Cherry Red Chart - Oct - Dec 2005
09 NE Toyah / Wild Essence
31 NE Toyah / Mayhem

Cherry Red DVD Chart - Oct - Dec 2005
02 NE Toyah / Wild Essence: Live In The 21st Century

Shoestring [Find The Lady] : UKTV Drama - Sunday 16th April : 7.50am
Shoestring [Find The Lady] : UKTV Drama - Monday 17th April : 3.40am
A missing beauty queen, a crazed punk guitarist. an unscrupulous businessman, a distraught punk singer. Eddie, scruffy but unruffled, comes up against an elaborate web of lies and intrigue, drugs and death. Featuring Trevor Eve, Christopher Biggins, Gary Holton and Toyah Willcox.

This is more than likely linked to Toyah's appearance, last Friday, at the Spiritual Tides Festival. 

The Museum’s Summer exhibition, which will run from 15 April to 10 September, looks at the many connections of Barnet Borough with the development of popular music in Britain since the 1950s. As well as covering significant venues in the area like the Torrington Arms in North Finchley, which presented rock, blues and jazz for over 40 years until its sad demise last year, and the Refectory in Golders Green, where Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton played some of their earliest gigs, the exhibition looks at individual bands and artists and their music.

Some were born in the area- George Michael, Helen Shapiro, Toyah Willcox; many have come to live here - The Bee Gees, the Spice Girls, Cliff Richard, Long John Baldry; some are even buried here- Billy Fury, Marc Bolan!

It’s a wide-ranging story, and will cover new bands and musicians playing today as well as figures from the past. We hope to have some live music in the Museum Garden and at near-by venues during June and July.

Thanks to a call for contributions for the exhibition new information has been cropping up all the time-but it’s still not too late to contribute! If you have any material which you think might be relevant, please contact Gerrard Roots or Hugh Petrie on 0208 203 0130.

The man who photographed Toyah for the cover of her 1982 album, 'The Changeling' (as well as this wonderful picture of Toyah to the right) was killed in an accident on Saturday 25th March 2006.

BOB CARLOS CLARKE DIES: The British fashion and glamour photographer known for creating sexually charged, sometimes shocking images of women, died on Saturday at the age of 56. His death was an apparent suicide and his rep, Ghislain Pascal of Panic Pictures, confirmed that he had been hit by a train in London. Clarke's career saw him work with large international operations such as Levi's and Volkswagen as well as edgy, subversive designers of rubber fetish outfits. 

"With an obsessive compulsion I've taken more or less the same photographs over and over again during the past three decades," he wrote in his most recently published book, Shooting Sex. "It's not a job, it's an addiction. Having come to England from his native Ireland in 1964, Clarke studied at the West Sussex College of Art, The London College of Printing and The Royal College of Art. 

Despite his talent however, he made no secret of his reasons for doing it. "Do it to get laid," he said in The World's Top Photographers: Nudes. "But get a real job." Pascal, who set up a picture agency with Clarke, said yesterday that he "will be remembered as Britain's answer to Helmut Newton". 

Bob Carlos Clarke was born in Cork, Ireland in 1950, and came to England in 1964 to study art and design at The West Sussex College of Art where he developed an interest in photography. He then went on to The London College of Printing, before completing his degree at the Royal College of Art in 1975.

He worked in almost every sphere of photography, winning numerous awards for his high-profile advertising campaigns, recognition for his photojournalism and portraits of celebrities, and international acclaim from collectors of fine prints.

Bob Carlos Clarke produced five books: The Illustrated Delta of Venus (1979), Obsession (1981), The Dark Summer (1985), White Heat (1990), and Shooting Sex (2003).

To visit Bob's website please click on the pictures.

[ Thanks to Michael Cooney ]

After 'silver surgery'... a golden future?

Growing numbers of middle-aged women feel compelled to have facelifts simply to keep up. There must be a better way, says Elizabeth Grice

Celebrity confessions from the likes of Toyah Willcox, Julie Christie and Anne Robinson and a flood of television programmes devoted to stomach-churning scenes of perfectly healthy people being cut, lifted, sucked, augmented or reduced, have had the bizarre effect of making cosmetic surgery and its satellite procedures a more, not less, appealing option for people who are unhappy in their skins. 

[ News Source: The Telegraph - Monday 27th March 2006 ]

Toyah will be guesting on the show yet again this coming Thursday afternoon , her fifth appearance of March.

Through The Keyhole : BBC2 - Thursday 30th March : 3.00pm
David Frost challenges celebrities to identify famous people by peeping into their homes with the help of Catherine Gee and a camera crew. Starring: Colin Jackson, Toyah Willcox and Peter Sissons. 

Blood Donor, of course, played a crucial part in Toyah's early music evolvement/ history

Charlie Stephenson - vocals/percussion/fire: 
Charlie has breathed fire for most of his life incurring the wrath of local promoters wherever he goes... Unfortunately safety regulations have tightened up since 1977 (BOO!) so he'll have to sing instead. Must be the rubber revolution... 

Charlie Stephenson (vocalist and percussionist of Blood Donor) died peacefully at 2pm on Thursday afternoon, As well as being my oldest friend, it was through his networking that the band ended up rehearsing at Mayhem thus heralding the start of a long association with Toyah. He was a unique individual and will be sorely missed. Keith Hale

[ Please visit: www.blooddonormusic.co.uk ]

Quadrophenia : Thursday 6th April - TCM : 9.00pm
The Who wrote and produced this energetic story of a young man disillusioned with his life in 1960s London. Phil Daniels excels as the alienated anti-hero Jimmy Cooper. Directed by Franc Roddam. Starring: Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Philip Davis, Mark Wingett, Sting, Ray Winstone and Toyah Willcox.

As mentioned earlier this month, Quadrophenia is to be reissued on DVD again in the UK. This time as part of the 'True Brit' collection. The DVD will be available to buy from Monday 8th May 2006. 

If you don't have these now is the time to change that, if you do then this special offer is a great opportunity to introduce a friend to Toyah's music at a snip of a price.

Immediately the strength and talent of the live band is apparent, notably the contribution of Simon Phillips on drums who puts on a fantastic show, underpinning every second with his precision drumming, and Toyah herself is in great voice - her voice soaring - and evidently enjoying every moment of the night. This is the sound of a band coming together as one and to this day 'Warrior Rock' remains one of my favourite live albums ever. Remember The Eighties review 'Warriror Rock' 2005.

On Friday March 24th - we begin three days of LIVE SHOWS from Detling Showground Nr Maidstone in Kent at the Spiritual Tides Festival. We thank our sponsors HAUNTING BREAKS (For Now THAT'S Weird) and  TELABRIA (for our morning show live specials). The event is to be opened by TOYAH WILLCOX who will be a guest on our show on Friday March 24th.

Friday 24th  10 a.m. - Midday A SOUTH WEST TODAY SPECIAL - Ross Hemsworth interviews special guests live from the festival, including former pop star and TV presenter TOYAH WILLCOX

• The Hoxton Whores were recently interviewed by 'DMC' magazine (Issue 170, March 22nd 2006), when asked 'What record did you lose your virginity to?' Gary from the band replied: "'It's A Mystery' by Toyah"!

[ Thanks to Brian - More of his pictures from 'Spiritual Tides' - Coming Soon! ]

Dyslexia - Wynford Dore
The Miracle Cure
ISBN: 1844542807

A guide to the Dore programme, this book shows how to identify learning difficulties, explaining attention deficit disorder, autism and asperger's syndrome, and discusses cure. With examples, diagrams, and case studies, it includes advice and solutions, and chapters on how Toyah Willcox and rugby star Kenny Logan conquered dyslexia. 

RRP: £17.99
Format: Hardback, Pages: 272
Publication Date: 25th August 2006
Category: Health & Medical
Publisher: John Blake Publishing Ltd

Toyah will be guesting on the show again this coming Monday afternoon (including Scotland this time), her fourth appearance of March.

Through The Keyhole : BBC2 - Monday 27th March : 3.00pm
David Frost challenges celebrities to identify famous people by peeping into their homes with the help of Catherine Gee and a camera crew. Starring: Colin Jackson, Toyah Willcox and Peter Sissons. 

Pic 1: Angus & Toyah, Pic 2: Toyah and the the tall African tribal chief, Pic 3: Toyah is interviewed for the Sky show Psychic Interactive. Please click on the pictures to zoom the photo of Toyah & the tribal chief.

[ Many thanks to Angus Turner for the pictures and information ]

[ News Source: www.dgmlive.com - Thanks to Owen Keenan ]

Toyah, on white Christmasses: "I only remember ever one white Christmas and it snowed on Christmas Eve and that was just great, it meant everything to us and we’d go off to the Licky Hills and toboggan."

Toyah, on (or under ;o)) Christmas trees: "I loved Christmas as a child and it’s to do with scale because I was a very small child and I could get under the Christmas tree and Mum ordered this Christmas tree that probably was only about seven foot high but to me it was the biggest tree in the world and I used to crawl under it and hide in the corner and look through the lights of the tree and it, it was fabulous. That was my Christmas!"

Toyah, on Christmas morning: "I used to wake at around four in the morning and go into my brother's bed with my stocking, which had miraculously arrived on the end of the bed, and we’d open our stocking, eat all our sweets and go to sleep in the same bed. Then we’d be up at about eight and by that time Mum and Dad had filled the lounge with presents, and they did fill it with presents, and we had an arm chair each with our presents in but the lounge would be locked so we’d go and wake up Mum and Dad with a cup of tea, begging them to open the lounge and they’d open the lounge and there was this magical room full of presents."

[ Thanks again to Andi Westhorpe ]

The guide to what’s Hot ‘n’ Happening in Kent - 20th - 27th March 2006

Spiritual Tides Whole Life Festival:
Kent’s largest environmental and holistic living event, with Toyah Willcox at the opening ceremony.

Date: Friday 24th – Sunday 26th March 2006
Contact: www.spiritualtides.com 

Alternatively, watch Toyah perform I Wanna Be Free and It's a Mystery alongside Altered Images, best known for Happy Birthday, at Littlecote House in Berkshire on June 23. Nick Heyward, of Haircut 100 fame, also joins the party. 

To book any of the weekends, call 0870 240 1111.

[ News Source: Glasgow Herald ]

[ Special THANKS to Andi Westhorpe for these rare shots ]

Through The Keyhole : BBC2 (not Scotland) - Friday 24th March : 3.00pm
David Frost challenges celebrities to identify famous people by peeping into their homes with the help of Catherine Gee and a camera crew. Starring: Colin Jackson, Toyah Willcox and Peter Sissons. 

• Toyah was mentioned in an article this week, on her old IACGMOOH! camp-mate Linda Barker:

Swatch & Learn: When TV home improvement expert Linda Barker entered the I’m A Celebrity jungle she did so with a reputation for being nice and blonde. 

By the time she left, her reputation was cast in bisque and a chunk of Australia had been repainted in a deep gamboge and stencilled in a miniature horse motif. 

Now, some years on, Linda is a big star who counts Antony Worrall Thompson among her pals and has bumped into Toyah Willcox, Danniella Westbrook and Sian Lloyd at parties and “events”. 

[ News Source: www.anorak.co.uk - 21st March 2006 ]

• Toyah opens the 'Spiritual Tides Whole Life Festival' at the Kent Event & Exhibition Centre, Detling this Friday morning (24th March) at 10am. The festival will be open to the public from 24th – 26th March 2006.

Toyah Willcox addressed a Learning and Skills Council event today, celebrating Learning and Skills Council funded projects which have been successful in breaking down barriers to learning and getting more people involved in learning in Suffolk.

Toyah spoke of her own experience of dyslexia and dyspraxia with a motivating story of how she overcame her own barriers to succeed. She was expected to slip through the educational net, but she didn’t, and found her strength in performance at which she excelled.

Amanda Stevens, Head of Social Inclusion at the Learning and Skills Council said today:

"I am delighted to welcome so many people today who have made such a big contribution to widening participation in learning in Suffolk. At the Learning and Skills Council we know the importance of identifying new ways of encouraging young people and adults to learn. And the people we are celebrating here today have done just that. They have approached learning in new ways, made it a positive experience and helped many Suffolk learners to achieve their ambitions."

Toyah Willcox supported these remarks, saying:

"It is never too late to learn. We live in privileged times where education is our right and learning should be a lifetime friend."

The prestigious prizes of the Champions of Learning Awards in Somerset were handed out by actress and singer Toyah Willcox who told the winners: "You are all stars in your own right."

Relyon was nominated for the award by Mhairi Holway after the company set up a brand new learning centre with Court Fields Community School and Richard Huish College in 2005.

Staff at Relyon were asked to fill in a survey about the new centre and many expressed an interest in learning about compute and improving their skills on a wide range of other topics.

Mhairi Holway from Relyon said: "A capable, confident and skilled workforce helps us to deliver our business objectives. The learning centre has already been used extensively to deliver high quality learning programmes on a wide range of topics to staff across the factory and the offices. We have been delighted to work with Court Fields School and Richard Huish on this project."

The Champions of Learning Awards, now in their fourth year, are organised by Somerset Learning and Skills Council to recognise special achievement, sometimes against the odds.

[ News Source: www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk ]

Back in 1982 Toyah and her band were touring so much that there wasn't enough time to film a promo video for the song.

Using a variety of clips from other Toyah promo videos and TV appearances, including the 'Echo Beach' promo, 'Thunder In The Mountains' promo, 'Brave New World' promo, 'The Vow' from Saturday Superstore, the 'I Want To Be Free' promo, and the 'Soul Passing Through Soul' promo. 

There is even footage from the 1980 ATV Toyah documentary, with the 'Blue Meanings' and 'Ieya' clips being used..

The interesting promo is a showcase for some of Toyah's amazing 80s looks, and reminiscent of the many Madonna montage videos that have been produced over the years.

To quote the creator of the Toyah My Space page: "This beautiful fan video for "Be Proud, Be Loud, Be Heard" is an Erasercuts Production. I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I do."

[ www.thebansheesandothercreatures.co.uk ]

Over the past year MySpace has become one of the most effective ways for new bands to promote themselves and their music.

Many bands find their first Internet presence through MySpace, which allows them to connect with millions of music listeners on a free home page where they can post photographs, audio clips and tour dates. Established artists often provide a link to their official site or online retailers who sell the band's music and merchandise. 

[ www.myspace.com/toyahwillcox ]

Paul said the crowd response to Toyah was really good and he heard positive comments from gig-goers when leaving the gig.

Last night's set-list included: Echo Beach, Thunder In The Mountains, Hangin' On The Telephone, Jungles Of Jupiter, Sweet Child 'O Mine, Little Tears Of Love, Word Up, It's A Mystery, and She Sells Sanctuary.

The encore song was, of course, I Want To Be Free.

[ Thanks to Paul for the picture, set-list and information ]

[ Thanks to Paul, aka Bluemeaning @ Dreamscape's Forum, for the pictures ]

Most are from the 1980s and were captured by fans at various appearances made by Toyah. 

As they originate from a fans' collection few have been available to view on the internet so these are very collectable.

Please leap on over to the eBay auction website to look at the auction listings, view larger versions, or even make a bid.

[ NB These aren't being auctioned by myself! ]

Derek Jarman: A Celebration 17th Feb – 2nd March 2006 
A riot of vivid colour, provocative thought, visual excitement, political engagement, romantic flight and cinematic genius are just some of the ways one would characterise even a partial retrospective of the work of Derek Jarman . To honour the memory of his death on February 19th 1994, we present a selective season of his work, including features, documentaries, Super-8 shorts and studies and films about his life and work. For those who have never seen Jarman's fabulous, poetic, notorious and life-affirming work on the big-screen, here's your chance - make sure you take it. 

JUBILEE: 18th & 23rd Feb
Time Out called it 'Britain's first official punk movie' and it's still hard to think of anything that tops Jubilee when it comes to capturing the spirit of the country in the late 1970s. 

THE TEMPEST: 18th & 23rd Feb
A magical rendering of the Shakespeare play - the first filmed adaptation - that manages to be respectful, iconoclastic, traditional and anachronistic all at once. Whichever way you look at it, Jarman's style feels perfectly suited to the material. 

GLITTERBUG & THE QUEEN IS DEAD: 19th & 27th Feb
Jarman's final statement - a collage of Super8 footage that reflects on his life, beginning with the filmmaker's own image in the mirror and ending with a 'last look' back to the beginning of his artistic career. 

FORTHCOMING: The Tempest. DVD. Directed by Derek Jarman. Heathcote Williams and Toyah Willcox. (For the Shakespeare Association Newsletter. FILM AND VIDEO REVIEWS: Publication expected in April 2006).

[ News Source: Shakespeare & His Critics ]

Toyah is pictured with TCA Press Officer Sharon Gilbert, during an interview with the BBC's Ashley Blake.

Around 60 journalists attend the Spring Gardening Show in May, and BBC Gardeners’ World dedicates its Friday night programme to Malvern

The Malvern Spring Gardening Show (11th - 14th May 2006)
The Three Counties Show (16th - 18th June 2006)
The Malvern Autumn Garden & Country Show (23rd - 24th September 2006)

Jubilee, Quadrophenia, and The Tempest, all with cool artwork, and extras, are well worth the miniscule price which also includes postage.

[ Source: www.play.com ]

100 Greatest Funny Moments : S4C - Sunday 19th March : 11.25pm
We all love an iconic laugh-out-loud TV moment, but forget those tired old scenes you've seen a million times from sitcoms and sketch shows, what we really love are those slip-ups, laughs, gaffes and forgotten gags which come from a diverse range of places; from chat-shows to hidden camera stunts, internet viral attachments to stand-up comedy spots, the controversial, unexpected and often unintentionally funny moments. Narrated by Rob Brydon and featuring interviews with Jon Culshaw, Meera Syal, Paul Kaye, Michael Barrymore and the Jackass team this is promises to be the funniest 100 Greatest ever made.

The 50 Worst Decisions Of All Time : Sky One - Friday 31st March : 9.00pm
We all make mistakes, but this cheeky special spotlights some unforgettable faux-pas. Rebecca Loos, Nick Leeson and Diana 'Cough' Ingram are among those telling their stories.

Divine Intervention
British actress and singer Toyah Willcox would, no doubt be thrilled to learn that in the heart of central Europe her music provides inspiration for an artist’s vivid, energetic paintings. 

Vince Czifra (34) listens to Wilcox’s music in his studio when he creates vast works, spreading the oils across the canvas with bold brush strokes, filling every inch with intense shades of every color of the spectrum. 

Czifra’s scope is large, he always paints on giant canvasses, measuring two and a half meters in height. The size enhances the dynamic impact of the subject matter. His work often features strong, powerful women. The heads and sometimes bodies of what appear to be haughty goddesses look down on the viewer with a proud gaze and dare us to look at them in the eye. The women in the pictures sometimes look a little frightened, shocked by something, but there is an underlying strength to their personalities which bounce off from the canvas and challenge. 

Czifra’s paintings feature a world quite different from the modern bustle of the shopping mall or the office. The colors, composition, the omnipotent presence of the divine beings all suggest another, wilder world; the world of tribal rituals, emotions and instinct. It is interesting, then, that several international hotels and cafés in Budapest have recently shown interest in featuring Czifra’s work as permanent decoration for their walls. Perhaps the sterile corporate world wants to cut loose and enjoy life a little, under the gaze of other-worldly women. 

Born in Debrecen, Czifra is a consummate artist, involved with art, music and dance 24 hours a day. He studied at a college of applied arts and painted in a studio in Debrecen before moving to Budapest with his wife Csilla Deme, a children’s worker. In the early ’90s, life for an artist was a struggle with a dearth of places to paint or even show art and a clique of mediocre painters who wanted to keep all artistic control to themselves. 

"Czifra’s work was called ‘Anglo-Saxon’ and people advised him to show in Britain, Holland or America, but not in Hungary, which seemed strange. People understand his work in London or the United States but they also like it here too," said Deme. 

Czifra’s paintings have found audiences outside Hungary. He has shown in Toronto, where he held an individual exhibition, in Lyons, in a joint show with a French painter and two dealing galleries in Vienna often sell his smaller paintings and graphics. 

At present Czifra is searching for a more expansive studio to provide space for the breadth of his imagination. "He is a real artist, not a business man, who deals in dreams not ideology," said Deme.