Dreamscape: A Toyah Willcox Fansite [www.toyah.net] : somewhere in the distance : archived Toyah news for the month of Oct 2001


29 October : OK Magazine
Toyah is in this week's OK Magazine (Issue 288 - November 2 2001). She is featured in the 'Body & Soul' section which looks at 'Dealing With Dyslexia'. Also included in the article are quotes from Tom Cruise and David Bailey, as well as causes and spotting the signs of dyslexia.
29 October : CLEO Campaign
Toyah continues to be featured in the 'CLEO Collection' advertising campaign which is currently in many magazines and newspapers, including OK, Hello!, M Magazine and others. 

As previously mentioned on 10th October, Toyah attended the annual CLEO - user of the year awards. This was held at London's Royal Lancaster Hotel and she was pictured with Jilly Johnson, Geoff Marshall and Vicky Michelle.

The ad is designed to look like a magazine article and in the latest version there is a second picture of TW

The caption reads 'the girls having fun at the awards Toyah Willcox, Jilly Johnson, Nikki Carter & Vicky Michelle.

Ah well, Toyah looks as though she enjoyed herself.

30 October : Derek Jarman Season - Glasgow
The Grosvenor cinema in Glasgow's West End have a short season of Derek Jarman films, including Jubilee, from Saturday 27th October to Sunday 4th November.

Wot!, no Tempest???

29 October : Minder
The episode of Minder that Toyah appeared in way back in 1980, All Mod Cons, is now available on 

VHS Video and DVD. Released on the Clear Vision Video label you'll find Toyah playing Kate, alongside Dennis Waterman and George Cole, on Series Two, Episodes 7 - 9.

Coincidentally, Minder - All Mod Cons was reshown by Granada Plus last week.

Thanks to Rob Cope for the info & pic.
 

29 October : Toyah On Telly
Tales Of The Unexpected
Granada Plus 
Tuesday 6th November : 00.30am 

TV Scrabble
Challenge TV 
Thursday 8th November : 6.10pm 
Thursday 8th November : 10.00pm 

Ever Wondered?
BBC Prime 
Saturday 10th November : 04.00am 
 


 

21 October : Mail On Sunday
Toyah is in today's 'Mail On Sunday' in a feature about Top Of The Pops. The show has moved back to being broadcast at BBC Television Centre, it's original home, and there was a special on Friday night to celebrate. Toyah talks about her memories of appearing on Top Of The Pops and is pictured with its very first presenter Jimmy Saville.

Thanks to Paul Cable.
 

21 October : Toyah On Telly
Beyond Medicine - Disc Health
Thu 25th Oct : 8.30pm
Sat 27th Oct : 6.30/10am 1/4pm
Food Elimination
Thu 1st Nov : 8.30pm
Chinese Medicine
Sat 3rd Nov : 6.30/10am 1/4pm
Zone Diet

Brum - BBC2
Mon 22nd Oct :10.30am/1pm
Sat 27th Oct : 7.30am (BBC1)
Mon 29th Oct : 10.30/1pm
Sat 3rd Nov : 7.30am (BBC1)

Tales Of The Unexpected
(Blue Marigold)
Granada Plus
Mon 5th Nov : 00.30am
 

21 October : Toyah Album CD Reissues
The Connoisseur Collection label, who reissued Toyah's 1981 album 'Anthem' and 1982's 'The Changeling' on enhanced CD in 1999, have revealed for the first time the sales figures for the releases. They say that the CD's have sold "approx 4000 units", though it isn't clear if this is for each album or a compiled figure. Though this isn't a huge sales figure it has been achieved with virtually no publicity, radio airplay or budget pricing. The only promotion seems to have been online via websites and word of mouth. These days some artists who are backed with huge publicity campaigns to launch their new albums don't actually sell comparitvely much more, so we shouldn't be too disappointed.

Connoisseur have also repeated that they have no plans in the short term to reissue 'Love Is The Law' on CD, as they feel the 'Anthem' and 'The Changeling' sales don't justify the release. Nor do they have any plans to issue 'Mayhem', a Safari Toyah compilation of unreleased and rare recordings from 1985. The label do say they are "considering" the double CD reissue of Toyah's first two albums, 'Sheep Farming In Barnet' and 'The Blue Meaning', sometime early in 2002. If this does happen it will be around the time of the 'Here And Now' 2002 Arena Tour that Toyah is taking part in.

Thanks to Baptised In Fire for some of this information.
 

 


 

13 October : Toyah At The Tate
As previously mentioned Toyah was at The Tate in London on Tuesday evening. She participated in a debate on director Derek Jarman, as part of .'Derek Jarman - A Celebration'

She reminisced about wanting to play the part of 'Mad' in Jubilee because the character had the most lines, then Mad was written out due to a lack of finances, before being included again when Toyah said ahe would act in the film for nothing (she was actually paid the princely sum of £300). Toyah lived in Hornsey at the time, had no phone and would ring Derek from a payphone, and he would invite her over for tea and oxtail soup!

Toyah remembered that regular visitors to the Jubilee film set included Malcolm McLaren and Siouxsie Sioux, who was supposed to appear in the film but pulled out. Completion of the film was often in doubt due to a lack of money, though Derek did want Toyah to play Joan Of Arc in another film he had planned. And, of course, she went on to play Miranda in his version of The Tempest.

Toyah said that Derek treated everyone exactly the same, and that they were in regular contact from 1978 until around early 1982, then continued to keep in touch via telephone after that. When he became ill she invited him to visit Reddish House in Salisbury but sadly it never happened.

Huge thanks to Paul Cable, who was at the debate, for this information.
 

13 October : No News Is Liquid News!
Unfortunately Toyah didn't appear on last night's Liquid News on BBC Choice. She was listed as a guest, along with Robert Lewellyn (of Red Dwarf), on the Liquid News website and there was no explanation regarding her no-show. Robert did appear so the listing can't have been a mistake. Ah well, not to worry!
13 October : Tales Of The Unexpected
The episode of Tales Of The Unexpected, 'Blue Marigold', which stars Toyah in the lead role is being reshown by Granada Plus on Monday 5th November at 00.30 (so late Sunday night really). 

Toyah plays Myra, a star who loses everything; her mind, career, and fame. It's worth watching for the brilliant opening sequence alone. The late Ralph Bates co-stars.

Toyah filmed 'Blue Marigold' in early 1981 but it wasn't broadcast until 1982 by the ITV network in the United Kingdom. 

Tales Of The Unexpected was a very successful drama series broadcast in the late 70's/early 80's, each with an 'eerie' or 'unexpected' (hence the title!) climax.

The series was originally called Roald Dahl's Tales Of The Unexpected, as most of the tales were written by him.
 

13 October : Blue Marigold - A Toyah Club @ Yahoo
While on the subject of Blue Marigold....

There is a Toyah club at Yahoo with that title, billed as the alternative Toyah club. Originally created as a forum for gay/bi/lesbian fans of Toyah to get together, post pics, messages, thoughts etc. The founder's message reads: 'Toyah has an increasingly growing lesbian and gay following, this is a club to celebrate Toyah, her music, films and career'.

However I'm sure there would be no problem with Toyah fans of any persuasion joining. Go here.
 

13 October : Toyah (On A Jukebox Near You?)
Okay, okay, I know it'll probably end up just like all my ideas relating to Toyah, back in the dark recesses of my brain, BUT at least I try (what do ya mean, very trying!?)

It's the great"Toyah On A Jukebox" search. Does your local's jukie have any Toyah songs on it, and if not, why not? So far I know of two that do, so the task is to find more and build up a list of ToyahOnTheJukeboxPubs. Please email me if you have any info, this is a serious issue, and could result in a Toyah pub tour of Britain - hic!!!
 

13 October : Another 'Shagaround' Link
Yet another interesting page dedicated to The Shagaround.

This one from last month's week-long run at The Theatre Royal in Brighton. Nothing amazing but another great pic of Toyah from the show. Go See.
 

13 October : American DVD's
Anyone who has taken a look at Amazon or any other site selling US (region 1) DVD's will no doubt have noticed their content, compared with European (region 2) releases, to be far superior. There are currently three films with Toyah available; Quadrophenia (1979), The Tempest (1980) and Anchoress (1993). 

Quadrophenia in particular is bursting with extras including; theatrical trailers, extensive photo gallery, film reviews, a Sting interview, The Who discography & much more.

The Tempest includes; three rare short films by director Derek Jarman, and text of the original theatrical press kit. Much more, of interest to fans, substantial, and better value than those available to play on European DVD players.

Thanks to Craig Astley at toyahwillcox.com who originally mantioned this at Angels & Demons.
 

13 October : Here & Now 2002
Rumours are that some of the other acts joining Toyah on the 'Here And Now' 2002 Tour will include, Belinda Carlisle, Spandau Ballet, ABC and Howard Jones. No information about other acts, dates or running order are available yet.
13 October : Eternity
'Eternity', the follow up album to 1994's 'Dreamchild', the Toyah album that was never released is probably the most sought after Toyah item of the moment.


Not the real CD cover 

Tracklist is as follows:

Eternity
Beautiful Creature 
Healing Angel
Brilliant Birth 
New Messiahs 
I For An Eye 
Escape For Liberty 
I Fall 
Flight/Pheonix 
You 
Vicious Dreaming 
Illusion

Recently while listening to the album I couldn't help but compare it to Madonna's most recent album, 'Music'. In general the music, and in particular the way the vocals are distorted to create effects.
 


 

10 October : Liquid News

Toyah is scheduled to be a guest on this entertainment show, presented by Christopher Price, this Friday (12th October) at 7.00pm on BBC Choice. The show is broadcast live and will then be reshown later that night at 1.30am.

Toyah guested on Liquid News last month too, when they played a couple of her old videos including 'Thunder In The Mountains'.

Check back here at the weekend for some screen grabs from the show, if Toyah does indeed make an appearance.
 

10 October : Toyah & Kate
"In Kate Bush's song 'Moments of Pleasure', there's a reference to her mother that just touched me so deeply. I was crying uncontrollably and I crashed the car!"

BBC Online have a section dedicated to various people's 'musical memories'. Toyah is featured there, and her choice is the Kate Bush track 'Moments Of Pleasure'. At the site you can listen to a soundfile of Toyah explaining why she loves this particular song as well as her thoughts on Kate Bush, and what she thinks of the comparisons that were often made between them. Click here for this great little Toyah item!
 

10 October : Dreamscape

As you might have noticed I have been fiddling about with the website again recently. I did my back in a couple of weeks ago so have had a bit of spare time, and decided to change the site logo and section heads. I had been meaning to do something about them for a while but didn't have the time, and to be honest couldn't be bothered really!

I think they give the site a more continuous feel and look much better than their predecessors. But hey, what do I know? If any of you wonderful Toyah fans can be bothered putting finger to keyboard, please feel free to send me an email to let me know what you think. dreamscapewebsite@hotmail.com

10 October : Saturday Magazine - CLEO Awards
There was a picture of Toyah in The Saturday Magazine, in The Daily Express at the weekend. 

She was attending the CLEO Awards, held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. The awards were hosted by Jilly Johnson, the "official face of CLEO", and were in association with 'Health & Fitness' magazine. Celebs spotted included Lorraine Chase, Gareth Hunt, Sharron Davies, Christopher Biggins, and many others from the world of film, theatre, television and sport.

Toyah is pictured with Jilly Johnson, Geoff Marshall (marketing director), and Vicky Michelle.
 

10 October : 'Thunder' - 20 Years Ago This Week...
Twenty years ago this week 'Thunder In The Mountains' was hurtling towards the UK Top Ten, set to become Toyah's third consecutive single to do so. Earlier in the year 'It's A Mystery' and 'I Want To Be Free' had been huge singles, and even all these years later are probably Toyah's best known hits. 

However 'Thunder' is definitely remembered with greater fondness among fans and has certainly stood the test of time better than 'Mystery' or 'Free'. The production on the track still sounds fantastic and in my opinion hasn't dated atall, unlike a lot of music from 20 years ago.

'Thunder In The Mountains' was released on 18th September 1981 by Safari Records, on seven inch single (Safe 38), seven inch picture disc (Safe P38) and 12 inch single (Safe L38). The b side track was the excellent 'Street Addict' and the extra track on 12 inch was 'Voodo Doll'. 'Thunder' eventually reached number four, and spent nine weeks, on the UK chart.

The song was writen by Toyah, along with Adrian Lee (Toyah's keyboard player) and Nigel Glockler (Toyah's drummer), and was produced by Nick Tauber. The image created for promoting the single is one of Toyah's own favourites (the photograph was taken by John Swannell) and she used the picture on the back of her autobiography 'Living Out Loud' published last September.

The 'Thunder In The Mountains' video is Toyah's best remembered and was directed by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. In it she plays a warrior type priestess charging across a barren landscape on a horse drawn chariot.

Toyah, and the band,  made a number of memorable appearances on TV music shows to promote the single. Including Top Of The Pops, Swap Shop and Something Else.The aforementioned promo video was all over the telly too.

The song was never included on any Toyah studio album, though it has been on a number of compilations (Toyah and various artists) and live albums. 'Thunder', THE classic Toyah song and video from her chart/pop star era.

Aaah the memories, and even better Toyah is still thundering and keeping us all entertained all these years later!


 

6 October : Official Toyah Site Updated / Here And Now 2002 Tour
The Official Toyah website has been updated with some great News and Toyah's Diary entry for October. The News includes details on a number of interesting developments musically in Toyahland! Toyah also sounds very enthusiastic about her music career, she has been writing songs lately, in her Diary.

It is now definite that Toyah will be a part of next year's 'Here And Now' Tour taking place in April 2002. TW.com will be adding further details regarding Toyah's involvement, as well as tour dates in the very near future - stay tuned! This will be the follow up to the first tour taking place next month around the UK, and including Kim Wilde, T'Pau, Heaven 17, Nick Heyward and Paul Young.

6 October : Another Live Toyah P.A.
Toyah is set to make a second PA. next month, following on from the resounding success of her appearance at Ruby's nightclub in Stoke on 22nd June. This forthcoming appearance will be at the Chicago Rock Cafe in Northampton and will take place on Thursday 29th November

It is sure to be another great night of retro Toyah classics. No further details are available as yet but will no doubt be posted at TW.com as and when they become available. The club's telephone number is - 01604 627766, and their address - Chicago Rock Cafe, 4-5 Parade, Market Square, Northampton NN1 2EA.

Toyah's PA. at Ruby's in June was a stonking night according to everyone who was there. She looked great and sang six of her best known 80's hits to a very appreciative crowd. Click here for details of that night, including pictures and fan thoughts.

PS. There are rumours circulating that Toyah will be returning to Stoke in a fortnight's time to open Ruby's new pub. Keep checking Angels & Demons for further details.

6 October : Classic Toyah Album CD Reissues
To coincide with next April's 'Here And Now' Tour Toyah's first two albums, 'Sheep Farming In Barnet' and 'The Blue Meaning' are set to be rereleased on a double CD. Toyah has been in discussions with John Craig, who along with Tony Edwards established and ran Safari Records, Toyah's record label for the first six years of her career. Both of these albums are still much sought after and along with 'Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!' form the trilogy of Toyah's 1980 album releases.

Another treat for fans of Toyah's music is the news that 'Prostitute', originally released in 1988 and 'Ophelia's Shadow' from 1991 are to be reissued on CD too. 'Prostitute' is probably Toyah's most experimental and personal album to date, and along with 'Ophelia' perfectly highlights why Toyah should be regarded as highly as female singer/songwriters such as Kate Bush, Tori Amos, PJ Harvey & Sarah McLaclan.

These albums have previously been scheduled for rerelease along with 1994's 'Take The Leap'. No news as yet if 'Leap' will finally get a UK release, it has only ever been available on Japanese import.
 

6 October : Dotmusic Awards

The annual Dotmusic Website Awards have been announced. Dreamscape came in at 324, which I know isn't amazing but 2,611 websites entered so it's not too bad, and is in the Top 15%. Big thanks to everyone who voted for the site. Click here if you'd like to see the Top 1000.
 

6 October : Tate Britain

Toyah will take part in a debate as part of 'Derek Jarman - A Celebration' at The Tate on Tueday 9th October.

Derek Jarman was a leading avant-garde film-maker whose visually opulent and stylistically adventurous body of work stands in defiant opposition to the established literary and theatrical traditions of British cinema. Deeply personal and highly idiosyncratic, his films celebrate striking imagery and evocative sounds and are closely interwoven with his writing, painting and activism. This evening coincides with a short season of Jarman's films at Tate Britain and brings together collaborators including producer John Mackay, director John Maybury, theorist Colin McCabe, film historian Michael O'Pray and actress Toyah Willcox, to celebrate his work.
 

6 October : Toyah On Telly
Brum :
Sat 6th Oct: 7.30am BBC1 
Mon 8th Oct: 8.10am/1pm BBC2 
Sat 13th Oct: 7.30am BBC1 
Mon 15th Oct: 8.10am BBC2 
Sat 20th Oct: 7.30am BBC1 
 

Beyond Medicine :
Discovery Health Channel 
Series investigating an integrated and complementary approach to healthcare. Presented by Toyah. 
Sat 6th Oct: 10am/1pm/4pm 
Midwifery. 
Thu 11th Oct: 8.30pm 
Light Therapy. 
Sat 13th Oct: 6.30/10am/1/4pm 
Yoga. 
Thu 18th Oct: 8.30pm Homeopathy. 
Sat 20th Oct: 6.30/10am/1/4pm 
Bach's Flower Therapy. 
 

Never Mind The Buzzcocks :
Mon 8th Oct: 00.40 BBC2

The Tempest :
Wed 10th Oct: 00.25 Film Four
Also being shown on Film Four Plus 1 at 1.25am on the same day.

Bad Hair Days :
Thu 11th Oct: 1.45pm S4C


 

2 October : The Look
At the weekend this TV magazine featured a small picture of Toyah, and a little information about her forthcoming appearance on Never Mind The Buzzcocks.
2 October : Quadrophenia
This film made in 1979 has yet again been rereleased on video (Ist October). This time as a box set along with the films The Doors and Sid And Nancy. In Quadrophenia Toyah plays Monkey, this was one of her first film roles.
2 October : The Tempest
The Tempest : Film Four : Wed 10th October : 00.25

Another film from 1979, being shown on Film Four later this month. Toyah plays Miranda in Derek Jarman's version of the Shakespeare classic.

2 October : Never Mind The Buzzcocks

Toyah was a panel guest, for the third time, on Never Mind The Buzzcocks last night alongside Steve Lamacq and Sean Hughes. They were 'competing' against Phil Jupitus, Captain Sensible and Kermit, and Toyah's team won 16 - 6.

After being asked a question about P Diddy, Toyah decided she should be called T Willy for the rest of the show much to the bemusement of host, Mark Lamarr.

The final round, Next Lines, included "going to crawl through the alleyways...", cue close up of Toyah. She replied "scream and shout", nope, "gonna be free", "wanna be free", "I wanna be free". Finally after a quick look at Mark's answer she got it, "being very loud, oh shit!" and looked a little embarassed. Sean Hughes then muttered "It was a long time ago".

This show will be reshown next Sunday night/early Monday morning (7/8th October) on BBC 2