One last piece of news... Toyah guested on yesterday afternoon's Daily Cooks Challenge. This will be available to view at ITV Catch Up soon. Click on the picture to go there.

She will guest on ‘The 80’s Show’. It's usually available to listen to live (and via their "listen again" feature) at www.bbc.co.uk/devon/local_radio/, or click on the BBC Radio Devon logo.

They also mentioned she was on the station a few weeks ago talking about an adult learning project she is backing, and that she’ll be talking about her upcoming appearance at Powderham Castle during this evening's interview.

They talked about Vampires Rock, with Toyah enthusing about her character, the Devil Queen. She also talked about how she got involved with the musical.

Toyah mentions she will perform 'Lesser God', as well as songs by Alice Cooper ('Schools Out'), Billy Idol and Twisted Sister.

Click on the Xfm logo or here to listen to the interview.

They played ' I Want To Be Free' and 'Heal Ourselves', and Toyah talked about 'In The Court Of The Crimson Queen, Shugborough Music Festival, Vampires Rock, her blackberry, 'Latex Messiah' and much more.

THE CRIMSON QUEEN BEGINS HER REIGN

Toyahwillcox.com can exclusively reveal details of Toyah's hotly-anticipated new studio album, In The Court Of The Crimson Queen. The 10-track album will initially be available for purchase on the forthcoming UK tour of musical stage play Vampires Rock, (beginning 12 September) ahead of further releases. 

Written by Toyah Willcox and Simon Darlow, In The Court Of The Crimson Queen is Toyah's first studio album release in five years and follows last autumn's digital single Latex Messiah (Viva La Rebel In You). The album also includes Heal Ourselves, Sensational and Lesser God - all of which have accompanying videos created exclusively for The Official Toyah Youtube Channel. Toyah will perform Lesser God in the nationwide UK tour of Vampires Rock, in which she guest stars as The Devil Queen. Vampires Rock opens on 12 September at the Majestic Theatre, Retford and tours nationwide until December 2008.

Tune in online at www.smoothradiowestmidlands.co.uk or listen at 105.7fm if you are in the Midlands. 

She was a human dynamo, leaping up and down pogo-style during her popular number Danced, dancing across the stage and even descending the steps to be closer to the estimated 5,000-strong crowd at one point.

Toyah had taken to the stage at 9.30pm with her own lively opening number Good Morning Universe, and followed it with the Alice Cooper hit School’s Out for Summer.

Having mellowed a little from the rebel status of her heyday, the 50-year-old star told the audience: “Don’t worry, I’m going to behave myself – there are a few children here I realise.”

Her set included other numbers from her career of 30-plus years, during which she has had 13 hit singles and 20 albums. 

They included Echo Beach, It’s a Mystery, Thunder in the Mountains, Jungles of Jupiter and Latex Messiah.

Toyah concluded the main set with the Guns N’ Roses classic Sweet Child O’ Mine but, having wowed the crowd with her enthusiasm and verve, was called back for a well-deserved encore.

Her finale was the Osmonds’ number Crazy Horses and then her own I Want To Be Free, during which the generator broke down a third time. On restarting, she said: “I love the unpredictability of this gig!”

During the show, she told the crowd: “I have had such a nice day in King’s Lynn – it’s been beautiful. It’s a really fantastic town. I love it.”

And in an email to the event organisers afterwards, she said: “King's Lynn is doing something that every town in the UK should be doing – offering free live music to everyone, with their unique festival, Festival Too.

“I played Festival Too and had the time of my life... The atmosphere is truly magical and all ages are welcome.”

Earlier in the evening, KL.FM Battle of the Bands' runners-up The First entertained the early arrivals with a lively 45-minute performance of their own rock numbers. 

They were followed by four-piece blues, rock and rhythm and blues band After Hours playing some classic covers from the ’60s,’70s and ’80s.

Please check out dozens more of PJ's photos by visiting his MySpace here, or by clicking the above photo.

Toyah also played a 'Here & Now - Best of the Eighties' gig at the Grand Theatre, Leeds on Friday night. Toyah's next gig is Saturday 12th July, another 'Here & Now' show, at The Quarry, Shrewsbury.

• 'Good Morning Universe - The Very Best Of Toyah' has been available for a week and still figures highly in Amazon's sales chart.

• The 39 track 2CD set has also been spotted in various music stores across the UK, as well as in an HMV store in Tokyo.

• Toyah mentions in her July blog that the BBC were interested in using some of her music in the "back to the 80s" series Ashes To Ashes that aired recently in the UK. A second series is in production at the moment so let's hope we get to hear something off 'Anthem' or 'The Changeling' (if they move it forward a bit!). This series was criticised but I really enjoyed the retro feel and thought Keeley Hawes was really good in it. A bit of Toyah would have made it even better.

• Please visit Dreamscape's Forumfor some interesting retro French Toyah adverts, articles and photos (including the one to the right) [Thanks to franck]

In the 1980s Toyah Willcox was a punk queen. Today she's a stockmarket and property magnate - and says she learned hard lessons about money from her father. He lost almost everything when she was only seven and his manufacturing shares went belly up during a slump.

She says: "It made me terribly insecure about money. I now never trust a single stock but spread my investments as wide as possible and only put money into something I believe in for the long-term. I spread the risk among shares, bonds, property and even think about the value of the clothes I wear."

Toyah is far more than a colourful punk pop star. Since her 1980s It's a Mystery heyday, the 50-year-old has turned herself into a multi-millionaire thanks to shrewd investments.

Please click here to read the full interview at Dreamscape's Forum.

Toyah Willcox, who scored her biggest hit with It's a Mystery in 1981, will team up with rock horror king Steve Steinman for Vampires Rock Christmas! at the Futurist on Friday, December 12.

Ms Willcox, who has been married to well known musician Robert Fripp for more than 20 years, will star as the Devil Queen in the spectacular show.

The bubbly 50-year-old also provided some of the voices for the Teletubbies TV phenomenon before being stranded Down Under for "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me out of Here!"

Nearly 9,000 tickets have been sold for the big outdoor concert due to take place in the town’s Quarry on July 12.

Organisers hailed ticket sales as the best for any of the shows they have promoted at the Quarry.

The concert will welcome Rick Astley, Bananarama, Shropshire singer Carol Decker, Midge Ure, Heaven 17, Toyah and Nick Heyward.

The artists are visiting the county for the three-hour Here and Now: Magic of the 1980s concert.

Chris Bailey, from organisers IML Concerts, said: “We have been overwhelmed with the response from the public and thank them for their support. There are approximately 200 tickets remaining.”

The Shropshire Star is the official media sponsor for the concert.

The final tickets, which cost £32.50, are available only to personal callers at the Music Hall, The Square in Shrewsbury, from 9.30am to 7.30pm.

Please click on the picture above to visit Dreamscape's Forum for links to 22 photos by Angie and a video clip of Toyah performing 'I Want To be Free'.

Living With The Dead : Living 2 - Sunday 29th June : 9.00pm 
Living With The Dead : Living 2 - Monday 30th June : 1.00am

Most Fertile Man In Ireland: Sky Movies Comedy- Mon 30th June: 6.15am

Secret Diary Of A Call Girl : ITV1 - Wednesday 2nd July : 11.40pm

In Your Dreams : Channel 4 - Friday 4th July : 11.45am

Jubilee : ITV4 - Saturday 5th July : 2.00am

Daily Cooks Challenge : ITV1 - Thursday 10th July : 3.00pm

Living With The Dead : Living - Tuesday 24th June : 9.00pm 
Living With The Dead : Living +1 - Tuesday 24th June : 10.00pm
Living With The Dead : Living - Wednesday 25th June : 1.00am 
Living With The Dead : Living +1 - Wednesday 25th June : 2.00am
Living With The Dead : Living 2 - Sunday 29th June : 9.00pm 
Living With The Dead : Living 2 - Monday 30th June : 1.00am 
Children of The Plague. Chilling brand new series featuring a quest through the most haunted homes in Britain. Mediums Johnnie Fiori and Ian Lawless team up with paranormal investigator Mark Webb to drive out the demons who plague petrified homeowners across the country. The team head to the village home of Toyah Willcox and attempt to exorcise some menacing spirits. (Last in series)

• 'Good Morning Universe - The Very Best of Toyah' is doing well on Amazon's "pre-release" and "album" charts. Latest reports had it at number 15 on the former (steadily climbing all day yesterday) and number 315 on the overall album chart at Amazon. (Thanks to Marcus & Dean)

• Toyah will NOT be appearing on two of the Vampires Rock UK tour dates. These are 13th September and 1st November. Click here for a large version of the flyer for the show.