Dreamscape | The Toyah Willcox Fansite

Another chance to catch Top Of The Pops with Toyah’s studio performance of Thunder In The Mountains. This originally aired on BBC One on Thursday 1st October 1981 and wasn’t repeated by the BBC until almost 35 years later – on BBC Four in May 2016. This is only the third airing, nine years after that first repeat!

Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Friday 3rd October: 8pm
01/10/81. Mike Read introduces the pop programme. Includes appearances from Godley & Creme (Under Your Thumb), Sheena Easton (Just Another Broken Heart), The Teardrop Explodes (Passionate Friend), The Creatures (Mad Eyed Screamer), Ottawan (Hands Up [Give Me Your Heart]), Toyah (Thunder In The Mountains), Bad Manners (Walking In The Sunshine), Altered Images (Happy Birthday), Dollar (Hand Held In Black & White), Adam & The Ants (Prince Charming).

Another chance to see a retro edition of Top Of The Pops, airing in early June on BBC Four. This edition was originally shown – almost exactly 44 years ago – on Thursday 4th June 1981 and includes a play of the, Godley & Creme,  promo video for I Want To Be Free.

Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Friday 6th June: 7.30pm
Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Saturday 7th June: 2.05am
04/06/1981. Richard Skinner introduces the pop programme, featuring Siouxsie and the Banshees (Spellbound), Shakin’ Stevens (You Drive Me Crazy), Kate Robbins (More Than in Love), Squeeze (Is That Love?), Imagination (Body Talk), The Jam (Funeral Pyre), Michael Jackson (One Day in Your Life), Toyah (I Want To Be Free), Phil Collins (If Leaving Me Is Easy), Adam & The Ants (Stand & Deliver), Odyssey (Going Back To My Roots).

• Toyah’s next appearance on Top Of The Pops after this was on 1st October 1981, with the band performing Thunder In The Mountains in the studio. The TITM promo video was also shown on 15th October. On 26th November the band performed Good Morning Universe.

Top Of The Pops: BBC Four: Friday 21st March: 8.35pm
Top Of The Pops: BBC Four: Saturday 22nd March: 1.15am
19/03/1981. Peter Powell presents the pop chart programme, first broadcast on 19 March 1981. Featuring Sharon Redd, Bucks Fizz, Colin Blunstone and Dave Stewart, Toyah, The Who, Phil Collins, Shakin Stevens, Visage, Roxy Music and Duran Duran. Plus, a dance performance from Legs & Co.

NB. This originally aired on BBC1 on Thursday 19th March 1981 and was Toyah’s second Top Of The Pops studio appearance/performance (screenshot below, with details from an episode featuring a repeat of Toyah’s very first TOTP studio performance).

There’s another chance to see one of the greatest pop images in modern music history – brought to life in Toyah’s iconic Brave New World 1982 promo video – very soon on BBC4′s re-airing of classic editions of Top Of The Pops.

Top Of The Pops: BBC Four: Friday 14th June: 8.30pm
17/06/1982. Simon Bates presents the weekly pop chart show, first broadcast on 17th June 1982. Includes appearances by Natasha, Roxy Music, Echo and the Bunnymen, Duran Duran, ABC, Bow Wow Wow, Queen, Toyah and Adam Ant.

• Below is the very first Brave New World feature I created for the fanzine back in 2014 (Issue 4).

Top Of The Pops – The Story Of 1976: BBC Four: Saturday 6th January: 00.30am
Documentary examining how the BBC’s flagship pop show reflected changes in British music and culture during 1976. As the popularity of glam rock faded, no dominant musical scene emerged to replace it, leading to chart success for bands including Abba, Showaddywaddy, the Brotherhood of Man and the Wurzels – while outside the mainstream, punk rock was rapidly growing in popularity. Featuring contributions by Tony Blackburn, Paul Morley, Toyah Willcox, David Hamilton and Dave Haslam.

Toyah wishing everyone a Merry Christmas Eve this morning on Toyah At Home, and taking us back to a vintage performance of It’s A Mystery on Top Of The Pops, Christmas Day 1981. I can still clearly remember watching this that day all those (41) years ago! (Image © Toyah Willcox)

Official Toyah continue the countdown to the Remastered and Expanded editions of Toyah’s Gold-selling album Anthem – released by Cherry Red Records on 9th September.

Top Of The Pops: BBC4: Wednesday 2nd May: 1am
22.09.1983. Simon Bates and Mike Read present the pop chart programme, first broadcast in September 1983. Featuring Toyah Willcox, David Bowie, Nick Heyward, The Alarm, Howard Jones and Hot Chocolate.

• Visit the BBC Top Of The Pops website. Click below for Dreamscape’s Rebel Run (and other Love Is The Law) lyrics.

“Soul deep!” – Next week there’s a repeat airing on BBC4 for the retro episode of Top Of The Pops with Toyah performing the euphoric Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard)… Most of Toyah’s early Eighties TOTP appearances – both in the studio and on promo video – have been repeated over the last few months, see the rundown here.

Top Of The Pops: BBC4: Wednesday 21st March: 1am
21.10.1982. Peter Powell presents the weekly pop chart show, first broadcast in October 1982. Includes appearances from The Piranhas, Toyah, The Kids from Fame, Imagination, Kool and the Gang, Bauhaus, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club, Sharon Redd and Shakin’ Stevens.

There’s another chance to see one of the greatest pop images in modern music history – brought to life in Toyah’s iconic Brave New World 1982 promo video – very soon on BBC4′s re-airing of classic editions of Top Of The Pops.

Top Of The Pops: BBC4: Tuesday 6h March: 1.30am
17/06/1982. Simon Bates presents the weekly pop chart show, first broadcast on 17th June 1982. Includes appearances by Natasha, Roxy Music, Echo and the Bunnymen, Duran Duran, ABC, Bow Wow Wow, Queen, Toyah and Adam Ant.

Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Thursday 8th February: 0.50am
26.11.1981: Mike Read presents the pop chart show, first broadcast on 26 November 1981. Includes appearances by Kim Wilde, Jets, Toyah, Kool and the Gang, Earth Wind and Fire, Cliff Richard, Ultravox, and Queen and David Bowie.

Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Tuesday 6th February: 1am
15/10/1981. David ‘Kid’ Jensen presents the TOTP hits of the week, first broadcast on 15 October 1981. Includes appearances from BA Robertson & Maggie Bell, Squeeze, Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin, This Year’s Blonde, Toyah, the Creatures and Bad Manners. Also includes a dance sequence by Legs & Co. (NB: Toyah’s appearance is via the TITM video)

Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Thursday 1st February: 1.40am
01/10/81. Mike Read introduces the pop programme. Includes appearances from Godley & Creme (Under Your Thumb), Sheena Easton (Just Another Broken Heart), The Teardrop Explodes (Passionate Friend), The Creatures (Mad Eyed Screamer), Ottawan (Hands Up [Give Me Your Heart]), Toyah (Thunder In The Mountains), Bad Manners (Walking In The Sunshine), Altered Images (Happy Birthday), Dollar (Hand Held In Black & White), Adam & The Ants (Prince Charming).

Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Tuesday 23rd January: 1am
04/06/1981. Richard Skinner introduces the pop programme, featuring Siouxsie and the Banshees (Spellbound), Shakin’ Stevens (You Drive Me Crazy), Kate Robbins (More Than in Love), Squeeze (Is That Love?), Imagination (Body Talk), The Jam (Funeral Pyre), Michael Jackson (One Day in Your Life), Toyah (I Want To Be Free), Phil Collins (If Leaving Me Is Easy), Adam & The Ants (Stand & Deliver), Odyssey (Going Back To My Roots).

Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Friday 12th January: 0.00am
Mike Read presents. Duran Duran (Planet Earth), Talking Heads (Once In A Lifetime), Adam & The Ants (Kings Of The Wild Frontier), Toyah (It’s A Mystery), Shakin’ Stevens (This Ole House), Motorhead & Girlschool (Please Don’t Touch), Phil Collins (I Missed Again), Kool & The Gang (Jones Vs Jones), Teardrop Explodes (Reward), The Who (You Better You Bet), Joe Dolce (Shaddap Your Face). This originally aired on BBC1 on 5th March 1981. Toyah’s appearance is a repeat of their first studio performance which aired two weeks previously on 19th February 1981.

Top Of The Pops: 1981: BBC Four: Tuesday 16th January: 1.40am
Peter Powell presents. The Jacksons (Can You Feel It?), Sharron Redd (Can You Handle It?), Shakin’ Stevens (This Ole House), Dave Stewart & Colin Blunstone (What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted?), The Who (You Better You Bet), Stevie Wonder (Lately), Phil Collins (I Missed Again), Bucks Fizz (Making Your Mind Up), Visage (Mind Of A Toy), Duran Duran (Planet Earth), Toyah (It’s A Mystery), Roxy Music (Jealous Guy). This originally aired on BBC1 on 19th March 1981 and was Toyah’s second studio appearance/performance (pictured above).

More airdates for Top Of The Pops, featuring the Rebel Run video.

Top Of The Pops: BBC4 
Saturday 22nd April: 0.00am/11.20pm
22.09.1983. Simon Bates and Mike Read present the pop chart programme, first broadcast in September 1983. Featuring Toyah Willcox, David Bowie, Nick Heyward, The Alarm, Howard Jones and Hot Chocolate.

Praying to the silent man…

‘Rebel Run’, released in September 1983, was Toyah’s 13th single in the UK.

This was one of only two singles to be released by Toyah in 1983 and was the debut from the album ‘Love Is The Law’. It was written by Toyah and Simon Darlow and reached number 24 in the UK Top 40.

Toyah made a memorable video for the single and promoted it with numerous appearances and interviews on shows including TVAM’s Summer Run, Hold Tight, The Saturday Show, Saturday Superstore, and German TV show Jugendabend. The video was also played on Top Of The Pops – being repeated later this month on BBC tv for the first time since the 1980’s.

Toyah said of the imagery: “This is the Rebel Run look. I was into armour. A friend, Simon, made a bronze headdress based on the skeletal structure of American football players.”

• Download ‘Rebel Run’ at iTunes, view the promo video, and the airing on Top Of The Pops. Watch Toyah perform the single on Hold Tight and Saturday Superstore. Listen to the song live at Hammersmith Odeon on the ‘Rebel Run’ Tour in December 1983. Andromeda Rising covered the song in 2005. Listen to their version here.

The video for Toyah’s power-pop 1983 hit Rebel Run airs on a retro edition of Top Of The Pops later this month… You’ve got to get away…

Top Of The Pops: BBC4: Friday 21st April: 7.30pm
22.09.1983. Simon Bates and Mike Read present the pop chart programme, first broadcast in September 1983. Featuring Toyah Willcox, David Bowie, Nick Heyward, The Alarm, Howard Jones and Hot Chocolate.

Watch Toyah perform Be Proud Be Loud ( Be Heard) of Top Of The Pops at BBC iPlayer now!

BBC Four at Twitter marked Toyah’s iconic, classic and utterly unforgettable Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard) repeated Top Of The Pops studio appearance tonight with some tweets, including this… In 1982, Toyah was so famous, she even had a lion-tailed macaque named after her on Animal Magic, and appeared on the show to meet it, and this… Toyah’s friend and erstwhile #TOTP presenter Kenny Everett was also on TV this week (his show was repeated on @BBCTwo on 20 October 1982). Click below to watch the show at BBC iPlayer. It’s also repeated.

Another airing on BBC4 for the retro episode of Top Of The Pops with Toyah performing the euphoric Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard)…

Top Of The Pops: BBC4: Thursday 8th December: 7.30pm
Top Of The Pops: BBC4: Friday 9th December: 1am
Top Of The Pops: BBC4: Saturday 10th December: 10.30pm
21.10.1982. Peter Powell presents the weekly pop chart show, first broadcast in October 1982. Includes appearances from The Piranhas, Toyah, The Kids from Fame, Imagination, Kool and the Gang, Bauhaus, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club, Sharon Redd and Shakin’ Stevens.

Toyah’s final ever Top Of The Pops studio appearance is repeated on BBC4 in early December. The band perform Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard).

Top Of The Pops: BBC4: Thursday 8th December: 7.30pm
Top Of The Pops: BBC4: Friday 9th December: 1am
21.10.1982. Peter Powell presents the weekly pop chart show, first broadcast in October 1982. Includes appearances from The Piranhas, Toyah, The Kids from Fame, Imagination, Kool and the Gang, Bauhaus, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club, Sharon Redd and Shakin’ Stevens.