Could Toyah really follow in the illustrious footsteps of Fraser Hines and Bonnie Langford to timetravel in the Tardis with the Doctor?

If you think this is a good idea, click on the pic to add your opinion to the poll.

Thanks to Gareth Suthers.

Following on from those (untrue) "Toyah in Taboo" rumours from a couple of months back, I'd like to suggest another...

Wouldn't it be cool to see Toyah play the lead in Evita? (stop shouting NO, and throwing things, you at the back!) If it ever tours the UK again, that is!

I don't think there has been a major musical tour of this since the big budget film in 1997, so maybe it's time for the Perons to hit the road again. Dictators need to pay the mortgage too, y'know:)

Some people think Evita is a turgid, cliched rock-opera, written by Satan himself (yes, both of them!). Others are of the opinion that it's possibly one of the best stage musicals of modern theatre. I just think Toyah would look amazing as Eva, and, after a year of Calamity Jane, would definitely be able to sing the score.

So, how about it? Evita!, Toyah! Evita!

Name and shame 
We are not bewitched by celebrities, we just find them hilarious, says Rod Liddle

A friend who is a TV presenter rang me recently and said: “Hi there, wish me luck, I’m recording this TV programme and it’s pretty hard stuff. I have to be the Duke of Wellington and marshal all these troops against Napoleon’s men, who some other celebrity is in charge of.” It was an odd way to spend the day, she added. “But I think I’m doing all right. The filming went well.” 

I was worried when I heard this. I thought uh-oh, she’s been conned by some pseudo-satirical production company which is having fun taking the piss out of “celebs”. Nobody would really want to watch a programme where daytime TV presenters, beautiful though they can be, and though my friend certainly is, are forced to pretend that they’re significant figures from British military history, like Wellington and Cromwell and Alfred and Montgomery and Haig. What would be the point, or the interest? It is, I thought to myself, a truly stupid idea and must, therefore, be a nasty ruse of some sort. 

But mercifully I was wrong. It is, after all, a real programme. I don’t know where it will be shown, or when - and I would guess that, like you, I may be able to find something more compelling to do whenever it is shown, like cut my toenails or stab the cat or just stare at the kitchen wall which has, of late, become encrusted with grime and bestrewn with spider webs. 

But, whatever, it’s a real programme like Celebrity Dog School - with Julian Clary and Ronnie Corbett - and Celebrity Fit Club and Celebrity Big Brother Pet Hospital Animal Sex Get Me Out Of Here Clinic. Well, sure, OK, not the last one, except in purely generic terms. What I mean is - someone, a television production executive, really thought it would be a good idea. In other words, they thought we’d want to watch it. 

A few years ago in Viz magazine, the appalling “Roger Mellie The Man on The Telly” came up with a programme idea called “Celebrity Bumhole”, in which third-grade celebs had to identify each other using only the anal sphincter muscle as a guide. But we’ve rather gone past that just recently, haven’t we? Satire cannot keep pace with television; television is way, way ahead of us all, ahead even of Roger Mellie. 

Which is why the E4 programme The Pilot Show is a particularly cruel invention. In this show, eager celebrities are offered the chance to pilot what are, actually, entirely fictitious programmes. And we watch, and consider the programmes they are being offered and think good lord, how could you not know, you fool? So the clever and likeable and very pretty Gail Porter is offered Where There’s a Will, which turns out to be a bunch of nubile slappers attempting to win the hand - and thus will - of a dying millionaire. 

And there’s another fictitious programme in which the public is encouraged by some unwitting quasi-celeb to do something “really deranged” - and, of course, they do; they beat up tramps and smear dog excrement over women and stuff like that. In the most recent edition, the minxy programme makers hoodwinked Dean Gaffney, Trude Mostue and Toyah Willcox. I’ve never even heard of the first two, maybe you have, but Toyah was sweet and caring, gently offering “celebrity advice” to a man who claimed that he kept his own excrement in a fridge because he couldn’t bear to be apart from it. Well, hell, we’ve all been there. 

But a couple of things occur. First, and most obviously, is the clear fact that the division between the fictitious programmes concocted by E4 and the programmes actually being shown on Channel 4 - and ITV and BBC - is so slim as to be nonexistent. It is hard to laugh at the stupidity of the celebs when we know that television will, for real, trawl through almost any depths of stupidity in order to gain our attention. “Celebrity Bumhole”, for example, is a slightly more entertaining - and intelligent - prospect than Celebrity Dog School, with or without Ronnie Corbett. Although depending, I suppose, on the quality of the various bumholes on display. And the dogs, too. The thing is, inside every B-list celebrity is a psyche which these days knows that television will one day offer them something absolutely mind-numbingly brainless, or crass, or gross, and they will do it because it is their job and they get well paid for it. And, I guess, it beats working. 

The third point, though, is rather more counter-intuitive. You may, by now, be bored witless by the endless chuntering of media pundits telling us that we live in a celebrity-obsessed culture. Every time some pompous old hack or emeritus academic climbs on to his pulpit to tell us that David Beckham and Victoria Adams constitute a sort of new royal family and what a pretty pass it has come to when we can be so shallow and dumb and bereft, then boredom reaches out its big brown paws and starts to smother me. 

It’s not simply that I’ve heard it all before, a million times - but that it is quite patently wrong. There is a massive industry devoted to endlessly repeating this canard. Check out the websites, for example. There are professors of media relations and philosophy and communications and sociology maundering over the very notion of the term “celebrity”, whether it has appeared only in the past 45 years, the bastard offspring of Logie Baird, or if it was alluded to, pejoratively, by Cicero or Tacitus 2,000 or so years before. But though they may differ on the historical roots of celebritydom, they all seem to agree that we’re in thrall and that this is, per se, a bad thing. 

One article I read, by a chap called Norman Solomon, bemoaned (in the hilarious hand-wringing tones of The Guardian’s fictitious Bel Littlejohn) that our obsession with celebrity culture had made us, as a people, ignore individuals who were responsible for “sustaining movements for unionisation, civil rights, peace and gender equality”. Yeah? no kidding, Norm. 

This inordinate disdain for hoi polloi - the idea that for the great unwashed mass of ordinary people the notion of serious accomplishment is merely caviar to the general, as Shakespeare had it - is founded on an obvious misconception. People are not remotely obsessed with celebrities: they simply find them hilarious, and wonderful entertainment value. 

People who are prepared to appear on television are, all of them, clowns to be poked at and conned and harassed and chortled over. There is no reverence for them whatsoever. And this is a contract which the celebrities, bless them, cheerfully sign. Yeah, they say; we’ll do that. Just give us the money. It is only when they renege on the deal by suing for invasion of privacy, or whatever, that the public really turns on them, as you will discover by browsing through any red-top newspaper any day of the week. The contract is binding. And the public is nowhere near as guileless as the media academics and commentators might think, or wish, them to be.

Brum : CBeebies - Saturday 6th December : 2.20pm
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.

Toyah, in a variety of poses, is pictured on a red sofa/chaise longue.

The photos are captioned "Toyah Willcox - On The Couch", so may be part of publicity for a new TV series? (Or possibly simply because she is pictured on the, er, couch!!?).

Who knows? I'm sure we will all find out sooner or later.

Great pictures anyway!

The Ashford Town Centre Christmas lights were switched on by Toyah Willcox star of this year's panto, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. Toyah, with the help of 9 year old Eilis Hall from Kingsnorth, who was choosen by AHBS at the William Harvey Hospital for her coverage, whilst in hospital through the summer.

(Source: www.ashfordtcp.co.uk/news.php : November 17th, 2003).

The series producers lured unsuspecting celebrities into taking part in ridiculous (and fake) TV shows. Embarrassing as some of the clips are, it has to be said that each and everyone who took part had to give their permission for their footage to be broadcast.

Toyah took part in 'Celebrity Advice Bureau', in which well-known faces advise people (or little-known actors, to be more precise) with strange ailments, phobias and habits. Toyah had to deal with a bloke who said he had an obsessive disorder and hated to throw anything away as he felt it would eventually affect someone else. So he kept everything, including his own "poo" (as Toyah called it) in his freezer.

Toyah initially looked shocked, then bemused, told him that was "mad!" (hee hee!), and eventually advised him it was a health hazard and he should, "Throw away the poo! Break the spell!".

Not sure if Toyah will be appearing every week with "advice".

When the press originally ran stories about this show they called it 'Lapdance Island'. This is actually just one of the fake shows included, in which unsuspecting men audition to go to an island inhabitated by 40 lapdancers!!!

Toyah plays Sue, a girl who dreams of performing on Top Of The Pops, and who, with a little help from her friend, Barry (played by Phil Daniels), she breaks into the studio where the music show is filmed.

Noel Edmonds, Dixie Dean and 70's band Bilbo Baggins also make appearances along the way.

Glitter was filmed in 1975 and broadcast by the BBC on the 28th November 1976.

Click the pictures for more screen caps at Dreamscape's Captured section.

Read all about Toyah's thoughts on her 25th Anniversary concert, snippets of what she is planning on doing in 2004, and what she thinks of Thoroughly Modern Mille (with Amanda Holden and Maureen Lipman), the musical now playing at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London.

This Saturday she will be in Ashford: "The Ashford Town Centre Christmas lights will be switched on at our Christmas Family Fun Day on this Saturday 15th November 2003. The Christmas lights will be switched on at 4.15pm by Toyah Willcox star of this years Panto Snow White and the Seven Drawfts at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury.Toyah will be assisted by 9 year Eilis Hall from Kingsnorth, who was choosen by AHBS at the William Harvey Hospital for her coverage, whilst in hospital through the summer." (Source: www.ashfordtcp.co.uk).

Two weeks later on Saturday 29th November, Toyah, along with Shaun Williamson (aka Barry Evans from Eastenders) and comedian Dave Lee, will switch on the Christmas lights in Dover:

"The Dover Christmas Gala Switch-on is being billed as the year's biggest event. The Christmas Lights will be swicthed on at 6.30pm by celebrities Shaun Williamson, Toyah Willcox, and Dave Lee. After the lights have been switched on there will be singers and live bands. What's more, the whole program of events, which are to run all day, will be broadcast live on Radio Kent." (Source: www.dover-web.co.uk).

"This Christmas, The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury is putting on a real treat for all the family! From Thursday 4 December to Sunday 25 January, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs takes the stage to thrill adults and children alike! Everyone loves Panto and there is no better way to get into the Christmas spirit than joining the stars for two hours of fun, laughter and plenty of audience participation! After nine years with Britain’s favourite soap as down-on-his-luck Barry Evans, we have Shaun Williamson in his first post-EastEnders role as Muddles, the Court Jester. Equally high in the celebrity stakes is another major star, Toyah Willcox, fresh from her stint in the Jungle and her fantastic performance as Calamity Jane in the West End. Toyah has appeared in Panto at The Marlowe Theatre before, and this year she relishes the chance of playing the Wicked Queen, Snow White’s nemesis. 

Fantastic sets, lavish costumes and, of course, the Seven Dwarfs, complete this Christmas package. Treat the family to a live extravaganza at The Marlowe Theatre, with Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, the perfect seasonal activity! Box Office 01227 787787."

100 Greatest Pop Culture Icons : VH1 - Saurday 15th November : 8.00pm
Tune into VH1 this Saturday at 8pm when gorgeous actress Anna Friel will guide you through the full 100 Greatest Pop Culture Icons, as voted by you - the definitive countdown of your favourite pop culture icons. You've voted in your thousands, and now is the time to find out where your favourite icons are placed as well as finding out how you've voted number one. 

• In light of Madonna's recent success as a children's author, it was interesting to hear Toyah mention that she has "written a complete synopsis for a book, not so much a children’s book, more of a story for adults to rediscover the child within them." Toyah has shown, with her 2000 autobiography 'Living Out Loud', that she is a consummate writer, so another book penned by her is definitely something to look forward to.

• Calamity rides again?? Anyone still suffering from Calamity Jane withdrawl symptoms can take comfort in the "rumours" that the show may tour the UK again in 2004. Whether Toyah will, once more, play the lead isn't known but I guess she is the obvious choice after the hugely successful 2002/03 tour. 

Maybe something similar to the Rocky Horror Picture Show tour? The musical toured the UK last year to great sucess and is currently revisiting the theatres it was most well received at.

• Toyah's 'One-Woman-Show'? Interesting quote from Toyah's Official site: "I’ve formulated a one woman show, that a producer has accepted and is now planning to put into theatres for next year. It comprises of myself, songs that are relevant to my life, just one other person on stage, who and what this person does I will not reveal, but it is a nice idea that I hope will appeal to punks, Goths, Calamity fans and those who don’t normally venture into theatres. All this will become clear when the dates are announced." - Sounds good.

It's a small piece about The Pilot Show, the spoof celebrity series, which has already aired on E4 and begins on Channel 4 this coming Friday.

TV World: Friday November 14th
NEW! The Pilot Show
Channel 4, 11.15pm
By being on TV, rubbish can seem worth watching and - if you're a celeb - worth starring in. Here the unwitting stars line up to make bogus pilot shows with no chance of a series. So in Celebrity Advice Bureau poor Toyah Willcox warns someone against storing his own faeces, while Hear'Say has-been Danny Foster must slap utter strangers and run away.

Adventure Two finds Toyah transported to China, and no sooner has she arrived than she is helping a Princess in distress (as you do when you land at the Great Wall!).

Click the strip to read more, and to visit Dreamscape's new 'Magic Patch'.

Thanks again to TON-E (aka sleepingharbinger).

No sign of Toyah, or any of the other junglers, at the awards show. Only Phil Tuffnell, who won the series in May, seemed to be in attendance, and accepted the gong on behalf of the show and other contestants. Congratulations!

This is a genuine and unique item donated to LEPRA by Toyah Willcox to raise money for our work fighting leprosy and diseases of poverty in the developing world.

As we estimate that it costs around £21 to help cure somebody of leprosy, every bid we receive really could transform somebody's life.

In 2001 Dreamscape placed 324th out of over 2,600 music websites, and last year did even better by coming 244th from 3000 sites. Every vote counts so please click the IMA image - THANKS!

• Toyah received a mention in an interview with Mark Wingett, of The Bill, in last Wednesday's 'Daily Mirror': "I had a great drama teacher, Mr Green, who encouraged me to audition for the National Theatre and that was it. By the time I was 18 I got a part in the movie Quadrophenia along with Sting, Michael Elphick, Toyah Willcox and Lesley Ash. I don't think any of us had proper training. We just knew what we wanted to do."

Ready Steady Cook : UK Food - Saturday 8th November :12.00
Ready Steady Cook : UK Food - Sunday 9th November : 11.30am
TV stars take up the challenge to cook a meal in 20 minutes. In this edition, singer-songwriter Midge Ure and broadcaster Toyah Willcox team up with chefs Antony Worrall Thompson and Lesley Waters. Presented by Ainsley Harriott.

The diet
During the diet, alcohol, cigarettes and caffeine are banned and dieters are encourage to exercise and drink eight to ten glasses of water a day. But this is the easy bit for Toyah, who already follows these rules in her daily regime. At 45, she's a health enthusiast with an image far removed from her days as a rebellious punk singer. 'I'm very diet conscious,' she says. 'I don't drink alcohol, tea or coffee. And I don't eat dairy or wheat.'

Although she says she has to watch her weight, Toyah - at 5ft 1in and weighing 8st 2lb - is tiny but athletic. She keeps in good shape with a daily two-hour aerobic workout.

Her busy schedule tested the diet's promise to boost energy levels. 'Like any woman of my age I will, of course, be delighted if the diet can reduce the effects of ageing on my skin,' she says. 'And I always look forward to having more energy. That's something you can't get enough of. But I worry I'll struggle to stick to the diet, simply because looking at the menu there's so much food! I usually eat smaller meals that consist mainly of fruit and vegetables around five times a day.'

The verdict
After three days the diet certainly seems to have worked, but Toyah has some reservations. 'The breakfast alone is more than I would eat in a main meal. And some days you just don't fancy eating salmon steak first thing in the morning. This feels to me like overeating and, if the diet lasted longer than three days, I'm sure I'd out on weight.'

And her skin? 'Yes, I can notice a difference. My face does feel smoother. As I've got older I've noticed that my skin's drainage and replenishing systems have become less efficient. All that fish has put the oil back in my skin.

'It's been a good time to follow the three-day plan because my schedule has been so hectic and full-on. It gave me a lot of energy, so that was good.

'My beauty therapist has a lot of celebrity clients and she always says that as we age our faces sag and look thinner,' says Toyah. 'Women in showbiz are always trying to find ways to combat that. My face does feel plumped up. And the fine lines have improved.

Over the three days Toyah spent around £40 on the food she prepared, making it an expensive diet. 'But it does work,' she says. 'It would be brilliant or someone who drinks and smokes. I'm looking forward to going back to my normal eating habits, but after trying this diet I'll definitely eat more salmon - every now and then when I feel I need a quick face fix'.

'Love Is The Law', at the time, was Toyah's most melodic collection of songs to date, and possibly her most accessible music. During interviews in 1983 she gushed about how, for the first time, she had written love songs. However, among the music, and voice(s), dark themes still lurked, with lyrics about outer- space, martians, violence, nightmares, and urban-decay.

'Love Is The Law' is definitely one of the most important releases of Toyah's music career, and most of her fans have a soft spot for it. Criminally, especially as some have been issued twice, it is her only studio album never to have been released on CD...STILL! But best not to get started on that topic again!

Check back soon for a page celebrating the brilliance of 'Love Is The Law' - Still awesome, after 20 years.

Thanks to Andrew York.

Toyah tries out a three-day facelift diet... Not that much of a difference between the "before" and "after" pictures, aside from better lighting and make-up. Toyah does look good, though.

From 'Now': "It’s the latest craze in Hollywood and the Perricone diet claims you can reduce wrinkles and turn back the clock in just 72 hours by eating large amounts of salmon. With the help of singer-turned-TV presenter Toyah Willcox, we put the fish facelift to the test."

Thanks to Stephen Bennett for the info.
 

Ultimately she raised a lot of money for a very deserving charidee, so it was definitely a worthwhile exercise.

The series is nominated in the National Television Awards 2003, in the MOST POPULAR REALITY PROGRAMME category. Other nominees are; Big Brother, Jamie's Kitchen, and SAS: Are You Tough Enough?

I'm A Celebrity is currently favourite to win the award in its category, so maybe Toyah, and her jungle mates (some of who are on TV far too much already, thanks to being on IAC) will attend the awards show?

For details on how to vote (by phone or text) click on the picture.

The National TV Awards : ITV1 - Tuesday 28th October : 8.00pm

The soaraway winner of our vote to find our best-loved local pop/rock star is - Toyah!

We received a tremendous response to the fun poll - which also featured rock wildman Ozzy Osbourne, Led Zeppelin legend Robert Plant, ex-New Romantic Simon Le Bon and stomptastic Slade frontman Noddy Holder.

So, after seven days of fluctuating fortunes on our home page, it's congratulations to the former flame-haired popster who stormed out in front after what appears to be a concerted campaign by her fans.

We at icBrum must admit that, if we happened to be betting people, our money would have rested with international superstar Ozzy.

But the people have spoken! Toyah’s far-and-away the champ.

She recorded 3,022 votes (49%), with Noddy Holder at 1,678 (27%), Ozzy Osbourne at 669 (10%) Robert Plant 565 (9%) and Simon Le Bon 158 (2%).

Toyah Factfile
• Acting career began at the Old Rep Drama School, Birmingham. Toyah hit headlines in the 1977 punk epic movie Jubilee. 
• Toyah's band was gaining critical success in 1979 and following year album The Blue Meaning became a Top 40 hit. 
• Throughout the 80s and 90s major film, stage, music and TV work continue. Toyah takes role of Miranda in move version of the Tempest. Album The Blue Meaning became a Top 40 hit. 
• Toyah joined her fellow 80's pop music contemporaries, ABC, Howard Jones and ex-Spandau Ballet in April 2002 
• May 2003, a brand new mini-album Velvet Lined Shell was released. 
• Toyah later this year will be performing concerts to mark the celebration of her 25 years in show business. 

In 2001 Dreamscape placed 324th out of over 2,600 music websites, and last year did even better by coming 244th from 3000 sites. Every vote counts so please click the IMA image - THANKS!

TAURUS: 27 April - 21 May
As mentioned in last week's horoscope, certain workmates are being right pains in the bum. By now, you and fellow Taurean Toyah Willcox should have clocked the hard cases and made moves to thwart their dastardly plans. Careful how you go, mind. Mercury's in Libra this week and that doesn't bode well for those bulls who act too quickly or too fiercely. While getting your own back is understandable, being seen to be a bully is most definitely not. Go slow and take it easy.

Heat magazine, Issue 239 (4th - 10th October 2003).

The article was titled "I Still Want To Be Free" and featured Toyah at her home in the Vale Of Evesham in Worcestershire, talking about the house, its surroundings, and describing many of the objects she has collected from over the years and now keeps there.

Toyah's 'Be Proud Be Loud (Be Heard)' costume and her 'Rebel Run'/'Love Is The Law' head armour are pictured, though she doesn't actually mention these items.

Please click the picture for a larger version, plus full article text.

Many thanks to John Shepherd for all the scans. Thanks also to Brian Green and Michael O'Brien.

OUT TO LUNCH

Famous for her distinctive 80s hits like It's A Mystery, Toyah is now more likely to be found letting her "whip crack away" on the West End stage.

Toyah, 45, recently appeared in the second series of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here. She is also the voice that says "bye-bye" to the Teletubbies. Currently appearing in the West End production of Calamity Jane, she lives in Chiswick and is married to Nashville-based guitarist Robert Fripp.

"I know what poverty is like - I think it's the most frightening, powerless position to be in."

Read the full interview, at Dreamscape's Article Archive, by clicking the picture.

Huge thanks to Alec Kelly for this.

These are definitely something of a Toyah curiosity and feature some fairly good/bad (depending on how you like your art) drawings of her shopping, hanging out with witches, and helping Boadicea fight centurions and horsemen with a can of hairspray!!

These are two decades old but hopefully you will still be able to read adventure one. Click the picture to do so. Two and three will be added in the weeks to come.

Many thanks to TON-E (aka sleepingharbinger) for taking the time to send these scans.

Toyah's classic album, 'Anthem', was spotted in the window of a shop in Amsterdam last week. The shop in question is located in the Magda Plaza. Great to think they still think the album is worthy of such a prominent position after all these years.

Anthem - Facts & figures.
• Anthem is Toyah's best known, and most commercially successful album.
• Anthem' was recorded at the Marquee Studios in London. It was produced by Nick Tauber, engineered and mixed by Phil Harding & arranged by Toyah.
• The sleeve design and art direction is by John Gordon from a concept by Toyah. Photography is by Jay Mydral.
• The Anthem sleeve was voted the Best of 1981 by readers of Record Mirror. It was, however, also included in the reject section of the 1981 Rock Yearbook's Album Sleeves. 
• The Toyah band at the time of recording 'Anthem' was: Toyah : Vocals (Alias The Boss), Joel Bogen : Guitar, Nigel Glockler : Drums, Phil Spalding : Bass, Adrian Lee : Keyboards, 
• Anthem reached number two in the UK album charts, spending 46 weeks in total in the listings.

Many thanks to Alec Kelly for the picture.

I recently submitted to Elephant Talk (Robert Fripp enthusiasts' newsletter) about the many unreleased tracks by Sunday All Over The World. I was intending to post it on your guestbook but the content is too long. I am hoping to generate enough interest in this group to convince "the powers that be" that there is a market for the long promised but never delivered live SAOTW album. If you can help out in any way it would be most appreciated.

Many of you will be familiar with the brilliant Kneeling At The Shrine album by Fripp, Toyah, Gunn & Beavis's group Sunday All Over The World. However many of you may not know that this group have *many* unreleased songs in the archives that, in my opinion, are crying out for release (DGM Collectors Club perhaps?). Anyway, I recently took advantage of the fact that Toyah's official site was accepting submissions for questions from "fans" for a 25th anniversary interview and posted this question:

<<In an interview circa 1997 you revealed that things were set for the release of a SUNDAY ALL OVER THE WORLD live album featuring many otherwise unheard tracks. This album has never appeared. Now that certain elements of your back catalogue are returning to your control is it more likely that we will see the release of this proposed album or any other "lost" recordings?>>

Unfortunately the people responsible for selecting which questions would actually make the interview did not find my question up to the standard expected in such circumstances and it did not make the cut. So, looking forward, I have decided to post this here in the hope that enough people will show interest in this wonderful group and maybe, just possibly, something can start the wheels in motion over in Fripp &/or Toyah land to actually see the long-lost live SAOTW album finally released. 

In the hope of inspiring you all to write feverishly to this site/list 
(or myself, or the sources of the music) I include below a list of songs from the SAOTW tours (including the first tour under the name "Fripp, Fripp") which are *not* on the Kneeling At The Shrine album. All of these song titles are unique to this group (ie: they are not songs that Toyah has performed elsewhere) and the list was taken from the live archives at Toyah's official site.

UNRELEASED SONGS
1. Cool Heart
2. Furnace
3. Requite Me
4. Born Again
5. The Big Sleep (Fripp, Fripp tour only)
6. Worst In Me
7. Stone Throwers
8. Screaming Head
9. In The Big Dream
10. Idiot Dancing

There are also two songs from these tours that ended up on Toyah's post-SAOTW album Ophelia's Shadow (which featured basically the same musicians). These tracks are:

11. Brilliant Day
12. Lords Of The Never Known

So, essentially we have 12 non-album SAOTW tracks. Enough to justify an archive release I'd say. It may be the case that some of these tracks were retitled and ended up on Kneeling At The Shrine or Ophelia's Shadow, but I personally doubt that. (For the record Kneeling At The Shrine features four tracks that, according to the archive at Toyah's site, were never performed live: Don't Take It Away, Answered With A Smile, Storm Angel & Freedom.)

Just think, there's basically a second entire album of SAOTW material that has never been released! Now I want to hear that!

As Max says, "Let the wild rumpus start!" 

Cheers for now,
Owen Keenan
Area Controller (and SAOTW enthusiast)
Southern Rail Management Centre
Junee NSW AUSTRALIA

No longer turning suburbia upside down former punk rocker now praises W4's community spirit

“I’m not one of these actors who’s very good at waiting for the phone to ring,” Toyah tells me in her dressing room at the Shaftesbury Theatre, where she is having a whip–cracking success as Calamity Jane (see picture right), that legendary, gun-toting, whisky-drinking gal of the wild west. “I love to work, so if there are no good scripts offered to me, I’ll just go off and find something else to do.”

This must explain why she has had such a varied career. In the past twenty five years in the business (and she’s still only forty five!), she has headed a punk rock band, been a TV presenter, done voice-overs for children’s programmes (a whole generation of tots know her voice as that calming goodbye in Teletubbies), done Shakespeare at the National Theatre, starred in movies such as Quadrophenia and Jubilee, flown through the air as Peter Pan – and made guest appearances in TV series such as Kavanagh QC, Maigret, Tales of the Unexpected and Doctors. And that’s not to mention the many live concerts and sell-out albums she has done simply as Toyah, singer. Yes, it’s obvious she doesn’t like to wait by the phone.

“I think of myself as an actor, really,” she says. “I mean, I don’t consider myself a singer. I’ve always thought an actor can tackle anything, so that’s the banner I stand under.”

Does she feel she is following in the footsteps of Doris Day, with the coveted role of Calamity? “No, I don’t. This is a completely separate production. It’s a great movie and Doris Day was marvellous in the role, but we are telling the story of the real Calamity Jane, not the Hollywood version. She was born around 1857 and she was a pioneer and a scout for the army. She was often arrested for being drunk and for prostitution – and she was probably the most unattractive woman you could imagine as a romantic heroine. She and Wild Bill Hickock were in quite a wild bunch – they toured together in the circus. He was married, but rumour has it that Calamity had a baby by him. She died quite soon after him, at about age 37. I mean, she was a legend during her own life and very liberated in many ways, when you consider she was touring in England during the reign of Queen Victoria, when women’s lives were so prim and proper. For me, she is far more interesting in reality than the Calamity in the movie. Of course, what we have inherited from the movie are the fantastic songs, a wonderful storyline, some really funny lines – and a feelgood love story, where love overcomes people’s foibles. We are very grateful for that. But our production is less glitzy than the movie.” 

Toyah lives in Chiswick but doesn’t feel her roots are there, or anywhere else for that matter. “I feel I’m a touring actress,” she says with a smile. “I get home once a week. At the moment, I happen to be in the West End, so I go home to Chiswick. But I’m out of the country for the whole of next year – and that’s pretty much been the pattern for the past 25 years. I’m very much a suitcase person, and I don’t carry much with me. The same is true of my homes – here in Chiswick and in Worcestershire – they are very low maintenance. I don’t want to be weighed down by possessions.” So, home is inside her own head? She laughs. “Yes, and in the boot of my car.”

Her marriage to Nashville musician Robert Fripp is equally low maintenance, though very committed and happy. “We both share this work ethic,” Toyah explains. “We work in different fields and we often live in different places. We understand each other’s needs and ambitions and our lifestyles seem to suit the marriage – and I think that’s why we’ve remained married for 17 years.” I point out that the press never seem to write about Toyah, married woman. “Well, we’re both so work-oriented, so we don’t do parties. There isn’t that much gossip about us. I think the columnists are remarkably bored with us. No-one shows any interest in our private life at all, which is rather a blessing.” They don’t have any children, nor a marital home – none of the traditional things that supposedly hold marriages together. “I think we’re together because we really want to be. We are bound by a shared knowledge of what we don’t want!”

Perhaps because of this laid-back, non-materialistic lifestyle, some magazines refer to Toyah as a hippie, which intrigues her. “I don’t know how I’ve managed to be a punk and a hippie,” she laughs. “But there are worse things they could call me. Actually, I do love living in Chiswick, because it is filled with the most wonderful people. The community and the spirit of Chiswick prevent me from moving anywhere else, closer to town or whatever. You can sit in a café on the High Road and just watch people go by – I love it to death. I really think a place is the people in it. My neighbours are so good to me – they come and tell me if any strangers have been hanging around, looking suspicious. If an alarm goes off in the street, people do something about it – they don’t just ignore it. I think that’s pretty rare these days.”

Now theatre buffs who have laughed and cried from the front row seats are to get the chance to own a piece of Birmingham's theatrical history.

The Birmingham Rep is having a grand sale of theatrical items on October 28.

The auction will also be filmed for ITV's house-clearance and collectibles show, Everything Must Go!

Among the items up for grabs is Mr Toad's motor from Wind In The Willows, Wendy's House and the Pirate's Raft from Peter Pan.

There are also a pair of cannons, a baby grand piano, props, posters and furniture.

A range of spectacular costumes worn by stars such as June Brown, Letitia Dean and Toyah Willcox will also be up for grabs.

All the money raised from the event will go towards the refurbishment of The Door, the Rep's studio space dedicated new plays by up-and-coming writers.

The sale begins at 2pm and the auction for the costumes will be at 2pm.

Everything Must Go! presenters, Clayton Riches and Adrienne Lawler, will be helping out at the sale as The Rep opens the doors to the traffic of eager buyers.

Those who attended the concert, not just fans, but friends of fans, friends of friends of fans (!!), and the just plain curious, have all raved about how amazing Toyah was, and what a full-on excellent performance she gave. Hard to believe she turned 45 this year.

Definitely destined to go down near the top of the, already, long list of legendary Toyah outings.

Lots of brilliant pictures of Toyah, from the night, have also emerged over the past days. These here were taken by Damon King. I'll be adding more over the weekend, to the newly created "25th Anniversary Gig" section, so please check back and have a look.

Also highly recommended is Kevin's MERMAID DAYS website. Kev has added dozens of excellent pictures he took at the gig. There's a link to MD on the front page of this site. 

Toyah Willcox,actress, singer, T.V celebrity will turn on Ashford's Christmas Lights 

The Ashford Town Centre Christmas lights will be switched on at our Christmas Family Fun Day on Saturday 15th November 2003. 

The Christmas lights will be switched on by Toyah Willcox star of this years Panto Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury.

NB: Toyah's apron design recently went for the princely sum of £100. (See 2nd October news update below for the design).

Yep, Toyah's long-anticipated and much-awaited (or something like that) 25th ANNIVERSARY GIG finally took place at the weekend. And what a night it was.

It was like 1980, '81, '82, or even '83, but in a 2003 kind-of-way! The atmosphere was definitely reminiscent of some of those early gigs, and Toyah played quite a few of her songs from those days. Heck, she even had some orangey, reddy bits in her hair.

Though it was, of course, a night of nostalgia, and a celebration of the incredible 25 years of entertainment Toyah has given us, the gig was also very "now". Toyah 2003 is a woman, a performer, in her prime. She looked fantastic, sounded incredible, appeared deliriously happy, and the audience reaction and gig atmosphere was amazing. All conspiring to ensure the evening wasn't just retrospective. 

Before the gig it felt like something was ending. After, it felt like the start of something. A new beginning (no pun intended).

A brilliant, brilliant night, which, hopefully, will lead to many more.

It was great to meet everyone I did:) Unfortunatey I missed loads too :(

Thanks to Derek Williams for the pictures. Please click on them for more.

Toyah has promised old and new music (concentrating on songs she has written), plus a few surprises. Not much else to say, except - can't bloomin' wait!!

Definitely an evening not to be missed. Hopefully I'll see some of you there :))

Remember The Eighties
TOYAH, who will be celebrating her 25th Anniversary in music with a special one-off show at London's Mean Fiddler on October 10th will be joined for the night by former KAJAGOOGOO members NICK BEGGS AND STEVE ASKEW who will be part of her band.

Toyah, on Den's shooting: "For some reason this man is holding a bunch of daffodils as if he's either got a child in his arms, or an uzi!"

Toyah, on Angie having six months to live: "You're thinking, 'Is this true? Has she?', and for a moment you feel terribly sorry for her. You think, 'Oh, they're gonna kill Ange off. She's gonna die. This is awful!' And then slowly you realise she's having a game, and what a great game."

Toyah, on Leslie Grantham: "I can totally understand why women went wild for Leslie Grantham. He's a charismatic man, and he's obviously a bloody good actor as well."

Toyah, on Sharon: "Den didn't like his little girl having sexual interests in somebody else. It was almost bordering on an incestuous relationship, even though that was never, ever touched upon. But the way that Den was played, you kind of thought, 'Will he go a step too far with his daughter?'

Just a note... sure we don't need to remind you all who are in hot anticipation of Toyah's upcoming 25th ANniversary Gig THIS FRIDAY --10th OCTOBER -- at the Mean Fiddler.. But......

Be warned showtime will be 8:30pm so make sure you don't get there any later as we know for a fact the opening of the gig is NOT TO BE MISSED!! Toyah doesn't want anyone to miss the start of the night.. get there early or prompt for this exposive night!

Very exciting, and proving that 'Thunder' is still an awesome tune.

There was also a short text plug for Toyah's 25th Anniversary Gig. I'm sure the rebel in your soul is singing "go!".

Thanks to Giddy Gavin Brick.

Plus, possibly one of the coolest additions in the website's history. A fantastic, and very interesting and revealing, interview ( The 25th Anniversay Interview) constructed and compiled using questions submitted by Toyah fans. A must read!

Thanks to Lee Jones

Personal Passions : BBC Prime - Sunday 12th October : 2.45am 
Toyah Willcox talks to Peter Curran about her drive to recreate the glories of a garden once owned by Cecil Beaton.

One off apron created by Toyah Willcox 
Gourmet Fashion - Look good in the kitchen in this exclusive apron designed by Toyah Willcox.

This must-have apron is a complete one off and is the only one in existence.

All money raised from the auction of this apron will be donated to Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Swindon-based Inbox was appointed earlier this month to develop a new approach to Esure's marketing, targeting recipients on opted-in third-party lists. The campaigns, developed by Inbox Media, feature animations of a home and car, accompanied by a voiceover from former 80s punk star and 'Teletubbies' narrator Toyah Willcox. Each email will be dispatched by Inbox to third-party email marketing lists of consumers about to renew their insurance policies, reaching a total of 38,000 UK consumers this week. If the drive turns out to be successful, the emails will continue to be sent at monthly intervals to similar lists over the year. Chris Bowden, marketing manager of Esure, said: "Inbox has responded to our brief with an extremely innovative email campaign that combines sophisticated personalisation with humour and great charm. Initial feedback is extremely good and I am confident that this unique approach to financial services marketing will really hit the spot with consumers." The creative used in the campaign reflects Esure's graphic identity by using its brand colours, orange and blue, and follows on from the style of the company's current press ads. It also aims to allow Esure to get closer to its customers through personalising its service. Mel Stanley, head of planning at Inbox, said: "We are confident that the creative, combined with the clever incorporation of personalisation throughout each animation, will ensure high open, response and forward rates. This, coupled with the timing of the promotions, and Esure's low cost for low claims proposition will, without doubt, generate new, long-term business for both home and motor insurance." Esure was launched in 2000 as a joint venture between Direct Line founder Peter Wood and HBOS. The internet and telephone based insurance company is best known for featuring Michael Winner in its ads, which are written and directed by the 'Death Wish' director. Founded in 1999, Inbox has created award-winning campaigns for its clients, which include Vodafone, BBC, Miele, BMW, Bupa and Film Four.

Toyah, of course, has links to the Birmingham Old Repertory Theatre dating back to her teenage years. Indeed, she trained to be an actress there, and filmed her first ever TV show, Glitter, while still studying at the drama school.

The Arcadians' production of Calamity Jane, something else now synonomous with Toyah, will run at the theatre from 21st to 25th October.

For further details plase click on the CJ image to visit The Arcadians' website.

"Toyah comes on like Alison Goldfrapp's feisty big sister, and Patti Smith." - 'Q' magazine.

"Toyah Willcox has decided it's time to put away the light and fluffy pop and move on over to the dark side." - Daily Express.

"Toyah delves into unexpectedly dark, edgy territory on Little Tears Of Love." - Manchester Online.

"Curiously stylish." - 'Q' magazine.