In 2008 Toyah has presented the highly prestigious ‘Tonight’ programme for prime time ITV 1. The programme was titled ‘How do you sleep?’ and was up against BBC 1's Eastenders, yet it successfully claimed one of highest viewing figures for the series at 3.9 million viewers and was critically acclaimed. Her home has also been the subject of a Living TV special when the cameras for ‘Living With The Dead’ spent the night successfully ghost hunting.

March saw Toyah fill P&O’ MV Aurora’s 500 seater theatre to capacity for three talks on life in show business and in April she raised £1500 for BBC 1's charity edition of ‘Cash in the Attic’ as well as walking in the Gobi Dessert to raise thousands of pounds for www.greatwalktobeijing.com in aid of Olivia Newton Johns cancer wellness centre in Australia.

Toyah's music goes from strength to strength. The video for her new single ‘Sensational’ has been shot and TV promotion is underway.

Toyah plays large festivals all over Britain and waves the banner for women over forty in the world of business and entertainment.

Songs we know about thus: Latex Messiah (Viva La Rebel In You), Heal Ourselves, Lesser God, Sensational, Legacy. [Toyah has also mentioned another two songs, Angel In You and Armageddon]

All, as far as I'm aware, written by Toyah and Simon Darlow. Toyah said in January (in her Official Blog) that she and Simon still had three songs to write and that would be the album complete.

As of today there is no confirmed release date, and no info on whether it will be download only or available on CD, though a physical release is expected.

Toyah Willcox has reportedly been defending her 80s look. 

The singer, who sported enormous pillar box red hair and outrageous stage outfits throughout the decade, told the Sun she felt "no shame" when she looked back on her wardrobe. 

"The decade was all about individuality and singers like myself, Kim Wilde, Carol Decker and Siouxie Sioux really pushed the boundaries of music and fashion," she apparently said. 

"In the 1980s women didn't have to fit into some perfect mould of what men found attractive. You could create your own look. 

"We took immense pride in making our hairstyles and make-up different from everyone else's." 

And it seems the 49-year-old, who had hits with Thunder In The Mountains, I Want to Be Free and Four From Toyah, looked fondly back at her most shocking outfit. 

"The most memorable outfit I wore back then was a black rubber dress for the video of Don't Fall In Love in 1985," she reportedly said. 

"I have never felt so sexy in anything since. It came with a price though and made me sweat profusely. 

"There is nothing from my 80s wardrobe that I would want to wear now and I don't think I could bring myself to put on a shoulder pad. But that doesn't mean I look back and cringe - in fact, I wouldn't change a thing." 

"I may be in the minority, but I certainly don’t cringe with embarrassment when I look back at the 1980s. 

And I feel no shame about my fashion sense. 

I certainly didn’t fit into the blueprint of the Farrah Fawcett lookalike that was so popular in the 1970s. Back then, women who weren’t over 5ft 2in didn’t have a chance of getting noticed because Farrah’s long-limbed, wavy-haired look was so popular. 

Then the 1980s came along and freed me. The decade was all about individuality and singers like myself, Kim Wilde, Carol Decker and Siouxsie Sioux really pushed the boundaries of music and fashion. 

In the 1980s women didn’t have to fit into some perfect mould of what men found attractive. You could create your own look. 

And it certainly wasn’t like nowadays, when everyone wears the same fashions from Primark or Topshop. We took immense pride in making our hairstyles and make-up different from everyone else’s. 

During the decade I shared a dressmaker with Bananarama who made me some very strange, geometric clothing. 

I also loved the high-waisted trousers of the Eighties, which were cut off at the calf. I loved the way they drew attention to the bottom, which seemed very risque and sexy back then. 

In the 1980s the only place where breasts were celebrated was on The Sun’s Page 3. People didn’t really show cleavage, they covered up more. Jordan would have seemed like a porn star back then. 

Power dressing was also a brilliant trend to come out of the Eighties. I thought Joan Collins looked extraordinary, and apparently shoulder pads are making a comeback. 

It is easy to laugh, but if you had a small waist and narrow hips, they gave a terrific silhouette. 

The Eighties was a time of self-promotion, which is now seen as slightly ugly, but it certainly didn’t do women any harm. Some very successful businesswomen came out of the power-dressing decade, such as Jacqueline Gold, chief executive of Ann Summers. 

And it was the decade in which women took over the music industry too. 

In the 1970s I would say the music business was made up of 70 per cent men. By 1982 it was 80 per cent women — it started with artists and spread to the boardroom. 

The Eighties also saw the birth of the pop video, which revolutionised the industry. You couldn’t release a song unless it had the video — people wanted to see their pop idols. 

It made us all competitive, we all had to outdo our own image and were under pressure to be more and more outlandish with our fashions. 

I remember I used to create a new look at least every three months. 

I went through a number of phases, from a David Bowie-ish look in the early Eighties, to New Romantic styles, right through to wearing high-street ra-ra skirts. 

It was fabulous that fashions changed all the time. Madonna was obviously the queen of reinvention. In the early Eighties she brought in a very New York look, lacy tights and lots of layers on top of each other. 

But by the end of the decade she had not only reinvented her look but also her body shape, showcasing her sculpted, chiselled look in the video for Vogue. 

The most memorable outfit I wore during the 1980s was a black rubber dress for the video of Don’t Fall In Love, in 1985. I have never felt so sexy in anything since. It came with a price though, as it made me sweat profusely. 

As for men’s fashions, I don’t believe there has ever been a decade quite like it. Men were peacocks who preened themselves in public.

While women slipped into men’s chairs in the boardroom, men were slipping into women’s seats in front of the dressing table mirror. 

But the Eighties were owned by Duran Duran. They were great, boys in make-up with coiffured hair. And they have survived too — they are the 1980s version of Take That. 

It is easy for people in the Noughties to look back and mock the Eighties. But what really defines the 1990s or the Noughties? No obvious looks or images spring to mind. I would like to see people nowadays take a leaf out of our book and take more risks with the way they dress. 

The hoodie has become a kind of uniform for teenagers today, but that style is all about anonymity and blending in.In the 1980s everyone wanted to stand out — and they weren’t afraid to use neon colours to do so. 

There is nothing from my Eighties wardrobe I would want to wear now and I don’t think I could ever bring myself to put on a shoulder pad. 

But that doesn’t mean I look back and cringe — in fact, I wouldn’t change a thing. 

I think it is brilliant that you can watch old episodes of Dynasty or Dallas and have a good laugh. To people watching today, the fashions and styles seem so alien that you might as well be watching something from the Dickensian era. 

Yes, you can accuse the Eighties of being bold, bright and even ridiculous . . . but you certainly can’t call them boring."

• Toyah's Official website has a new song listed on their Songlist page. 'Legacy' is a Willcox/Darlow composition. Could this be another track from 'In The Court of the Crimson Queen'? (Thanks to Marcus)

• 'Here and Now - The Very Best of The 80s' is released on CD on Universal on 12th May. This is a three-disc collection. So far I've been unable to find a tracklist so no word as yet if Toyah will be included.

• Toyah is mentioned in this very recent article, Under Pressure, at www.building.co.uk (25th April 2008).

• 'IC Wales' (24th April 2008) namechecked Toyah in their Controversy and big names sell shows article. Click here to read it.

• 'Cumbernauld News' (23rd April 2008) mention Toyah in their And the lesson today is - pop! Click here to go read.

Rather than have a duplicate Toyah Top 50 I've decided to abandon that idea as an Official Top 50 will now be compiled. Dreamscape has some interesting additions to bring you in the lead up to Toyah's birthday and on May 18th itself a brand new SUPERFEATURE - Toyah50 will go live, with oodles of Toyah bits and pieces, floating free, in there.

I'm also hoping to have a Dreamscape/Toyah50 competition online soon, with some truly Toyahlicious goodies up for grabs.

I'm glad so many of you are enjoying the variety of Toyah era banners. More will be added over the coming weeks.

Toyah's Official website also have some very exciting Toyah goodies in store to celebrate her big day, all to be unveiled on Toyah's birthday. Please visit the Official website for further information on these.

May 18th is, undoubtedly, going to be absolutely Toyah filled. A veritable feast for your eyes and ears. And rightly so - how else could we all say thanks to a woman who has entertained us all for nigh on two thirds of her life.

NB: I'm in two minds about making too much of an event of Toyah's 50th birthday, especially as she has mentioned in a recent interview she maybe won't even have time to celebrate it. Not everyone, myself included, likes a fuss being made about birthdays. How does everyone else feel about this?

The stars joining Olivia over the 21 days include Sir Cliff Richard, Joan Rivers, Scott Wolf, Dannii Minogue. Toyah Willcox, Anton Du Beke, Sarah Cawood, Tom Chambers, Martina Laird, Marcus Patrick and Liz Fuller.

Gemma will be walking the long, hard slog into the rugged Shanxi hinterland. She will walk with the rest of the team for five days covering 67kms. There will be few home comforts in this barren terrain - Gemma will have to camp at night and get used to no electricity or running water, so any beauty regime will be out of the window!

The money raised by the walkers will go towards the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre in Australia. The centre will be the primary site for clinical trials globally. It will provide dedicated research facilities and clinical trials, with the development of future cancer vaccines and therapies, which will help cancer patients worldwide.

Olivia says, “I’m touched and honoured to be supported by such an eclectic and interesting group of people, it’s really humbling and inspiring”.

Gemma says, “Being female I am very aware of how common breast cancer is and I want to do my part to help, I am looking forward to seeing China and meeting Olivia, I want to raise as much money as possible to help the cancer patients of today and tomorrow”

“After the walk I’ll look forward to having a long hot shower, as there is no running water during my stage! A massage would be nice and a cheeky drink on the plane” laughs Gemma, “I’m not worried about the camping, unlike Marcus (she jokes) I reckon it will all add to the experience!”

Each participant will support Olivia by appealing to their friends and fans to sponsor their steps via the Great Walk to Beijing website, Greatwalktobeijing.com, where progress reports on the trek and the ability for everyone to donate to support their favourite celebrity will be available.

They went up to the outside balcony to wave to the queue.

Up there already were Toyah Willcox and Mark Wingett, who starred in The Bill as Jim Carver.

Mark Wingett introduced the film with Toyah. Although Phil Daniels didn't join in with the introduction he did watch the film. The audience were shouting things in his direction about certain scenes during the film and he shouted back, to much laughter. The whole experience was surreal and must have been for him watching a younger version of himself, filmed 30 years ago, up on the big screen.

At the end of the film he posed for photos as did some of the others, although they must have been sick and tired of it as they'd been at the Quadrophenia convention at the Metropole hotel all day.

There was no way Sting, who played Ace Face, was going to attend. He was booed by the audience when he appeared on screen.

Lorraine Forbes, Belmore Road, Eastbourne

Tim Evans, who owns movie memorabilia store Video-drome, in Broad Street, Worcester, said Target 30 - a weekend-long event dedicated to the cult 1979 movie about Mods - was outstanding. "It was the first show I've done on my own," said Mr Evans, who also runs event company Reel Events.

"It was the first time I had to book everything from the venue to the MC and food. But everything went really well. Better than that."

Target 30 took place in Brighton earlier this month and reunited the original cast from the film including Phil Daniels and Toyah Willcox.

"We had a special cinema showing of the film which was fantastic," said Mr Evans. "We booked Toyah and Mark Wingett to introduce it, then John Altman and Phil Daniels came along to watch it. They stayed for the whole thing and, I think, that really impressed the rest of the audience. People were cheering and singing."

Another highlight was seeing hundreds of Mods riding scooters though Brighton and being greeted by the cast.

The event, which also saw Worcester historian and Quadrophenia fan Dilip Sar-kar interview cast on stage, was attended by people from all over the world.

"The feedback we've had has been incredible," said Mr Evans. "And people are already trying to buy tickets for next year."

The 2009 convention, again being held in Brighton in April, will mark 30 years since the film's release. To find out more go to www.quadcon.co.uk or call into Videodrome.

Quadrophenia was based on the 1973 rock opera album written by The Who and told the story of Jimmy, a Mod who is disillusioned with life and becomes caught up in the 1964 Brighton riots.

This, taken from 'The Great Walk to Beijing 2008' website: 

"The energy is uplifting and it has a positive influence on the group. English actor, Toyah Willcox wanted to come along because she believes the world needs to change the way it views cancer, she said she is also truly inspired by women such as Olivia who take control of their own lives. Now Toyah is glad she did, “This is an amazing journey”, she said.