It was “New Music Friday” on, yup, Friday! HMV Newcastle and HMV Nottingham were both celebrating the day and also celebrating the release of Toyah’s amazing new album, Posh Pop. (Photos © HMV Newcastle/Nottingham)
Posh Pop gracing the “New Music” section at HMV. (Photos © HMV Dundee)
Win a rare Sheep Farming In Barnet reissue rarity, courtesy of HMV…
It’s National Album Day on Saturday 10th October and to celebrate we will be running a new prize draw everyday with prizes from some of the National Album Day Ambassadors who are supporting this exciting day.
Happy National Album Day!! Today, we have a prize from Toyah Willcox where you could win a signed test pressing of remastered Sheep Farming vinyl!
• To enter, all you have to do is enter your details here or by clicking below. (The prize draw ends at 11:59pm Saturday 10th October. Entries received after this time will not be included.)
My Record Collection by Toyah Willcox
A National Album Day Special
In My Record Collection, we dig down to the bottom of musicians’ souls to find out what the most treasured parts of their record collection are. This week, we’re counting down to National Album Day.
This year, the organisers are taking us back to the 1980s, to a time when nu-romantics, big hair, arena rock and electronics ruled the chart. We’re celebrating all week on hmv.com with a selection of features from the day’s ambassadors, which this year include La Roux, Blossoms, Kim & Marty Wilde, Toyah Willcox and more! Each day this week, we’ll be showing off the record collections from an ambassador, as they count down their memories of the 1980s, as they lived it, or just as they wished they had.
We continue today with Toyah Willcox…
The record that made me want to make music was…
“For me, it’s David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. It is almost impossible to pinpoint one Bowie album that made me want to write music because they all did, but the unique thing Bowie achieved above all other artists was to have a burst of creativity that lasted a whole decade from the early ’70s into the ’80s.”
“Bowie surfed the Zeitgeist effortlessly like a Pied Piper and lead a generation into the brilliant unknown with each album release. Ziggy was my first discovery of Bowie’s genius and thereafter he awed me with everything he ever did.”
The record I played throughout the 1980s was…
“It was Roxy Music’s Avalon. I have loved Roxy Music since their first album. Their sound is utterly unique, but tricks you into thinking that it is familiar, it isn’t, they are one of the cleverest bands of all time, creating a whole movement of stylish cool and smooth dance-inducing music. Avalon is a super commercial album but it hasn’t sold out in any way. It is the definition of lounge cool.”
The record that takes me back to the 1980s was…
“It’s Tears For Fears and their album Songs From The Big Chair. There are easily three albums that define the 80’s Kate Bush’s Hounds Of Love, Peter Gabriel’s So and Songs From The Big Chair.”
“Songs From The Big Chair has a wealth of classics that have inspired so many who followed. ‘Shout’ is an all-time anthemic great and ‘Everybody Wants To Rule The World’ must be one of the cleverest songs of the ’80s, a decade often associated with greed.”
• Continue reading at hmv.com. Browse our National Album Day 2020 news archive.
Toyah tweeted yesterday: “This means so much to me. Thank u thank u thank u” in response to HMV’s In The Court Of The Crimson Queen tweet. (Photo © HMV)
To celebrate the special offers happening in hmv stores across the country over the next few weeks, each week we’ll be picking our top 10 films from each decade. Today we’re picking our faves from the 1970s…
7. Quadrophenia (1979)
Anybody taking a day trip to Brighton in recent years may have encountered the strange sight of tourists taking photographs of an empty alleyway in the city’s Lanes area, but for anyone familiar with that scene from Franc Roddam’s 1979 film that should come as no surprise. One of the most iconic British films of the whole decade, Quadrophenia’s legacy can still be seen around the streets of Brighton today. Featuring a cast that includes Phil ‘Parklife’ Daniels, Leslie Ash, Philip Davis and Ray Winstone, not to mention some brilliant cameos from Sting and Toyah Willcox, the film’s tale of counter culture and the frustrations of modern life are epitomised in its climactic final scene at Beachy Head. The scene may have changed, but the film’s message is as relevant as ever.
• Continue reading at hmv.com.
