TOYAH'S BLOG 2018
Read Toyah's blog on the Official Page HERE
JANUARY 2018
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!
Well my diet fell spectacularly from grace in the last four weeks!
So much for living wheat free/sugar free/dairy free……..the guilt is so strong I can list every sin: 2 mince tarts, four servings of Christmas pudding and custard, a bag of Liquorice allsorts and a piece of bread and cheese (a serious crime) and it didn’t stop there….a bag of Marshmallows and a serving of Chocolate Log not to mention being found in bed by the Fripp eating a box of chocolates under the duvet.
Now I am in wheat/sugar/dairy free for January and already my waistline is decreasing.
Christmas was excellent. My hubby gave me fantastic pressies….a new I-Pad Pro……spectacular. And I surprised him with a 1780 barometer (yes, just what he always wanted) and three paintings I painted for him in Menton, France last September. “Where Angels Go To Die”, “Angels Over Menton” and “Anatomy Of Flight”.
My dear 71-year old hubby is absolutely wiped out from two months touring the USA. (he is booked to tour until 2024!) I am concerned about how he will cope in the next 6 years, he is doing a hell of a lot of travelling.
On the day his car came to take him to Heathrow at the beginning of October I hid a locally famous parcel in his bag thinking he would find it before he left the house.
The parcel is an innocent Activia yogurt. Over the summer Robert and I played many jokes on our neighbours who run shops in the town by leaving this yogurt on their display shelves, seeing if they would discover it or if someone would offer to buy it. One neighbour not only discovered it but kindly gift wrapped it and gifted it back to us at a dinner gathering.
This yogurt is now about a year old and we still have fun hiding it in silly places. (Buckingham Palace would be our most ambitious achievement) So on the day hubby left to tour the USA I hid it in his bag and forgot about it.
He never found it until I arrived in Pittsburgh and fished it out his bag and showed it to him. He wasn’t impressed even though I was thrilled I truly won this one. This yogurt has not only gone through about 40 airport security checks but has travelled most of America without bursting!
I thought December would quieten down but more bookings for the band came in than any other time in my 45yr career. It’s exciting and 2018 looks great so far.
Thanks to my work on Swipe Right, the director Sean Cronin has given me the female lead in a movie GIVE THEM WINGS, which I am really looking forward to shooting, not only do I have to age but I have to enact a stroke. Before that JUBILEE opens at the LYRIC HAMMERSMITH on the 15th Feb AND before that I have about 13 TV programmes to shoot. I cant wait for JUBILEE to be in London. Sooooooo many people coming to see it.
2017 was an extraordinary year. It was so busy there where times I didn’t have time to have a glass of water or go to the bathroom, which became my war cry……”I need water now”…..it was a marathon.
Because of travel and filming plus all the concerts I didn’t get to Birmingham until December to see my WALK OF FAME STAR, which put the cherry on the cake. I am seriously proud to have this accolade.
2017 was also a very human year. The festivals that the band played had a huge impact on me, the people where so in love with music, with being outside and part of a community. Festival life is vibrant.
In Dunstable, a long day as I played Lets Rock Clapham Common at lunchtime then on to Dunstable for 5pm, playing to a surprisingly large audience of 5000 in a small park. In the audience I kept seeing this baby being launched about four feet into the air, it really looked like a flying baby, it was a father throwing his son into the air every other minute and it looked so bizarre I asked him to come forward and introduce himself.
He was such a beautiful man who was completely bewitched with being a father and this is what 2017 has left me with… how many men love being hands on Dads, we have seen it everywhere and it has been a joy.
IN EXTREMIS winning so many awards has been great for my self confidence. I loved shooting this film and loved writing the outro song. Simon Darlow and myself cried and cried as we recorded it. Touching the nerve that grief leaves so raw forever.
So onwards and upwards into 2018.
Thank you to everyone for your continued support.
BE PROUD, BE LOUD, BE HEARD.
LOVE TOYAH
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FEBRUARY 2018
Hello there,
I am now based at The Lyric Hammersmith and loving it. For the past 10 years I have travelled so much that London has only been in my life about 10 days of the year and it has changed, in a great way.
I love that with in a space of a mile you can have two different communities such as Chiswick and Shepherd’s Bush, all growing and moving and morphing on a daily basis.
This is the first time in 8 years I have been based in my London home for longer than 4 days in a row. The Lyric is a a very different performance space to the Manchester Royal Exchange.
It is a traditional theatre for starters which means the whole chaotic, anarchic quality of JUBILEE shines out. It looks like we are not only squatting in the space but in the process of destroying it.
Also because there is an intimacy within the space we are able to put in nuances which are both provocative and broadening of the “queer” message.
One such nuance I suggested at a fight call this morning is that there should be homoerotic passes to the Queen, this has opened up an all new meaning to the relationship between the Queen and the girl gang and it’s exciting.
Last week I unveiled a wall plaque in Islington in honour of Derek Jarman. I don’t know what I was expecting but what happened was profoundly moving.
We arrived early to a council worked setting up a speaker and hanging the curtain over the plaque and not a soul in sight other than this, so we popped over to the pub opposite for a cuppa and within minutes about 70 people arrived and most of them I knew from Derek’s days in Butlers Wharf.
Keith Collins, Derek’s long time partner was speaking first and he was in tears and so moved by the event, understandably and as I looked around I saw Jenny Runacre, the original BOD in Jubilee the film and Gaye Black from The Adverts (who happened to be visiting a friend in the very building the plaque was attached to, when she looked out the window she saw me and ran out to join in)……it was a great punky turn out, held with huge warmth towards the memory of Derek.
Rehearsals are not too stressful which is allowing me to get a handle on new technology I was given at Christmas…..my fab iPad Pro plus link up keyboards. With new art apps installed and supper dooper editing equipment too.
I now have everything I need to broadcast out into the world, all I need now is to decide how much I want to share with the world. Last year I made a decision only to be visible through my work as I am slightly unimpressed with the pressure women are under to be seen in posh dresses all the time and not a mention of their creative persons.
I turn 60 this year and I am fully aware I need to pull focus on what legacy I leave behind and I want it to be a creative legacy.
Many people are asking with there be a celebration concert. Well scores of gigs for 2018 have been announced with more added weekly so check out the GIGS page for those. I am sure something will happen but please keep in mind that Craig Astley and myself have spent the last 4.5 years planning a total re-assessement / repackage of all my back catalogue. Broadly, the plans for this include 3 box sets but potentially 8 releases in total over course of couple of years.
The idea was to have kicked this off this year with some really exciting sets but Safari suddenly announced they were selling the catalogue….I cannot tell you the anger I am harbouring over this, it is a place I cannot go, there are women out there who have been physically abused and they deserve justice, lets hope the next step will involve women getting creative justice too.
So my plans for my 60th year have been greatly dislodged. But I am sure something will happen. Stay tuned for more information. There are some confirmed things on their way. News on that soon.
It is 40 years this coming May since I recorded my first ever demos but next year is 40 years since the first Toyah single was released.
In January I shot a wonderful music pilot for LA, ironically the producer is in LA but the series is intended for UK and Europe. I have no idea how the pilot will be edited but we shot it as live and it was brilliant…..can’t tell you anymore about it….too hot a subject presently.
But hopefully we will have news of a possible commission soon, it would involve a lot of programme making. This month I have worked with a lot of friends Glen Matlock, Slim Jim of the Stray Cats, Barbara Dickson, Ralph Mctell , Keith Duffy, Brian McFadden plus Jeremy Vine and Johnny Walker.
It is always rewarding to have time with other artists, to find out what they are up to and what is irking them. Their lives always take me by surprise. With Barbara, Ralph, Glen, Slim Jim there was a stoic focus on touring and with Keith and Brian who where about to tour Australia they were planning where they could play golf around the world.
Jeremy Vine was keen to chat about Sheep Farming In Barnet which took me totally by surprise…it is in his record collection….great taste Jeremy!
The band played their first show of the year last Saturday and we were awesome, I cannot wait for the other shows to come along.
People still ask me if I get nervous. Funnily enough less so because performance is so natural to me now. But two weeks ago I played a sell out acoustic show in my home town and I can truthfully say I new everyone in the auditorium and it was slightly terrifying.
There was Mike Nichols on double bass, Wong and Colin on the two guitars and myself….it was a stunning show. Now when I shop in Asda people no longer say “ It’s A Mystery” instead they say “I couldn’t get a ticket and I hear it was the best show ever.” YEP…..no modesty here.
Roll on JUBILEE, Roll on 2018……its gonna be good.
BE PROUD, BE LOUD, BE HEARD
LOVE TOYAH
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MARCH 2018
HELLO THERE!
I am thrilled to announce DESIRE is being released on limited edition clear red vinyl for Record Release Day on the 21st April.
It looks sooooooooooo cool.
Everything seems to be coming around in full circle. When I was recording Desire at Abbey Road Studios I landed the lead in Gillian Lynn’s Cabaret in the west end. I found myself shooting videos in the day time and playing Sally Bowles in the evening. For one of the tracks we needed a bluesy guitar line and rather cheekily we asked Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones if he would come and play and HE DID!
He just arrived carrying a little amp and happily played along…….he was a legend! There will be another TOYAH exclusive for my 60th birthday on the 18th May.
… and who knows what else in 2018! Presently I am in the last week of JUBILEE. What an amazing journey this production has taken. Apart from being a stunning play it has linked me up to so many people from the original film who have all come to see the play at the Lyric Hammersmith.
Sitting as I do throughout the play in the royal box I have a chance to look at the audience in detail and on some nights I am thinking “I know that person” ……OMG they were in the original film! At the beginning of rehearsals the entire company was taken down with the flu. I have never seen anything like it. The flu passed from person to person in a matter of days and it was bad.
Some of the actors could only just pick themselves off the floor because they needed to sleep all the time. It was really worrying not knowing how they would be by the time the show opened but luckily they all got back on their feet after two weeks.
During this spell I wore protective gloves, washed my hands every time any one touched me, covered my nose and mouth, NEVER touched my face and kept about 5 feet from everyone. By some miracle I didn’t get the bug but my hands where raw from antibacterial soap!
Our stay at the Lyric has seen the play attract the right audience. Because the reviews have been great, truthful and descriptive …. obviously written by people who actually stayed to see the show, rather than dial the review in from the bar, we are now getting an audience who has felt marginalised and oppressed by circumstance and they add a dimension any good performance desires and that is their own social comment. They get the message and are responding with applause.
This entire production has been an education for me. One I am immensely grateful for. It has opened my eyes up to political imbalance and stalemate in how our wonderful country is run. I am grateful to the cast, all brilliant young activists who keep their finger on the pulse who share conversation rather than build barriers.
The one thing I will take away from this is their inclusion of everyone and their ability to express where change is needed, and it is constantly needed. Nothing can remain fixed.
Now I find myself twitching with the need to write. I cannot wait for some space to put pen to paper. My daily home life is one of isolation. (hubby is practicing guitar 6 hours a day)
This suits me in many ways as I am always introspective creatively, but having started each day on Jubilee with the cast in deep conversation about feelings covering everything, the process has led me to discover my relationship between colour and sound.
And to discovering both are vital to me once linked together like ingredients of a loved recipe, probably more so than anything else I know.
I paint the whole time and my ideas are driven by primary colour. This has been a bubbling theme in my life for a while because I often have conversations with the designer Helen David about the emotions of colour. Helen and I have both discovered we have given colour an emotional language.
For myself finding out colour has a language has lead to my discovering music and colour have an emotional link. For example Purple has an authority and is like bass end “B’ on the keyboard and yellow is flirty and like “G” above middle C.
Last night I spent an hour after the show talking to the head commissioner of Channel 5 about this and how I want to take it further, using colour (a visual stimulus) to drive music (an audio stimulus) when it comes to creative writing and to see what kind of songs it leads to.
This is nothing new, my pal Brian Eno has worked with colour for decades, with sound installations but I am talking about colour driving the language of the lyric as well as the musicality.
Lets see what happens. My intention is to finish the Prostitute/Ophelia’s Shadow trilogy. 2018 is going to be fab …. well it is so far.
Lots of great band shows, lots of acoustic shows plus I am making a healthy amount of TV progs too. See you out there soon!
BE PROUD, BE LOUD, BE HEARD!
LOVE TOYAH
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APRIL 2018
HELLO THERE!
It is one month until I turn 60 and I cannot believe where the last 10yrs have gone!
I remember turning 50 so clearly, as if it were yesterday, the past decade has passed in what feels like only one year. It has in fact been fabulous years of concerts, festivals, album making, acting and non stop travel.
50 felt old-ish but somehow 60 feels young and I am putting that down to being released from all social responsibility. No one expects anything from me, I am not responsible for anyone including myself …. it is wonderfully, anarchically liberating!
I plan to dress to impress and express with finesse, yes I am from the generation who grew up and forgot to grow old. My 5th decade was both awesome and traumatic in equal measure. Time brings inevitabilities.
The decade began in turmoil with a minor cancer alarm, spotted well in advance, which lead to two years of radical surgery and now in retrospect I can say I wish I had gone through it a decade earlier as my life has really been on course since the moment I woke from my surgeries.
The seismic event of my parents passing away will overshadow all but then within the grief of this there was an incredible blossoming of potential and future possibilities…… even at 50. Their passing adding huge value to the currency of time, it’s the greatest lesson age can give you. Time awareness.
One thing is for sure …… there is no point in pessimism …. you can only embrace it all ….. and life will throw challenges at you in bucket loads.
Within this extraordinary decade I have moved deeper into music and singing, the live shows allowing me to expand my vocal abilities and hone my storytelling skills.
Then I stepped back into movies, which reignited my love of the camera. And somewhere along the way I regained the “I WANT TO BE FREE” ethos that I am truly unapologetically me, confident in the belief that perseverance wins and Karma does the sorting on your behalf. Oh and the philosophy of Take No Shit arrives at your doorstep in big doses too.
If 50 was the decade of poignant memories 60 will be the decade of rewriting the rule book. Now I am gearing up for my 60th birthday! With the knowledge that the next decade can pass even faster I am grabbing the bull by the horns and getting ready for the ride of my life.
There is a lot to be done, no point thinking things can happen tomorrow ….. things must happen today. The 60th party concerts have been announced for October and November and “FOUR FROM TOYAH: BIRTHDAY EDITION” is now complete and ready for release on May 18th.
The lead track TELEPATHIC LOVER is an all time fave for me. I can’t wait to play it live. The red vinyl of DESIRE is in indie record shops on RECORD STORE DAY on Sat 21 April.
There are plans to have the re-release of SUNDAY ALL OVER THE WORLD’s Kneeling At The Shrine (+ live tracks) CD ready for October. And King Crimson start putting THE HUMANS V KC …. Get In Your Car And Drive into their psyche.
On the 18th May I was supposed to be in France for my actual birthday but now I might be away on a Film shoot for three weeks, with hubby visiting me when he can.
The Fripp/Cox household has the added addition of not only Bill Rieflin living with us until May but also the King Crimson band popping by to rehearse for the month AND a documentary crew making a film about Fripp and the band. At meal times it is not unusual to find a camera rolling discreetly in the corner.
It’s fun, busy and manic. Especially as Bill, no matter how independent he claims to be, needs a lot of “herding” from one room to the other which I love, we are often referred to as The Bill And Toyah show because of the bickering.
Last week I was asked to present a BBC RADIO 4 documentary on the importance of hairdressers within the community and the fact that they are sometimes the only physical and social contact some people have in their lives. This will be broadcast on the 11th May.
The process brought me back in touch with Keith Wainwright who began his hairdressing career in Mayfair at a time when hairdressers where not allowed to talk to their clients …… can you believe that! That was in the 1960s. Keith then went on to reinvent male hairdressing attracting people like Bryan Ferry, David Bowie, Ringo Starr into the hair salon. Keith created my hairstyle for the movie JUBILEE.
The recording also took me to a fabulous hair salon on Brick Lane called NOT ANOTHER SALON. Which was a fabulously joyous technicolor experience to walk into, where there is a policy of no judgement, no class specification, no gender rules and acceptance of all ages which made the whole place feel like a “happening”…… they are on to something there which I think will catch on in a big way.
For the next couple of weeks I am rehearsing and adding some TOYAH CLASSICS into the acoustic show …….. it’s taken a bit of pushing and shoving and nagging but when we play the 229 Venue on the 26 April in London …. there’s gonna be some happy people! Have a great April and see you out there.
BE PROUD, BE LOUD, BE HEARD
LOVE TOYAH
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