released, by Umbrella Entertainment (who just uploaded the trailer for Jubilee to ‘You Tube’), in Australia on 2nd May 2012. The set includes both films Toyah starred in, Jubilee and The Tempest.
The Derek Jarman Collection: DVD A collection of five astonishing films from a visionary British filmmaker: Actors: Tilda Swinton, Laurence Olivier, Sean Bean, Toyah Willcox, Adam Ant.
The Tempest (1979): The tale of a potent magician, banished by his brother and the King to live on a desolate isle with his daughter. Last Of England (1988): A dark meditation on London under Thatcher. Jubilee (1978): Queen Elizabeth I visits late twentieth century Britain to discover a confronting civilisation. Sebastiane (1976): In Rome, 300 A.D, a man is exiled to a remote outpost populated exclusively by men. War Requiem (1989): A stirring visual representation of Benjamin Brittens famed work.
The Humans (featuring Toyah Willcox) with The Army of Broken Toys at Church of Boston tomorrow night!
There’s so much about Toyah Ann Willcox I never knew. I was familiar with this wild-haired, exotically dressed creature from another planet that was pretty much the norm in the 1980s, though her voice set her apart. I remember her album, The Changeling, released in 1982. It was dark, gothic and sensuous, and a staple of my musical diet at the time. But I had no idea that she was also deeply immersed in an acting career – stage plays, film and television – since the mid ‘70s. She worked with Derek Jarman on his punk film Jubilee and The Tempest, and in 1979’s Quadrophenia. She appeared with Katharine Hepburn in the made-for-television movie The Corn is Green, and in many live theatrical roles. At the same time, she fronted a few bands before embarking on a solo music career in 1985.
• View the full article at ‘The Boston Survival Guide’ website, here.
• Beyond The Joke: Film Review – Aaaaaaaah!: One thing is certain. You won’t see another film like Aaaaaaaah! this year. Or, probably, any year. And not just because Steve Oram’s directorial debut has no dialogue except for ape-like grunts, but also because it features Toyah Willcox having a shit in a kitchen and Noel Fielding getting his knob gobbled in a seedy cameo – Continue reading…
• Bloodguts: Aaaaaaaah!: Ever wondered what would happen if our evolution stopped part way through? What if we became the appearance of what we become with the mentality and attitude of the apes that came before us? Wonder no more as the premise behind ‘Aaaaaaaah!’ is just that… The performances of the cast are next to brilliant and watching Toyah Willcox slam a steak across a wall in imitation to something she has seen is a true reflection of how influential Oram is as a creative. If you can get the stars of The Mighty Boosh, Toyah Willcox and Tony Way to play a complete film with no sound except that of a monkey and mimic their actions in a way that becomes believable, then Steve Oram, you have our attention – Continue reading…
• Pissed Off Geek: ‘Aaaaaaaah!’ Review: There are some movies that are brave and they present something to the audience that is truly different. Aaaaaaaah! is a film that may be hard to acclimatise yourself to and will be outside of your comfort zone, but once it grabs you it won’t let go – Continue reading…
• Close-Up Film: Aaaaaaaah! Close-Up Film Review: Can you imagine what a Mike Leigh film would look like if the actors based all their lines/noises, behaviour and interactions on several hours of Richard Attenborough narrated Ape documentaries? If you can then you will have pictured something close to Steve Oram’s disquieting directorial debut Aaaaaaaah! – Continue reading…
• Electric Sheep: Aaaaaaaah!: Also caught in the adventure is Julian Rhind-Tutt playing an alpha male scoffing in front of a brand new plasma screen and playing video games; Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding from the surrealistic The Mighty Boosh; and Toyah Willcox, who played Miranda in Derek Jarman’s Tempest (1979) but also, prophetically, Monkey in Quadrophenia (1979), and who plays the leading female part. With Willcox came Robert Fripp, who happens to be her husband and who improvised a bewitching music that advantageously compensates the total absence of articulate dialogue. (And make sure you stay for the final credits if you are a King Crimson fan.) – Continue reading…
• Twitter: A rare photo of Toyah & Steve Strange at Derek Jarman’s Tempest party 1980 was tweeted by Toyah last Friday – View here…
• Wales Online: Steve Strange and me, by the friend who knew him for 40 years: “I found a warehouse that was owned by Toyah Willcox in Battersea and we rented it out for a warehouse party,” said Chris. “I had a snake charmer, a burlesque show, blue films from the ’50s going backwards on the ceiling, and it was a huge success” – Continue reading…
• Northampton Herald & Post: Rick Astley, Hot Chocolate, Bucks Fizz stars and Toyah in line-up at Northampton Franklin’s Gardens 80s concert – Continue reading…
• Monocle 24: The Stack: Still available to download – A music magazine special with the Tony Herrington, editor-in-chief of ‘The Wire’ and music journalist Andrew Mueller. Plus Toyah Willcox shares her experience as one of the 1980s most featured front-cover musicians – Play/Download/Share here…
