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MARCH 2008
Hello and bless you for being here!
Its 4am and ironically I am making a programme about Insomnia for TONIGHT WITH TREVOR MACDONALD, or is it SIR TREVOR MACDONALD. This is scheduled for ITV on the 4th April, but it could be moved by any other news story the way things are going.
In the last couple of weeks I have been with a film crew at PAPWORTH HOSPITAL filming stages of REM SLEEP and NIGHT TERRORS, been with the staff at a VIRGIN call centre in MANCHESTER who are being encouraged to power nap in the day and I've been alone with a video camera at 4am every morning, in my office, explaining what it is like not to sleep.
I stopped sleeping when I was 14, and have never managed a night’s sleep since. Its bloody boring not sleeping, because the logical alternative is alcohol and drugs. Out of principle I do neither, I'd rather rob banks. I believe once you rely on sedation through 'commercial' means you are playing into the hands of those who count on your neurosis to fill their pockets, so awake I stay, I get a lot done, pester a lot of people by e-mail, write semi-abusive letters to gas and electrical providers, spit on the unnatural demands for money from councils, parking fines and speeding cops, twiddle my thumbs and wonder what it is like to be Amy Winehouse and have no principles about partaking in any substance that eventually numbs you. It must be nice to be numb.
Funny things tend to happen if I sleep. Last week Robert and I where sent running from the bedroom at 1.10am by an earthquake I truly believed was going to bring the house down! The walls where moving, suddenly we where on a fairground ride which was throwing us from side to side yet moving the bed forward across the room. Sweetpea, as I call my legendary husband, isn't the fastest person to get away from an impending crisis, so I grab him by the scruff of his pyjama’s (yes, he wears jim-jams and I love him for it) and I pulled him out of the room and into the doorway of one of our front rooms in case anything came down, after all our home is well over a hundred years old. Our poor bloody bricks and mortar has had to put up with flooding, tornados, gales and now earthquakes, in the last 8 months.
As Robert and I stood in the dark we expected the usual chorus of fire alarms, car alarms and police sirens to cough up, but after the ten second shake all fell silent except for our elderly hearts.
And I remembered a conversation in SEATTLE only three weeks back………'I could never live here (Seattle) I'd be afraid of earthquakes'………….twat that I am, it seems this rock can shake where ever it chooses.
It wasn't long before an e-mail arrived suggesting that as the epi-centre for this quake, which shook most of England, was in Gainsborough, a town I played just seven days earlier and debuted the song LESSER GOD, I was in fact receiving a reply. The gig was great, who cares.
Before the show the band where conceptualising the next BIG THING that the desperate record companies will invent to marry their artists to an ever growing stockpile of music………
KYLIE DOES SLIPKNOT
METALICA DOES STOCK, AITKEN AND WATERMAN
U2 DO KOOL AND THE GANG
Oh the jolly jests of three hours in a dressing room before show time. It took only minutes to return to our favourite subject of the SUPERNATURAL, sparked by a photograph taken outside the front door of where I live in France. It is of an ORB, a ball of light with a 'cellular' structure within it.
This photo has caused a stir among programme makers and the first production team will arrive at the end of the month to make a programme about what is becoming a common occurrence on camera, where I live. It has nothing to do with me, that's just coincidental, it's the town I live in, a small ancient pile on the side of a hill, the centre of which is a church. Photographs pick up strange phenomena. Robert will be showing some on his diary site DGM LIVE, from the 29th Feb to the 1st March.
We where walking around the town and as usual Robert was photographing buildings of architectural interest. When he down loaded them, there where the lights! In completely unexplainable places, out of focus in a perfectly focused shot.
I had heard about this happening in the area, the Cote d'Zor, but mainly around the coastal rocks, like St. Elmo's Fire. (a light occurrence which causes ships to wreck on the rocks). What is intriguing about the lights we are discovering is there is intelligence about them……..they appear to be commenting………or predicting events.
The first one I took was four years ago, September 11th 2004. It was my first day in the area and I was looking for somewhere to live, to buy, but I couldn't afford what was on offer. I took pictures to bring home to show Robert and never noticed until this year that there where strange light formations in some of the shots, which weren't reflections or camera faults. The most spectacular one happens to be outside the front door of where I have lived for the past twelve months!
These pictures have been quite comforting for my father, who at 87 is aware everyday he wakes up is a bonus, for me they convey an incredible sense of fun. While I was walking there last week a voice came into my head and said 'the greatest form of time travel is to be born,' and I laughed out loud. How bloody brilliant is that!
Oh! I've just looked at the clock. Its 5.45am, gotta go! There's a press call at 10am in Birmingham. I have lots of facts and figures to learn about how much water the average household uses!
BE PROUD, BE LOUD, BE HEARD! LOVE TO YOU……..
TOYAH
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CALENDER
13 JUN 2008 - OPEN AIR CONCERT
The Wisley Music Festival 2008
Woking, Surrey
The Stars of the 80s: Belinda Carlisle, Nick Heyward, Toyah & Altered Images
Here & Now houseband. www.rhs.org.uk
28 JUN 2008 - OPEN AIR CONCERT
Grassington Festival, Yorkshire
Toyah, Dr & The Medics, Jaki Graham & The Soul Survivors. Headlining / Full band set www.grassington-festival.org.uk/
5 JUL 2008 - FESTIVAL CONCERT
Festival Too
Kings Lynn, Norfolk
Full band set / Fee festival + local support bands.
www.festivaltoo.co.uk/
12 JUL 2008 - CONCERT
The Quarry, Shrewsbury
Here & Now houseband / multi-artist concert
20 JUL 2008 – OPEN AIR CONCERT
The Stanstead Proms: The Very Best of the 80’s
Stansted Park, Rowlands Castle
Here & Now houseband / Finale to include a firework display. www.ukproductions.co.uk/
25 JUL 2008 – OPEN AIR CONCERT
The Wickerman Festival 2008
Full band set. www.thewickermanfestival.co.uk
26 JUL 2008 – OPEN AIR CONCERT
Powderham Castle, Exeter
Here & Now houseband. www.here-and-now.info
27 JUL 2008 – OPEN AIR CONCERT
British International Motor Show, London Excel
Here & Now houseband. www.here-and-now.info
9 AUG 2008 - OPEN AIR CONCERT
Ascot Racecourse
Here & Now houseband. www.here-and-now.info
01 NOV 2008 - CONCERT
The Embassy Ballroom
White Horse Caravan Park, Selsey (nr Chichester)
BIOGRAPHY
Toyah Willcox has a highly successful, prolific and incredibly diverse career.Her major hit records and many prestigious stage and screen roles have made her one of Britain's biggest household names.
In a career spanning over 30 years Toyah has had 13 top 40 singles, recorded 20 albums, written 2 books, appeared in over 40 stage plays, made 10 feature films and presented hundreds of television programmes from The Good Sex Guide Late to Songs Of Praise. She continues to work at the top of the league in media, music, acting and writing.
Toyah has recently appeared in ITV2’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl as the mother of lead character played by Billie Piper. She has also completed writing and recording a brand new solo album, In The Court of The Crimson Queen, scheduled for release in Spring 2008. The album’s lead single, Latex Messiah (Viva La Rebel In You) was released as Toyah’s first ever digital single release on 29 October 2007, and made #6 in iTunes Rock Chart.
Her acting career began at the Old Rep Drama School, in her hometown Birmingham. Her first notable role came in 1977 when film director Derek Jarman offered the role of Mad in seminal punk epic Jubilee. Later that year she put together the first embryonic line up of her own band. Toyah continued to gain ever-strong roles, appearing alongside Katherine Hepburn in the film, The Corn is Green, as well as playing 'Monkey' in the legendary Quadrophenia.
By 1979 Toyah's band was gaining critical success with the debut single Victims of the Riddle (no 1 in the independent charts) and six track EP Sheep Farming in Barnet. Meanwhile Derek Jarman asked her to play Miranda in his innovative version of The Tempest, which won her a nomination as Best Newcomer at the year's Evening Standard Awards. She also appeared at the ICA in Stephen Poliakoff's American Days and in the BBC series Dr.Jekyll and Mr Hyde with David Hemmings.
The following year Toyah's album The Blue Meaning became a Top 40 hit. Acting roles continued too, including a leading part in Sugar & Spice at the Royal Court Theatre. An ATV Documentary "Toyah" and an accompanying live album Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! confirmed her status as one of the most significant new talents of the eighties.
A European tour, further television roles and chart successes including It's A Mystery, I Want to Be Free and the platinum album Anthem followed and 1981 ended with a Christmas Eve concert from Theatre Royal, Drury Lane screened live as The Old Grey Whistle Test Christmas Special. 1982 saw her winning Best Female Singer in the [then] Rock & Pop Awards. [Now 'The Brits'] The year also brought more extensive touring in support of the follow up album The Changeling and the hit singles Brave New World and Be Proud, Be Loud, Be Heard.
Toyah discovered new skills as a wrestler when she played the leading role in Trafford Tanzi and went on to star alongside Sir Lawrence Olivier and Greta Scacchi in Granada TV's film version of The Ebony Tower. She played Sally Bowles in the West End revival of Cabaret, which closed early due to a strike but not before making the Guinness Book of Records as the only West End musical to go on without any musicians in the pit, performed acapella! Toyah appeared in the National Theatre's West End production of Three Men and a Horse which won the Olivier Award for best New Comedy and recorded the radio play Headcrash which was banned and not broadcast until 7 years later. Toyah could also be seen as Consuelo in the dark film adaptation of The Disputation.
The albums Minx and Desire continued Toyah's music career as she also made the charity project album The Lady or the Tiger with Robert Fripp. Notably her least commercial album Prostitute was released in 1988 as Toyah moved away from the glare of the pop spotlight and sought out her and refreshed her lyrical colour once more. This experimental album is seen as the benchmark for the newest generation of honest and expressive singer songwriters.
With her husband Robert Fripp she formed the band Sunday All Over the World, who became known for their strong live performances and toured world-wide before recording the debut album Kneeling at the Shrine which received rave reviews. In 1988 she played Hermia in Midsummer Night's Dream at Birmingham Rep and the following year joined the National Theatre again to appear in their production of the eco-tale Whale.
As a new decade began Toyah starred in the Channel 4 film Midnight Breaks and in the successful Cambridge Theatre Company's touring production of The Taming of the Shrew. It was during this production that Toyah was asked to play the lead in Emile Zola's Therese Racquin - a role Toyah considers her best and most challenging and brought some of the best reviews of her career.
She appeared as the Ship's Cat in the TV film version of Beatrix Potter's Little Pig Robinson and also appeared at the 'Women in Music Festival' at London's Shaw Theatre with an aptly named girl band, 'The She-Devils'. During 1991 Toyah and Robert Fripp travelled to America to promote both albums released that year, Sunday All Over the World and Toyah's self produced Ophelia's Shadow, the album Toyah feels is her strongest to date.
Toyah then played Constanza in the British tour of Amadeus and during this time she simultaneously performed in Cheap Thrills which visited prisons near the theatre. The play was especially written for her based on the life of rock singer Janis Joplin.
1992 saw Toyah appear in the premiere of Claire Luckham's new play about Downs Syndrome, The Choice at Salisbury Playhouse and also toured Britain with the band Strange Girls (formerly She-Devils) in addition to making her debut appearance with Berlin based progressive jazz-rock band Kiss of Reality. In September 1992 Toyah premiered Memoirs of a Survivor, a play based on a novel by Dorris Lessing which was written, adapted and directed by Richard Osborne. Toyah and Richard had sought Dorris Lessing's blessing for this project for more than five years. The play was performed again at the Salisbury Playhouse. Toyah then toured Berlin, Germany, Britain and Poland with Kiss of Reality and in Spring '93 they recorded an album. Toyah spent the summer in Belgium starring in the critically acclaimed BFI art-house film Anchoress.
In the spring of 1993 Toyah acted in the successful debut production of Carrington a play about the tortured life of artist Dora Carrington at Chichester Festival Theatre. She also recorded her album Take the Leap! 'as live' which included a brand new recording of It's A Mystery. To aid her return to her rock roots with this new album, she brought in a band of nineteen-year -olds from Salisbury and they embarked on a successful tour of Britain.
During the 1993/'94 Christmas season Toyah starred as Peter Pan at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford and on tour. In March 1994 she began a music tour which would be one of the longest and biggest she would undertake, continuing throughout the year until the end of November, playing England, Ireland, Scotland and South America. The Dreamchild album was released in May and received rave reviews in Europe and the UK and the single Now and Then was remixed by DJ Tim of Utah Saints. During a break in the tour Toyah filmed an appearance in John Thaw's new series Kavanagh QC and went onto play live as the Special Guest at the UK Henieken Music Beer Festivals appearing in front of audiences of 5,000 to 10,000 people. Toyah was back on screens in summer '94 as a dog in the half animated real life drama series The Ink Thief with Richard O'Brien. She also presented the television programmes Anything Goes and Time Off (Meridian).
A national tour of Peter Pan commenced in 1995 in which Toyah performed in for four months and over 200 stage shows - most sell outs! She proceeded TV reporting for The Magic & Mystery Show and fronted her own series in search of feminine spirituality, Discovering Eve for BBC1. The summer saw her return once more to Shakespeare when she played a skateboarding 'Puck' in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park and she closed the year with a stunning Dolby surround-sound radio production of Peter Pan for BBC Radio 4.
During 1996 Toyah presented more television programmes including Watchdog Healthcheck, This Morning (Alternative Remedies series), Holiday, The Good Sex Guide Late and Roll With It! More radio work included Independence Day UK (based on the film) and Punk Fiction. She guested on Trey Gunn's "The Third Star" album and in the Autumn she returned to her hometown Birmingham to perform a series of acoustic concerts at the prestigious night-club Ronnie Scott's. Toyah -The Acoustic Album, featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on 2 tracks, was released exclusively through the internet whilst Toyah made the motion picture Julie and The Cadillacs during which Michael Aspel surprised her as the subject of BBC1's This Is Your Life. In 1997 Toyah toured the UK with her band, recorded a studio album version of the show Cabaret with Nigel Planer and joined music station VH1 as VJ presenter. The film "Quadrophenia" received a cinematic reprint to celebrate it's 18th Anniversary and was released at cinemas and on video again. In the Summer she played Beatrice in Ludlow Castle's Open Air production of Much Ado About Nothing and also starred as The Wicked Witch in the Belfast Opera House RSC production The Wizard of Oz.
1998 saw a second series of the BBC's popular Fasten Your Seatbelt plus over 100 live concert dates. Toyah also found renewed cult status as a nation of students, children and parents were spellbound by the appeal of Teletubbies, for which she voices the intro and outro. She starred in the first ever UK tour of Arthur Smith's West End hit play, Live Bed Show and compiled the "Proud, Loud & Heard - Best of Toyah "album before appearing for third year running in the pantomime Jack & The Beanstalk. 1999 included television presentation and appearances for The Heaven & Earth Show, Lottery Greatest Hits and On Offer as well as beginning writing her autobiography. The Valentine's Day edition of Songs of Praise was presented by Toyah for which she also sang The Rose. The rest of 1999 included 3 months in Glasgow filming the BBC Scotland kids drama series Barmy Aunt Boomerang and she is now known to scores of children as Aunt Boomerang. Demand from Toyah's fans also resulted in her classic albums Anthem and The Changeling being made available again when they were reissued as re-mastered enhanced CD's in 1999. Toyah flew into the new Millennium, quite literally, starring in the Kevin Wood Christmas production of Peter Pan at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury.
The year 2000 saw the launch of Toyah's official website, www.toyahwillcox.com and publication of her long awaited autobiography "Living Out Loud". The Sky Pictures film production "The Most Fertile Man in Ireland" (in which Toyah plays Dr. Johnson) directed by Dudi Appleton premiered at the Dublin Film Festival. Toyah also hosted the London "Sister Act - Women's International Festival" in March, acted in BBC medical soap "Doctors" and reported for the BBC's "Holiday On A Shoestring" and Sunday morning programme "The Heaven & Earth Show". Toyah continued to be seen on our screens playing the lead in a second series of the popular "Barmy Aunt Boomerang" and explored the life of Dora Marr in the absorbing monologue "Picasso's Women" at the Edinburgh Festival 2000 later transferring to Westcliffe-on-Sea. In addition to a successful book signing tour in support of her autobiography television presentation continued including "Open House", "Money in the Bank" and again "The Heaven & Earth Show" for BBC. Toyah played the role of Fantine in a radio play recording of Les Miserables alongside Brian Blessed and Geoffery Palmer for the USA market. The year ended with Toyah playing the role of the Wicked Queen in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage.
2001 began with the soft-back print edition of the successful "Living Out Loud" autobiography as Toyah embarked on more book signing dates. Television continued to feature primarily in Toyah's schedule as she fronted 40 programmes of "Beyond Medicine" for the Discovery Channel and "Whose Recipe is it Anyway?" for the Carlton Food Network. Toyah made her first musical recording of the 21st century with a vocal contribution to a track "Lime in the Coconut" with the punk band Chester. On 8th March 2001 Toyah was awarded a prestigious Honorary Doctorate by the University of Central England in recognition of her distinguished achievements in performing arts, media and broadcasting.
Summer saw extensive theatre work as Toyah played Beth in the critically acclaimed new play "The Shagaround" (for three runs in Southampton, London and Brighton). Toyah returned to "A Midsummer's Night Dream" for a third time, this time to play 'Titania', in an open-air production at Stafford Castle whilst continuing to write for newspapers. Christmas 2001 saw Toyah step into the role of "Aladdin" at the Stockport Plaza.
Toyah joined her fellow 80's pop music contemporaries, ABC, Howard Jones and ex-Spandau Ballet in April 2002 when she performed on the Here and Now UK stadium tour. Toyah stole the show with a daring outfit, which alluded to her 80's stage costumes. The nostalgia-filled tour saw Toyah perform her four biggest hits to a sold out Wembley Arena and a crowd of over 20,000 at Manchester Evening News Arena.
2002 saw Toyah return to songwriting as she co-wrote and recorded new material for a limited edition EP, Little Tears of Love and a one-off preview concert at London's prestigious Ronnie Scott's venue. Carlton Television also made a documentary on Toyah's music career in December as part of the Rock Legends series. Toyah undertook the biggest role of her career in 2002 when she assumed the lead role in the major national touring production of Calamity Jane which has subsequently played to twenty-seven cities and combined audiences of well over 140,000. Nominated for an Evening Standard Award for Best Musical the show transferred to the West End for a season at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
Toyah continued to record material and in May 2003 a brand new mini-album Velvet Lined Shell was released on Toyah's own record label Vertical Species Records, showcasing a darker, edgier direction. In addition, her personal favourites and most critically acclaimed albums Prostitute and Ophelia's Shadow were repackaged with commentary from Toyah and reissued on Vertical Species. In October 2003, Toyah performed a one-off concert at the Mean Fiddler in London to mark the celebration of her 25 years in showbusiness and the music industry. 2004 saw Toyah return once again to her musical roots as part of The Best of the 80s Tour - a month-long national UK tour alongside fellow 80s hit-makers Nick Heyward, Curiosity Killed the Cat and Altered Images.
In 2005, demand resulted in the reissue of Toyah’s 80s albums Warrior Rock – Toyah on Tour and Love is the Law, receiving their first ever CD release. This was followed by CD reissues of the 1985 studio album Minx and a rarities anthology, Mayhem. This series of reissues all contained material and bonus tracks previously unavailable on CD. In addition, Cherry Red issued two CD collections which compiled all of Toyah’s A-Sides and B-Sides from 1979-1983. Toyah successful played at many of the 2005 summer festivals including the Wasted Punk Festival and the Hastings Beer & Music Festival, performing alongside Keane to 4,500 festival-goers. An Autumn concert date featuring Toyah, her band and a guest brass section, was recorded and released in November as the DVD, Wild Essence – Live in the 21st Century.
2006 saw Toyah take up the role of Cruella De Vil in a sell-out summer production of The Hundred and One Dalmatians at Nottingham Theatre Royal. In the Autumn she embarked on The Hitmakers Tour this Autumn, a series of live UK dates with Howard Jones and ABC’s Martin Fry. The year also saw two further CD album releases, - a reissue of the live album Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! And the first ever UK release of the acclaimed Take the Leap!. Toyah also joined the cast of Silver Street, an online soap opera for BBC Radio Asian Network.
In 2007 Toyah continued to perform concerts with her band, including a series of summer dates at prestigious outdoor venues across the UK. Toyah also began writing and recording a brand new studio album with Simon Darlow, and signed a brand new worldwide publishing deal with Zomba Music. The year has also seen the launch of The Official Toyah MySpace which has exclusively previewed the new album material. Toyah has also produced a series of videos to present the music which are being previewed on the recently launched Official Toyah Youtube Channel.
October 2007 saw Toyah’s first ever digital single release of the album’s lead single Latex Messiah Viva La Rebel In You). The full album, In The Court Of The Crimson Queen, written by Toyah and Simon Darlow will be released in Spring 2008. Alongside this solo album, Toyah is collaborating with Bill Rieflin (REM) and Chris Wong on the band project The Humans which is described as “European experimental meets West Coast American grunge”. The Humans debut live performances took place in Estonia in October 2007. They recorded their debut album in February 2008, with a release planned for later in the year.
Toyah continues to work in all fields of the media and refuses to compromise any aspect of her multi-faceted and varied career.
