Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

Toyah Willcox joins Strictly Come Dancing 2024 line-up

The latest star to join the 2024 ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ line-up is ’80s pop icon Toyah Willcox.
Having enjoyed a decades-spanning career, during which she’s racked up 13 UK Top 40 hits and this year played at Glastonbury with her husband Robert Fripp, the singer-songwriter joins this year’s cohort of celebrities competing on the BBC One show.

“I’m used to performing for big crowds but this is completely fresh for me, how I will do, it’s a mystery… I just want to get cracking and learn some dance routines now,” she said.

Her participation was announced on Vernon Kay’s BBC Radio 2 morning show on Tuesday (August 6), with classical singer and face of the Go Compare ads Wynne Evans, and TV Dr Punam Krishan, also confirmed.

• Continue reading at Retropop.

• Proud Cabaret: Toyah is on stage in Proud Cabaret throughout selected dates in December including Thursday 9th December (tonight)! Book at proudcabaret.com or call 020 7482 3866⁠. Monday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm.

• Proud Cabaret: ⁠Proud’s Triple Lockdown Guarantee guarantees a full refund in the event of any forced cancellation or date moves due to Government measures relating to COVID-19.

• Toyah On TV 2022: Celebrity Help! My House Is Haunted is set to premiere on Discovery Plus UK on January 21st 2022. Celebs include Toyah Willcox, Joey Essex, Martin Roberts and Alex Best.

• Love Sunday: Toyah was the cover star of The Sunday People‘s magazine last weekend, with the headline: “I’ve never been so grateful to be back on stage” (Thanks to Michael Murray)

• Retro Pop: Toyah praises BRITs for ‘ahead of the game’ gender-neutral move: The punk icon hopes the change will “empower a whole new generation” of artists. Toyah has given BRITs bosses the seal of approval for their latest gender-neutral move. The change, which has been called for by stars including Sam Smith, is a move that bosses hope will allow the awards to “[celebrate] artists solely for their music and work, rather than how they choose to identify or as others may see them” – Continue reading…

• The Northern Scot: Stars of 1980s’ pop music set for Black Isle extravaganza – ABC, Nik Kershaw, Toyah and T’Pau confirmed: Stars of the eighties are set to shine at the Black Isle Showground for a nostalgia-fuelled party that will also put a smile on faces at one of the Highlands’ most cherished charities – Continue reading…

• Nostalgia Central: Look! Hear!: 1977 – 1981 (UK) – 30 minute episodes: This teen-orientated show from the BBC covered the contemporary scene in the Midlands and was hosted by local girl (and future punk superstar) Toyah Willcox and a number of Midlands DJs, including Chris Phipps in Birmingham and John Holmes in Nottingham – Continue reading…

Toyah axes live shows after testing positive for Covid

The punk icon has moved four shows to 2022 so she can isolate for 10 days following the positive test result.

Toyah has been forced to delay a bunch of live shows after testing positive for coronavirus. The singer has moved a handful of dates to 2022 after being struck with Covid during a soundcheck this week.

“I’ve tested positive for Covid. Last night during soundcheck at The Robin in Wolverhampton,” she explained in a video shared to social media.

• Continue reading at Retro Pop. See Toyah’s full tour schedule, including the few rescheduled dates, at toyahwillcox.com.

Toyah lands ‘Cabaret All Stars’ residency through November/December

Earlier this year, Toyah returned with ‘Posh Pop’, her first album in 13 years.

Toyah will perform a new ‘Cabaret All Stars’ show in London through November/December 2021. The singer, who scored her highest-charting solo album earlier this year with ‘Posh Pop’, will hit the stage at Proud Embankment on Wednesdays and Thursdays, beginning November 4.

“Britain’s punk princess joins Proud’s Cabaret All Stars for a limited run this November & December,” reads a teaser for the show.

• Continue reading at Retro Pop. See ticket booking info here.

Toyah scores highest solo album placement with ‘Posh Pop’

The ’80s icon has teased plans to tour the album across the UK, Europe and the US.

‘Posh Pop’ is Toyah’s best charting album of her solo career. The singer’s 16th LP, featuring the singles Levitate, Zoom Zoom and Summer of Love, debuted at No. 22 on the UK chart, beating her solo debut ‘Minx’, which peaked at 24.

It’s beaten only by ‘Anthem’ and ‘The Changeling’, both of which were released by the singer’s eponymous new wave band, of which she was frontwoman. ‘Anthem’ was a UK No. 2 hit, while ‘The Changeling’ reached No. 6. The live album “Warrior Rock’ also hit No. 20.

• Continue reading at Retro Pop. Read Retro Pop’s recent interview with Toyah.

Toyah on dyslexia breakthrough: ‘Learning an instrument broadened and deepened my communicative skills’

According to the singer, music lessons helped “rewire” her brain and have helped improve “broaden and deepen” her communicative skills.

Learning to play guitar and keyboards led to a huge breakthrough in Toyah’s lifelong struggle with dyslexia.

The Summer of Love hitmaker was diagnosed with the learning difficulty at a young age, which can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling.

Speaking exclusively with Retro Pop ahead of the release of her latest album ‘Posh Pop’, Toyah reflects on the profound impact lockdown had on her, both personally and professionally, and reveals lessons in piano and guitar have enhanced her life in numerous ways.

“I can now play guitar, I can now play keyboards, and it means that my communicative skills are much broader and much deeper,” she explains.

• Continue reading at Retro Pop. Read Retro Pop’s review of Posh Pop.

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.

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.

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.

Toyah unveils ‘Summer of Love’ from forthcoming ‘Posh Pop’ LP

The star’s first solo album in 13 years features the recent singles ‘Levitate’ and ‘Zoom Zoom’ and is accompanied by a series of music videos for each track.

Toyah has released Summer of Love as the latest cut from her new ‘Posh Pop’ album.

The ‘80s icon will drop her forthcoming record on August 27, featuring previously-released tracks Levitate and Zoom Zoom, and this week reveals a third single from the LP.

“For me, this is an anti-war song,” says Toyah. “In the original summer of love there were many wars that shouldn’t have been going on, where young people lost their lives or their minds”

• Continue reading at Retro Pop.

Toyah is back with a second slice of ‘Posh Pop’.

The ’80s icon has released Zoom Zoom as the second single from her forthcoming album, due August 27.

It’s the star’s first original collection since 2008’s ‘In The Court Of The Crimson Queen’, and was produced in collaboration with Simon Darlow and her husband, King Crimson’s Robert Fripp.

Zoom Zoom follows lead single Levitate, which was released across digital platforms in June.

• Continue reading at Retro Pop.

Toyah rises up with ‘Levitate’ from first album in 13 years

Toyah is back with Levitate, the lead single from her first studio album in 13 years.

The ‘80s icon will release her 16th LP ‘Posh Pop’ on August 27, featuring 10 brand new tunes produced by the star, alongside Simon Darlow and her husband, King Crimson’s Robert Fripp.

Of the track, available now on digital platform, she tells NME: “It was the second song Simon and I wrote for the album. I went into the studio with a few chords and started singing a song which was very thrashy and punky and that slowly evolved over two weeks. Levitate was something I wanted to connect to people who are educating their children at home in a two-bedroom flat.”

• Continue reading at Retro Pop.

• Official Toyah: Pre-Order “Posh Pop” New Studio Album – Following the acclaim of the recent reissues of her early, groundbreaking albums, on Friday 27 August 2021 Demon Music Group will release the new album Posh Pop by British female music icon, Toyah.

Available on CD, 180g ‘Space Grey’-coloured vinyl, digital download and deluxe CD+DVD featuring a video album. LP and CD Editions including an exclusive signed print by Toyah are also available – Continue reading…

• Super Deluxe Edition: Toyah / New studio album, Posh Pop – New studio album. Signed vinyl and CD: Toyah Willcox will release a new studio album, Posh Pop, in August and fans can secure signed editions of both vinyl and CD formats.

Written and recorded with her longterm writing partner Simon Darlow (he co-wrote Grace Jones’ Slave to the Rhythm!), the album is described as being “a strong collection of infectious and affirmative pop songs”. Tracks include ‘Summer of Love’, ‘Space Dance’, ‘Levitate’ and ‘Take Me Home’ – Continue reading…

• Retro Pop: Toyah is back with 16th album ‘Posh Pop’ – The ’80s icon will release her first album of original material since 2008 on August 27 – Continue reading…

• Posh Pop: More News – Lots more new album news coming soon!