Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

Toyah will co-compère at Rewind South 2019 in August.

Michael Bolton, the Four Tops, Lulu and Grandmaster Flash are to perform at this summer’s Rewind South festival for the first time. The event, now in its 11th year, will take place on Temple Island Meadows in Remenham from Friday to Sunday, August 16 to 18 with a line-up described by organisers as the most diverse yet.

… It will be compered by Doctor and the Medics frontman Clive “The Doctor” Jackson and Eighties singer Toyah Willcox.

Other attractions will include comedy performers such as Milton Jones, DJ sets, family sports days, circus skills workshops and giant bubble parties with more to be confirmed over the coming months.

• Continue reading at the Henley Standard.

Rewind South 2016 was 10 days ago, but here’s a newly published review, from the Henley Standard, of the festival anyway…

The weather gods were not kind to Rewind this year, with a very windy weekend punctuated by some heavy rain showers.

However, this did not in any way deter the thousands of Eighties pop fans who visited the riverside site — and certainly not the 23 acts who performed for them.

The festival proper opened with regular Rewind star Tony Hadley — but this time he performed a 45-minute set with the Southbank Sinfonia behind him, as well as the Tony Hadley Band. Fittingly for an artist who cites David Bowie as one of the major influences on Spandau Ballet, he opened with Life on Mars.

More than 30 years on from the band’s Eighties peak, Hadley’s voice has held its strength and power — and ably covered Bowie’s anthem, as well as an Elvis Presley number and Spandau Ballet’s biggest hits. The synthpop era of the early Eighties was well represented by artists such as Hazell Dean, Toyah and Jimmy Somerville, while the big voices came in the form of Rick Astley and Leo Sayer.

• Continue reading at the Henley Standard. (Photo © Henley Standard)

A total of 40,000 people will descend on Temple Island Meadows near Henley for the eighth annual Rewind South festival this weekend. The Eighties pop extravaganza will kick off tonight (Friday) with a welcome party headlined by West Country folk band The Wurzels.

Tomorrow’s performers include Rick Astley, whose latest album, 50, topped the charts this week, Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet, Jimmy Somerville, the Trevor Horn Band, Toyah, Leo Sayer and Andy Bell of Erasure.

The festival concludes on Sunday with appearances by Adam Ant, Earth, Wind and Fire, M People’s Heather Small, The Beat, The Blockheads and Heaven 17’s Glenn Gregory, among others. There will be scores of attractions around the site including an inflatable church where revellers can get “married”, real ale and cocktail bars, food stalls, a roller disco, a funfair and a second stage featuring local performers.

The weather is expected to be warm and overcast with sunny spells and the chance of the odd shower tomorrow. Organiser David Heartfield said: “Everything is looking great for the weekend. We’re looking forward to it. It has been incredibly hot this week so I’d welcome slightly cooler weather.”

• Continue reading at the Henley Standard.