Record Mirror Toyah have added another major London date to their UK tour schedule, which opened earlier this week - a headliner at the Lyceum Ballroom on Sunday February 22, with all tickets at £3 and support bands to be announced shortly. The current outing marks the first airing of Toyah Willcox's new band, which retains only guitarist Joel Bogen from her previous line-up. Other members are keyboards man Adrian Lee, ex Original Mirrors bassist Phil Spalding and former Bruce Woolley band drummer Nigel Glockler. This new line up is
featured on disc for the first time on 'Four From Toyah',
a four-track EP to be issued by Safari before the end of
this month, selling at £1.50. Titles featured are 'It's
A Mystery', 'Warboys', 'Angels And Demons' and
'Revelations'.
NME Toyah, the band and Ms Willcox, bundle into frantic activity this month with a series of new musical moves fanfared by her premier on May 1 at the Screen On The Hill in Jubilee creator Derek Jarman's film version of Shakespeare's The Tempest, playing the leading lady, Miranda. In mid-May there's the first fruit of their recent studio session with the release of a single called 'Ieya' backed with 'Helium Song (Spaced Walking)' in both 7" and 12" versions (the 12" running for eight minutes and featuring different versions of the songs). Both tracks are from
her first LP 'proper' (the 'Sheep Farming In Barnet'
album having been a German import compilation), though
they apparently emerge on that in yet another different
version. The LP is called 'The Blue Meaning' and it's out
at the end of May. |
NME Toyah Willcox, whose last tour finished only two weeks ago with a sell-out concert at London Rainbow, has already been set for another major outing in late spring - and it will be her biggest tour to date, taking in 17 leading venues and climaxing at London Hammersmith Odeon. Tickets will be on sale almost immediately priced £3.50, £3 and £2.50. With her 'Four From Toyah' single currently charting, a new album is planned for release by Safari to coincide with the tour - it will be the first LP to feature her new band comprising Joel Bogen, Phil Spalding, Nigel Glockler and Adrian Lee. Ms Willcox is spending
much of this month on location for Anglia TV, filming an
episode in their Tales Of The Unexpected series
called Blue Marigolds, in which she has a leading role.
She's also co-hosting another series of Look Here
for BBC Birmingham, screened every Tuesday until April 7.
Boiling Over Toyah Willcox has the kind of looks that would scare even Frankenstein! Only joking, Toyah! But she does have a temper to match her red locks! "Well, you'd be mad, if you didn't get a chance to perform!" she moaned. "At some of our gigs the kids go bananas! But this one time it was particularly bad. A riot started before we'd even leapt on stage! "I was furious,
'cos a lot of kids wanted to hear us! I didn't know what
to do, so I stomped off till everyone calmed down!" NME Toyah, a new band
formed around Jubilee star Toyah Willcox, make
their stage debut this month with the following dates:
Barnet, Duke Of Lancaster, June 27, London City Road City
Arms, July 8, London Waterloo 'Young Vic' Festival, July
13, London Nashville, July 23. |
NME April 1979 Victims Of The Riddle Toyah's backdrop is a
quirky maze of fixing electronic and electric sounds, an
intelligent sub-disco underlay. Toyah herself screeches
and howls and makes the simple art of reviewing something
of an endurance test. Angry and powerful, that's what it
is, riotously and genuinely performed. But painful and
disappointing too, after all the pre-release build up,
the reviewer concludes. "Is there a heaven?/Is there
a hell?/Do both exist?/Who can tell?" runs the deep
intellect on the sleeve front. Theatrical froth. NME Surprisingly gentle
song by the banshee from Birmingham. It has an insidious
quality that slowly gets under your skin and is a good
pop song. The effective keyboards give it a desirable
spacy atmosphere. Also more than a nod in Patti Smith's
direction. Smash Hits What Can I Say? She
seems such a nice girl when she's on the box or talking
on these pages. You can't help but admire her energy and
utter professionalism. But as soon as she sings I get
this awful feeling that she's somehow, er, exaggerating.
All her songs have to be about some grand matter and sung
with talent competition gusto. Knock 'em in the aisles,
sock 'em in the back row of the balcony, grab 'em and
shake 'em. My first instinct is to duck. That said, this
is relatively restrained and should get on fewer nerves
than the likes of "It's A Mystery". (David Hepworth) Smash Hits A mere bop around the
studio, shaped into something more substantial by means
of an ear-bending synth riff and an arrangement that does
a lot to hide the fact that Toyah, umpteen hairdo's on,
remains much more a performer than a singer. (Fred Dellar) Smash Hits Fresh from her part as a wrestler in the play Trafford Tanzi, Toyah grapples with the knotty problem of trying to get a hit single. There hasn't been one for a while and this might just solve her problems. She sings well and I bet her visual presentation is up to her usual wacky, weird but high standard. (Lenny Henry) |
