{"id":41972,"date":"2024-12-14T23:41:20","date_gmt":"2024-12-14T23:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toyah.net\/ds\/?p=41972"},"modified":"2024-12-15T03:41:15","modified_gmt":"2024-12-15T03:41:15","slug":"christmas-2024-day-14-the-old-grey-whistle-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toyah.net\/ds\/christmas-2024-day-14-the-old-grey-whistle-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas 2024: Day 14: The Old Grey Whistle Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Christmas 1981<\/strong><\/span>, Following an incredible year of huge hit singles, gold-selling album, tours, a multitude of images, hundreds of press interviews and numerous television appearances, Toyah closed her\/their sensational 1981 by playing the final date of the Good Morning Universe<\/em> European Tour, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London on Christmas Eve. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This was Toyah’s third, and final, tour of the year, following the College<\/em> Tour at the beginning of 1981 and the Anthem<\/em> Tour in the middle of the year. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The gig was broadcast live on BBC2\u00a0 – and simultaneously in stereo on BBC Radio 1 – on The Old Grey Whistle Test<\/em> – introduced by Radio 1\/TOGWT<\/em> legend, Annie Nightingale – as their annual Christmas Eve concert for 1981, in a schedule that also included everything from a festive All Creatures Great & Small<\/em>, to an episode of Russell Harty At Home. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The band were: Toyah Willcox (Vocals|), Joel Bogen (Guitar), Adrian Lee (Keyboards), Phil Spalding (Bass Guitar, Vocals), Simon Phillips (Drums). <\/span>The concert was released on regular VHS (and Limited Edition hardback cover VHS with an Introduction note by Toyah) by BBC Video in 1982.<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of Cherry Red Record’s reissue schedule of Toyah’s complete Safari Records discography, Toyah Live At Drury Lane<\/em> was released on double vinyl album and CD+DVD for the first time in May 2023, a fitting full-circle for this legendary and memorable concert.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Toyah was among a small number who received this not inconsiderable accolade during the 1970s\/80s golden era of music. Others bands\/artists who were gifted The Old Grey Whistle Test<\/em> festive concert over the years included Elton John (1974), Queen (1975), Rod Stewart (1976), The Kinks (1977), 10CC (1978), Ian Dury & The Blockheads (1980), Elton John (1982), Paul Young (1983).<\/span><\/p>\n

Toyah would later recall:<\/span> “I spent one Christmas in complete euphoria after doing the Drury Lane Whistle Test. I can remember driving home to Birmingham that night and it was snowing. Everything was just wonderful and I remained on a high after doing that show for about ten days.<\/em>“<\/span><\/p>\n

Toyah’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane\/The Old Grey Whistle Test<\/em> concert has become an intrinsic and memorable part of Christmas. A legendary event that thousands attended and many millions watched, and remember as such a special moment in Toyah’s career as well as everyone’s Christmas – past, present and, no doubt, future!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christmas 1981, Following an incredible year of huge hit singles, gold-selling album, tours, a multitude of images, hundreds of press interviews and numerous television appearances, Toyah closed her\/their sensational 1981 by playing the final date of the Good Morning Universe European Tour, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London on Christmas Eve. This was Toyah’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3285,1534],"tags":[350,989],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toyah.net\/ds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41972"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toyah.net\/ds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toyah.net\/ds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toyah.net\/ds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toyah.net\/ds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41972"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/toyah.net\/ds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41973,"href":"https:\/\/toyah.net\/ds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41972\/revisions\/41973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toyah.net\/ds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toyah.net\/ds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toyah.net\/ds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}