Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

Posh Pop gracing the “New Music” section at HMV. (Photos © HMV Dundee)

It’s Posh Pop day. Toyah’s glorious new 10-song studio album is finally released. There isn’t a dud song on the album – “All Killer, No Filler” as they used to say in the 80s!

It’s difficult to choose favourites when every song is good but, for me, the standouts are Barefoot On Mars, Take Me Home, Kill The Rage, Summer Of Love… This has to be my favourite Toyah album since Ophelia’s Shadow.

Here’s a revised/updated round-up of all the relevant, and related, Posh Pop news from the past few days, weeks and months. (All Photos/Images © Toyah Willcox)

• Posh Pop – Purchase Toyah’s new studio album here. The album is available on Deluxe CD+DVD, Standard CD, Colour Vinyl and Digital Download.

• A Limited Edition CD and Colour Vinyl, with an exclusive Toyah signed print, were also available but sold out very quickly.

• Posh Pop, was officially announced on 25.06.21. Watch Toyah announce the release of the new album. Read the official press release at toyahwillcox.com.

• Levitate, the first single from Posh Pop was released on 26.06.21, with the video premiering one day later – Stream the single at Spotify. Watch the video at You Tube – Levitate… No gravity, we’re getting higher…

• Read Toyah’s album interview – talking about the creation/making of Posh Pop and much more – at the NME.

• Within hours of being announced Posh Pop was high up in Amazon’s pre-release charts – See info on this.

• Watch Toyah talk about Levitate and the making of Posh Pop in an episode of Toyah At Home from 26.06.21.

• See the Posh Pop Tour 2021/22 announcement here. Toyah is playing 29 dates between September 2021 and March 2022!

• Zoom Zoom, the second single from Posh Pop was released on 16.07.21, with the video premiering one day later – Stream the single at Spotify. Watch the video at You Tube – Do you want to start a revolution? You can do it in your bedroom…

• Toyah talked Posh Pop, and more, in an interview with ITV News. Listen to the interview.

• Toyah made a selection of Posh Pop Personalised Artworks available last month. See further info on these.

• Summer Of Love, the third single from Posh Pop was released on 06.08.21 – Stream the single at Spotify. Watch the video at You Tube – All we need is a summer of love, let’s get it on, ban the bomb…

• Read Toyah’s August 2021 “Summer Of Love” blog.

• There’s a Posh Pop Toyah At Home Special coming very soon. See info on that, and two new Posh Pop photos, here. (Update: It’s airing tomorrow)

• Space Dance, the video for this song premiered on 21.08.21. Watch the fantastic video.

• Watch the official Posh Pop album release day promo for Toyah’s new album.

• Toyah guested on the Steve Wright In The Afternoon show on BBC Radio 2 show to talk about her new album. More info and a link to Listen to the show here.

• Reviews: Posh Pop reviews by Retro Pop, At The Barrier and Classic Pop. Read the reviews here.

• Toyah appeared on the Sky News channel to talk about Posh Pop. See screen caps from the programme here.

• Toyah Unboxed the CD, CD+DVD and vinyl releases of Posh Pop. Watch the video here.

• Retro Pop: A new Posh Pop interview with Toyah. Read it here.

• Rhythm In My House: A preview of track six from the album was made available, via the video. Watch it here. See some screen caps from the gorgeous video, here.

• Classic Pop: Toyah is on the cover of the latest issue and is interviewed inside, talking about Posh Pop. More info here.

• Breaking Through: Various Posh Pop related news was announced in Toyah’s official newsletter.

As well as the Toyah interview feature in the latest issue of Classic Pop magazine, there is also a review of the Posh Pop album. This is an amazing review of Posh Pop, with the reviewer declaring the album…

“Magnificent. The most full-on and imperious pop album of her entire career.”

Now 40 years on from her commercial breakthrough, Toyah releases her most full-on and imperious pop album of her entire career

After years of copyright wrangling, the belated reissues of her early albums has finally allowed Toyah to be reassessed. So far, Sheep Farming In Barnet and The Blue Meaning have shown just how adventurous she was among punk peers. Next up will be 1981’s Anthem, the album which sent Toyah mainstream via its hits It’s A Mystery and I Want To Be Free.

It’s Anthem which Toyah’s 13th full album most closely resembles. It appears having her early work back out has enabled Toyah to be as at peace with her music as such an untenable spirit will ever be.

She’s made excellent questing albums since Anthem, but none have so completely reconciled her fearlessness with a simultaneous love of bloody great big pop songs.

• Read the interview and full review in Issue 71 of Classic Pop. On sale now. Click on the album cover above to buy Posh Pop, on CD, CD+DVD, colour vinyl or Digital Download.

“This issue, we also talk to Toyah who is back with a career-best LP, the brilliant Posh Pop.”

The latest issue of Classic Pop magazine (Sep/Oct 2021 – Issue 71) is out now, and features Toyah on the cover and a new Posh Pop interview… “I was just exploding with ideas”.

The issue also includes Soft Cell, Toyah, Shaun Ryder, Blondie, Goldfrapp, Tony Hadley, Saint Etienne, Tony Arnold, The Blue Nile (from Glasgow and one of my favourite bands!) and much more!

• See the promo tweet here, and full details on how to buy Classic Pop are here.

Just one more sleep before the new Toyah album is yours. Posh Pop is out tomorrow, Friday 27.08.2021. Pre-order here.

Which track are you most excited to hear? ⁣(Photo © Toyah Willcox)

Levitate | Zoom Zoom | The Bride Will Return | Space Dance | Barefoot On Mars | Rhythm In My House | Summer Of Love | Monkeys | Kill The Rage | Take Me Home

Carol Decker’s 30 Rock Chicks!: NOW 80s: Saturday 28th August: 6pm
T’Pau’s Carol Decker brings a bit of Heart and Soul to a countdown of ’80s ladies who like to rock! With Joan Jett, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks and Pat Benatar. (as well as Toyah via the Thunder In The Mountains video)

A preview of track six – Rhythm In My House – from Posh Pop, was shared by Toyah this evening on social media, accompanied by the gorgeous video for the song, filmed in Toyah and Robert’s, now legendary, kitchen. Click on the caps below to listen/watch. (Images © Toyah Willcox)

Come on over to my house, no silence here / these four walls have seen it all

Two more sleeps until Toyah’s new album Posh Pop is out! Pre-order here.

Which edition are you adding to your collection? This deluxe CD+DVD edition (below right) has 10 videos directed by Toyah Willcox for each of the songs on the album. ⁣(Photo © Toyah Willcox)
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The album includes Monkeys, plus Levitate, Zoom Zoom, Summer Of Love and Space Dance.

Toyah: ‘In the ‘80s I was treated like an icon, now I know what it’s like living pay packet to pay packet’

Toyah is back with ‘Posh Pop’, her 16th album and first since 2008’s ‘In The Court of the Crimson Queen’

The record features 10 brand new compositions, co-written and produced by Simon Darlow, after the singer and her husband, King Crimson’s Robert Fripp, found themselves without work during lockdown.

Ahead of her latest release, the ’80s superstar opens up on her new music and accompanying visual project, revealing how the album was born, becoming a YouTube sensation with ‘Toyah and Robert’s Sunday Lunch’, and how living “pay packet to pay packet” has brought the singer closer than ever to her fans.

It’s been 13 years since you released your last album ‘In The Court of the Crimson Queen’. How did ‘Posh Pop’ come about?

To give it context, the majority of ‘In The Court of the Crimson Queen’ was written in 2007. Around 2017, every song on that album was placed in a musical called ‘Crime and Punishment’ at London’s Tower Bridge Scoop Theatre. This allowed us to get an official release in 2018 and that’s when Simon Darlow and I added Dance in the Hurricane and Who Let the Beast Out?.

What happened with ‘Posh Pop’ is the extraordinary experience of all of our live shows being cancelled or postponed until a later date. Having all this time doesn’t mean that you stop being a creative human being. So we found a way of being able to write and to do the next album, and lockdown enabled us to do that in a very strange way.

• Continue reading at Retro Pop. Posh Pop is released on Friday. Pre-order the album here.

• Posh Pop Reviews: As well as the album reviews which have been published online in the past two days; Retro Pop, At The Barrier, The Arts Desk, the latest print issues of Mojo and Uncut magazine also carry reviews of the album. No doubt more reviews will be published over the coming days…

• Magazines: There will be multiple-page Toyah/Posh Pop features in the next editions of Classic Pop and Record Collector magazines.

• Online Press: There will be a Toyah/Posh Pop feature in The Quietus (Bakers Dozen).

• Television: Toyah is guesting on BBC Breakfast next week.

• Toyah At Home: The Toyah At Home Posh Pop Special will premiere 11am BST, this Saturday, 28 August, at Toyah’s official You Tube channel and Facebook page. This will include fan questions, new in-session performances and unseen videos.

• #ToyahPoshPop: Share your images this coming weekend on social media with the hashtag #ToyahPoshPop

• All of the above info gleaned from the latest Breaking Through – The Official Toyah Willcox Newsletter. Sign up here. (Photo © Toyah Willcox)

Three more sleeps until Toyah’s new album Posh Pop is out! Pre-order here.

The album includes Monkeys plus Levitate, Zoom Zoom, Summer Of Love and Space Dance. (Image © Toyah Willcox)

Anthems, hope and escapism – it’s all there on the first Toyah album for 13 years!

Release Date: 27th August 2021
Label: Demon Music Group
Formats: CD / CD+DVD / Vinyl / Digital

“Thank you, Toyah, for a great album. And welcome back – we’ve missed you!”

The last time Toyah graced these pages was back in May, when we reviewed the reissue of her 1980 album The Blue Meaning. In that review, we gave a brief a resumé of what Toyah has been up to in recent years, including a mention of the hilarious You Tube postings, Toyah and Robert’s Sunday Lunch (and if you haven’t seen this yet, check it out – it’s unmissable!) and releasing her (until now) most recent album, 2008’s In The Court of the Crimson Queen.

Well… She’s back, and how!! Posh Pop is Toyah’s first album of new material for 13 years, and it’s a blast. Toyah herself is very proud of Posh Pop, considering the album “A career best,” and she could very well be right. It’s a joyful album that draws copiously on Toyah’s glam and punk roots and builds upwards from there; the 80’s synth sound is still around, tempered and enhanced by lots of stunning rock guitar from Toyah’s husband, “Bobby Willcox” and the lyrics are clear and excellent, covering topics as diverse as the lockdown “Zoom Boom,” space exploration, ageing, bereavement, the devastation of war, the fate of humanity and the Beirut explosion. And it all comes enclosed in a wrapper of addictive, anthemic rock and pop.

• Continue reading at At The Barrier. The album is released on Friday. Pre-order Posh Pop here.

There’s now just eight days until the first gig of the Posh Pop Tour!

The Mill Arts Centre, Banbury tweeted: We’re thrilled to be the first venue in the Toyah Posh Pop tour! Tickets are extremely limited so book now to avoid disappointment.

• See the complete Posh Pop Tour dates at toyahwillcox.com.

A very limited number of the Limited Edition space grey vinyl release of Posh Pop, with a signed Toyah print, are available at Amazon UK.

Posh Pop, possibly Toyah’s most eagerly anticipated studio album since Minx, is released on Friday. Toyah considers this a “career best” album.

Posh Pop is a strong collection of infectious and affirmative pop songs that are as joyous as they are reflective, from the cosmic groove of Space Dance, to the sun-kissed anthem of unity Summer Of Love. The album is crafted with evocative storytelling and musicianship from Toyah, Simon Darlow (guitars, keyboards, cello), Bobby Willcox (guitar) and Jeremy Stacey (drums). Posh Pop opens with the energy-burst of Levitate and leads the listener on a journey that climaxes in the soaring, intergalactic-tinged Take Me Home.

• See/Buy the Limited Edition Posh Pop space grey vinyl with signed print at Amazon UK.

A great interview with Toyah on today’s Steve Wright In The Afternoon show on BBC Radio 2. This included plays of two previously unheard songs from Posh Pop.

Toyah talked about the recording process of Posh Pop, what inspired the album, and about loving being back on the road touring, playing festivals and gigs.

There were plays of I Want To Be Free, It’s A Mystery, Levitate, The Bride Will Return, and a short burst of Rhythm In My House at the close of the chat.

Steve enthused about Toyah having such a longtime career yet still releasing such quality music. He also mentioned Toyah’s legendary warehouse, Mayhem!

Toyah also talked about her latest film work, on, the just released, To Be Someone and, the to be released in October, The Ghosts Of Borley Rectory.

• Listen to the show/interview at BBC Sounds. Toyah appears approximately 2hrs 30m into the show. (Photos © Toyah Willcox)

The Posh Pop reviews are beginning…

Toyah – Posh Pop
Released: 27 August 2021

“A body of work that stands amongst the best of her career”.

Toyah embodies the essence of pop music on her latest LP ‘Posh Pop’

The collection was recorded with husband Robert Fripp and co-writer/producer Simon Darlow during lockdown – a theme that underpins each of the 10 tracks.

Opener and lead single Levitate deals with the forced confinement and sees the star rise beyond the realms of the pandemic and reacquaint herself with a world seemingly gone by.

It encompasses the overall theme of the album, which for listeners and as a creative pursuit for Toyah, is about escapism.

While songs like Space Dance and Rhythm In My House are through and through pop numbers, the genius of ‘Posh Pop’ is in the lyrics, which simultaneously reference the world today while remaining timeless.

• Continue reading at Retro Pop. The album is released on Friday. Pre-order Posh Pop here.

Steve Wright In The Afternoon: BBC Radio 2
Tuesday 24th August: 2pm
Toyah and Shaun. New and vintage music, quirky facts and entertainment news. With guests Toyah Willcox and Shaun Evans. Listen to the show live from 2pm here. It will also be available at BBC Sounds/On Demand after broadcast this afternoon.

Robert Fripp Takes Toyah On A Backstage Tour Of King Crimson’s Show In Nashville

“King Crimson in the home of country music; never thought I’d hear that phrase,” Toyah said.

While Robert Fripp is away on tour with King Crimson in the US, he’s been exchanging video postcards with his wife Toyah Willcox online. In his latest video, the guitarist gave a backstage tour of a King Crimson concert before curtains went up.

The footage shot by Fripp was of Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium – the “home of country music” as he described the venue which housed the Grand Ole Opry for three decades, and has seen the likes of Elvis, Johnny Cash and Hank Williams grace its stage.

• Continue reading at Guitar.com.

The transatlantic touring twosome exchange another video postcard, this one from Robert to Toyah. It’s Postcards Home #8

Toyah guested on Sky News this morning, talking about her new album, Posh Pop, and more. Here are some screen caps from the programme. Click on them to view larger versions. (Thanks to Dean Beadle for the caps).

Toyah is guesting on Steve Wright’s BBC Radio 2 show tomorrow afternoon. The show airs for three hours, beginning at 2pm

With guests Toyah Willcox and Shaun Evans
Toyah’s album is called Posh Pop, and Shaun Evans is starring in the BBC One drama Vigil as well as returning for an 8th series of Endeavour on ITV. Plus there’s Factoids, the Non-Stop Oldies and the latest entertainment and lifestyle news.

• Listen live at the website or post-airing at BBC Sounds.