Cookson Festival, South Shields: Sunday 21st August 2005 - Set-List:

Echo Beach
Thunder In The Mountains
Jungles Of Jupiter
It's A Mystery
Sweet Child 'O Mine
I Want To Be Free

Thanks to bigRy

Pipers Nightclub
32-40, Tontine St, 
Folkestone, Kent
Tel: 01303 255747

Tickets, priced £10, can be bought by calling the above number or the Music Land shop in Folkestone (Tel: 01303 277869).

Thanks to Helen (aka tinkerbell @ the Dreamscape Forum).

Thanks to Katy for the picture.

TOYAH RETURNS TO CHERRY RED

Singer, actress, film star... Over the years Toyah's career has had many string to it's bow. Toyah started her recording career on Safari Records in 1979 and this CD contains all her early hits, 'A' and 'B' sides. The album includes 'I Want To Be Free' which reached no 8 in May 1981. The Follow up, 'Thunder In The Mountains' peaked at No 4 five months later and the subsequent six singles (all on this album) all made the Top 50.

‘The Safari Records Singles Collection Volume 2’ (CDMRED267) contains two tracks never before released on CD and is sure to be sought after by Toyah enthusiasts as well as people who enjoyed her music at the time.

In the UK, 1 baby in 33 is born with a genetic disorder - that's one born every 30 minutes - and all profits from this event will be donated directly to help the charities and hospitals such as Great Ormond Street, which help and treat these children. 

This is the reason why celebrities including: Victoria Beckham, Robbie Williams, Sophie Anderton, Javine, Densie Van Outen, Ben Shepherd, Kate Lawler, Melinda Messenger, Callum Best, Dave Berry, Nancy Sorrell, Tamara Beckwith, Anouska de Georgiou, Mica Paris, David Jensen, Emma Forbes, Anna Williamson, Toyah Willcox, Penny Smith, Laura Hamilton and Michelle McManus are either modeling in the fashion show, hosting tables, providing live entertainment or donating auction items to this exceptionally worthy cause. 

For more information please contact: jemmadegville@ldacommunications.com or call the Jeans for Genes press office c/o 0208 959 1199. 

Body politics: why are we obsessed with our flesh?
The cultural fascination with corpses, plastic surgery and healthy living suggests we are objectifying ourselves, by Stephen Bowler 

For those less able or willing to persuade their bank manager of the merits of a 'designer vagina' - the 'new nose job' apparently - much the same forces fuel an even larger industry than that of cosmetic surgery. This is the nutty Neverland of 'healthy living', where policy and prejudice find common cause against anyone with a deviant Body Mass Index.

The BBC's Fat Nation, timed to coincide with last year's Department of Health jihad against porky people, set the tone by heaving fridges out on to the street, where contents were graded according to their moral fibre. Following up from this is the ongoing, online prescriptions of the Big Challenge. This summer the BBC developed much the same format, with B-list celebrities bingeing on their own bad faith in order to answer the question, Are You Younger Than You Think? 'For 30 years I've been methodical in my diet and exercise', declared Toyah Wilcox, who hopes 'internally' to be '40 years old', a condition that will no doubt delight her many fans. Viewers are invited to assess the value of their own internal 
condition online.

• The above quote is taken from the BBC1 programme Are You Younger Than You Think?, which aired in July on the channel. Toyah's segment can be viewed at the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/areyouyounger/

• DJ at Kestrel FM 107.6, Allen Wright's biog gives Toyah a namecheck: 

Who would you like to meet: Absolutely Toyah. Willcox not Battersby. I've loved her since I was first shocked at her bright orange hair in 1980. 

Toyah filmed this episode in early 1980, and it was subsequently broadcast later that year on the ITV channel in the UK.

Minder : Paramount 2 - Friday 16th September - 6.00pm
Minder : Paramount 2 - Saturday 17th September - 12.00pm
All Mod Cons: Guest starring Toyah Willcox. Arthur is trying to sell Terry's flat. 

Listen to it for yourself by hopping, skipping, or even leaping on over to the BBC Radio 2 website where it is available for your ears for a limited time.

• You can also leap on over to Toyah's Official website to enter a super duper competition to win advance 'The Safari Records Singles Collection - Part 2' and 'Minx' CDs. A package anyone would want popping through their letter box.

• Don't forget that Toyah is all over the box at the moment. Shoestring, What Women Really Want, Quadrophenia: Cast & Crew, The Most Fertile Man In Ireland, Brum... all over various UK channels. Scroll down to earlier news for full details...

They were attending the recent opening of Behind The Iron Mask, a new musical starring Sheila Ferguson. 

Unfortunately, according to various reports, the venture has been something of a failure and the musical will close, after only a few weeks, this weekend.

'The Guardian' said: The producers of a West End show snortingly derided by critics yesterday have bowed to the inevitable and announced that it will close later this month.

Behind the Iron Mask, a three-actor chamber musical based loosely on The Man in the Iron Mask, had its press night at the Duchess Theatre on Tuesday.

"It's so bad that it is merely unendurable," wrote Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph. "There's no insane flourish to its mediocrity, no sublimity to its awfulness. It is just relentlessly, agonisingly third-rate." The cast, he said, "perform as if they have been on a prolonged Mogadon bender".

This from the website:

Welcome to our NEW website: We have a new collection of jewellery that we are launching in the next few weeks. Feel free to take a look at our portfolio where you can see some of our celebrity customers, loads more pictures will be added on here soon!

Trade enquiries welcome and why not visit our workshop (by appointment only)

ONLINE NOW!! - NEW catalogue of products 

Don't forget that this coming Sunday sees Toyah. along with Nick Heyward and Limahl, at The Cookson Summer Festival in South Shields.

Toyah's set should be similar, if not identical, to the one she played in Ayrshire last Friday.

Here's hoping the weather is good for everyone going along...

Many thanks to Katy McAleese for the poster scans.

Toyah will be chatting about the forthcoming CD 'The Safari Record Singles Collection Part 2', released on 22nd August.

"The singer and songwriter joins Johnnie in the studio for a chat during Drivetime."

The Johnnie Walker Show : BBC Radio 2 - Tuesday 16th August : 5.00 - 7.00pm
Bringing you the mystery voice, financial news and great music.

This show will be available to be listened to again, for a limited time, at the Radio 2 website.

There's a brief segment taken from the new sleevenotes, tracklist, an interesting new quote from Toyah - talking about the 'Minx' era - and a fantastic collection of archive 'Minx' images, many rarely available to view online till now.

"I realised I had to sexualise my image to compete with other female artists..." Toyah 2005

Head on over to read more at www.toyahwillcox.com, or just click on the screenshot.

Minx: 29th August 2005 (DIAB80740) - Synopsis

• From 1985, “Minx” was Toyah’s sole album for CBS subsidiary Portrait before she signed to the EG label, recording home of husband Robert Fripp of King Crimson. 

• The album was produced by renowned pop producer Christopher Neil (producer of hits for Sheena Easton, Mike And The Mechanics, Rod Stewart, Shakin’ Stevens, Andrew Gold and many more). 

• It features the hits “Don’t Fall In Love (I Said)” and “Soul Passing Through Soul” as well as Toyah’s unique readings of Rare Bird’s worldwide hit “Sympathy” and Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out”. 

• Also included are five bonus tracks all appearing on CD for the first time – two non-album b-sides and three very rare 12” mixes. The booklet includes many previously unseen photos, all the lyrics and a note by Toyah’s official website webmaster, as well as a note by Toyah herself. 

"Are you looking forward to tomorrow's gig at Culzean Castle?

I haven't done an '80s concert for a few months. I've worked with Carol Decker and Toyah before, so it should be great."

• Toyah was mentioned in an article, in 'The Independent' (Sunday 14th August), on Robert Fripp's solo appearance at The Big Chill festival:

"On Sunday afternoon, the guitarist Robert Fripp (leader of King Crimson; prog-rock polymath, hubby to Toyah) played a low-key solo show in which his delicate washes of guitar atmospherics created, through the addition of digital effects, the sound of a full orchestra."

Cast & Crew: Quadrophenia : BBC4 - Monday 22nd August : 11.15pm
Cast & Crew: Quadrophenia : BBC4 - Tuesday 23rd August : 02.25am
Kirsty Wark brings together some of the cast and crew of the film Quadrophenia, based on Pete Townshend's rock opera. The programme features actor Phil Daniels, who starred as the mod Jimmy, producer Roy Baird, cinematogapher Brian Tuffano and director Franc Roddam who also travels back to the film's Brighton location.

What Women Really Want : UK Style - Tuesday 23rd August : 00.30am
What Women Really Want : UK Style Plus 1 - Tuesday 23rd August : 01.30am
Girlfriends. Get up close and personal with the female psyche in this pacy new series featuring feisty celebrity opinions and gripping true-life stories. In this episode, Jenny Eclair, Toyah Willcox, Jodie Marsh and Sarah Cawood discuss why their girlfriends are so important to them. Discover which celeb hates her own company, and who admits that even her best mates bitch about her behind her back. Miaow! Narrated by Ulrika Jonsson.

What Women Really Want : UK Style - Thursday 25th August : 00.30am
What Women Really Want : UK Style Plus 1 - Thursday 25th August : 01.30am
Sex. Fast-paced series presented by Ulrika Jonsson, with an array of female celebrities discussing what they really want out of life in the noughties. Christine Hamilton, Toyah Willcox, Vanessa Feltz and others talk candidly about sex. Find out which celeb finds one-night stands easier than commitment, who lies to her men about sex, and who was called 'undresser' at school - naughty!

The Most Fertile Man In Ireland : Sky Movies 9 - Thursday 25th August : 3.55am
The Most Fertile Man In Ireland : Sky Movies 7 - Monday 29th August : 10.20pm
Bedded by his town's good-time girl, Eamonn quickly acquires a reputation as a man who can make babies. While both sides of Belfast struggle with their sperm-counts, the lucky man becomes the hot property of both Catholics and Protestants. Crown jewel comedy. Director: Dudi Appleton. Starring: Kris Marshall, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Bronagh Gallagher, James Nesbitt, Kenneth Cranham, Toyah Willcox and Olivia Nash. 

What Women Really Want : UK Style - Friday 26th August : 01.00am
Money. It's grumpy old men with heels on! Er no, it's feisty high-profile women of all ages giving forth on everything from sex and singledom to plastic surgery and pregnancy. Today's hot topic is money - find out what Toyah Willcox, Jenny Eclair, Nadia Almada and other celebs have to say about loot. Narrated by Ulrika Jonsson.

Brum : CBeebies - Saturday 27th August : 7.20am
Brum : CBeebies - Saturday 27th August : 10.20am
Brum and The Airport Adventure. The adventures of a little car who lives in a motor museum, narrated by Toyah Willcox. When precious gems are stolen from a famous celebrity at the airport, Brum is soon on the trail of the two thieves.

Live On The Lawn, Ayr: Friday 12th August 2005 - Set-List:

Good Morning Universe
Thunder In The Mountains
It's A Mystery
Sweet Child 'O Mine
I Want To Be Free

What a great day it was. Thanks to Merx, Brian, Alec, John, Stuart, Peter, Katy (and her mum), and Garry.

www.bbc.co.uk/radio2

[www.toyahwillcox.com]

Was it really 20, yep 20!, years ago that Toyah swooned her way to CBS Records and released the mega-polished MINX? The album went on sale exactly 20 years ago this month. No one could have predicted the look Toyah adopted for her "all grown up" album. Hair by Smile, clothes by Issey Miyake, photography by Terence Donovan. It was sleekness personified!

Toyah was looking extremely fit, tanned, toned and incredibly sexy, expecially in the "second skin" black rubber dress she wore for the first single from MINX, 'Don't Fall In Love (I Said)'. The entire theme was of expense and sophistication, far removed from the punkette Toyah of earlier albums and images, and in interviews Toyah talked about growing up, becoming a woman, moving on...

No less than 14 musicians worked on the album, which was produced by Christopher Neil. This was the first Toyah release to be made available simultaneously on CD too, albeit with two extra songs. And the first where Toyah mostly sang other people's compositions, though she did contribute some self-penned songs too. Standout tracks included 'I'll Serve You Well', 'Sympathy', 'Space Between The Sounds', 'America For Beginners' and 'Don't Fall In Love (I Said)'. Another was the b-side 'Snow Covers The Kiss' from the MINX recording sessions (which is included on the 2005 CD reissue).

Promotion for MINX, and the three singles taken from it, was intense and Toyah seemed to be everywhere in 1985. Television appearances included; Wogan, Razzmatazz, Pebble Mill (twice), The Kenny Everret Show, The Saturday Picture Show, Stardate AM, Wide Awake Club, Roland Rat, Pop Watch, Sky Trax, No. 73, TVAM, and Pop Around. In Europe Toyah guested on Musik Convoy, Goldene Eins and Formel Eins, in which Toyah performed 'Don't Fall In Love' in that famous rubber black dress.

So, in a way, August IS the month of MINX. Many thanks to Andrew York for the beautiful MINX era pictures.

This will only be a short set but is sure to be a great night anyway. It looks like a fair number of Toyah fans are travelling to Ayrshire to support her minxness. 

Please say hello if you see me/us ;o) 

And GOOD LUCK to Toyah! Have a good gig.

This CD contains two tracks never before released on CD and is sure to be sought after by Toyah enthusiasts as well as people who enjoyed her music at the time. 

I Want To Be Free / Walkie Talkie / Alien / Thunder In The Mountains / Street Addict / Voodoo Doll / Good Morning Universe / Urban Tribesman / In The Fairground / The Furious Futures / Brave New World / Warrior Rock / Leya (New Mix) / Be Proud, Be Loud (Be Heard) / Laughing With The Fools / Rebel Run / To The Mountains High / Baptised In Fire / The Vow / I Explode / Haunted 

This will be the first ever official Toyah DVD to be released, and the first live video footage since the 'At The Rainbow' and 'Good Morning Universe' concerts released by BBC Video way back in the early Eighties.

The Robin 2 ticket website state that the support for this gig will be A-Syde. Tickets are priced £15 in advance or £17 on the door. It's probably advisable to buy in advance.

This venue has very recently undergone a £500,000 redevelopment. New facilities include a revamped concert hall, all on the flat, 2 concert bars, 700 capacity, plus a new outside courtyard for the summer. The Robin was, for the second year running, voted 'Best Concert Venue (Under 500 capacity)' in the 2004 Birmingham Evening Mail Night Out Awards.

Box Office:Tel: 01902 401211 is open for personal callers and telephone bookings of advance concert tickets. Mon - Fri 8.30am - 5.30pm, Sat 10.00am - 5.00pm.

Mount Pleasant, Bilston Wolverhampton WV14 7LJ
http://www.therobin.co.uk/

Toyah is linked to Three Of A Kind, through a few (three I think) hilarious impersonations by Tracey Ullman. No doubt these will be included on these DVD's. Toyah also guested on the show, in 1982, performing 'Street Creature' with the band, as well as appearing in a sketch with Lenny Henry. David Copperfield, whose 1987 show Lift Off Toyah guested on singing 'Echo Beach', made up the trio.

Series One is released this coming Monday (15th August), with Series Two following on the 10th October 2005.

In the first poll Toyah placed second (with 22.22% of the vote), beaten only by local boys. and chart regulars. Keane.

In the follow up: The Hastings Beer and Music Festival is over for another year. What was your favourite act?, Toyah was the clear winner with 48% of the vote, 12 per cent ahead of Keane.

Please click on the graphic to visit the website.

Shoestring : UKTV Drama - Wednesday 17th August : 11.00am
Shoestring : UKTV Drama - Wednesday 17th August : 5.00pm
Shoestring : UKTV Drama - Thursday 18th August : 4.05am
Shoestring : UKTV Drama - Saturday 20th August : 10.10am

Find The Lady. Our favourite crumpled private eye investigates the reported murder of a seaside beauty queen. More vintage crime cracking with Trevor Eve. Starring: Trevor Eve, Michael Medwin, Doran Godwin, Christopher Biggins, Toyah Willcox, and Gary Holton.

Thanks to Jim Punk.

Have I Been Here Before? : ITV2 - Friday 12th August : 9.55am
Toyah Willcox recalls a life of enforced solitude in a church in 15th-century Holland, dying alone and lamenting her wasted life. Could Toyah's past life be a reflection of her own fears about her present one?

What Women Really Want : UK Style - Friday 12th August : 10.00pm
What Women Really Want : UK Style Plus 1 - Friday 12th August : 11.00pm
Money. It's grumpy old men with heels on! Er no, it's feisty high-profile women of all ages giving forth on everything from sex and singledom to plastic surgery and pregnancy. Today's hot topic is money - find out what Toyah Willcox, Jenny Eclair, Nadia Almada and other celebs have to say about loot. Narrated by Ulrika Jonsson.

What Women Really Want : UK Style - Monday 15th August : 00.30am
What Women Really Want : UK Style Plus 1 - Monday 15th August : 01.30am
Girlfriends. Get up close and personal with the female psyche in this pacy new series featuring feisty celebrity opinions and gripping true-life stories. In this episode, Jenny Eclair, Toyah Willcox, Jodie Marsh and Sarah Cawood discuss why their girlfriends are so important to them. Discover which celeb hates her own company, and who admits that even her best mates bitch about her behind her back. Miaow! Narrated by Ulrika Jonsson.

Thanks to Dan Reddington.

• Dream FM - An online radio station set up by Dreamweaver (at Dreamscape's Forum) will soon be online, and plans to include Toyah in its playlists. Please visit the thread in the "Totally Toyah Talk" section of the Forum for further info on this.

• For a short period last week Toyah had two entries in the Amazon UK Top Twenty Five pre-orders CD chart. The forthcoming 'Minx' and 'The Safari Records Singles Collection - Part 2' both featured. [Thanks to Dean - aka voodoo doll @ Dreamscape's Forum]

• Toyah also figured recently in the Cherry Red Records Quarterly Best Sellers Chart. 'The Safari Records Singles Collection - Part 1' placed at number 29. [Thanks again to Dean - aka voodoo doll @ Dreamscape's Forum]

The album is released on 29th August 2005 on the Demon/Edsel label, cat no. DIAB8074, featuring 'Minx' era pictures and an introduction by Toyah. 

The tracklist includes the orginal album (including the tracks 'Over Twenty One' and 'Vigilante' - both not included on the vinyl version), plus SIX bonus tracks. This reissue also includes a previously unreleased Extended Mix of 'World in Action'.

Please click on the CD cover if you'd like to order this.

Toyah - 'The Safari Records Singles Collection - Part 2' (1981 to 1983)' (CDMRED 267). Tracklist: 1. I Want To Be Free, 2. Walke Talkie, 3. Alien, 4. Thunder In The Mountains, 5. Street Addict, 6. Voodoo Doll, 7. Good Morning Universe, 8. Urban Tribesmen, 9. In The fairground, 10. Furious Futures, 11. Brave New World (Single Edit), 12. Warrior Rock, 13. Ieya '82 (Full-length re-recorded version), 14. Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard), 15. Laughing With The Fools, 16. Rebel Run, 17. To The Mountains High, 18. Baptised In Fire, 19. The Vow, 20. I Explode, 21. Haunted.

Please click on the CD cover if you'd like to order this.

Rubiz Costume Jewellery was created by John Wain (Ruby) in 1994... In August 1996, "Toyah Willcox" performed @ ‘The Club’ (we renamed ‘Mates’ to ‘The Club’) to mark the “Grand Completion Party”. Toyah loved my jewels, she was on T.V. the next night wearing a huge ring that she’d only just had from me…I was so excited! Myself and Toyah have since become close friends, and she has introduced me to many more celebrity clients...

Please click on the logo to visit the new website.

The Lowry is hosting one of the regional heats for ITV’s A Brush with Fame, a brand new ‘pop idol’ style programme, where members of the public compete to paint the most impressive portrait of a celebrity. At The Lowry the celebrities are Toyah Willcox and John Stapleton who will be posing in dramatic costumes while contestants line up with their brushes. The winner will scoop a cash prize, a contract with the UK’s leading Art Publishers, Washington Green and appear on the final programme, presented by Carol Smillie. 

Although the event at The Lowry is fully subscribed, ITV are still looking for contestants in Newcastle, Cardiff and Glasgow. For more information on how to become an artist to the stars then call 0871 200 2200.