Digger: Can you tell us who were and
who are your musical influences and your dramatic influences?
Toyah: My main influence was David
Bowie. His androgyny and beauty drew me in, then I started to really
appreciate how brilliant he was at moving through cultural and
musical influences as a survival tactic. Today I like Elbow, P.J.
Harvey, Kate Bush, Lady Gaga. Well pretty much anyone who has
originality.
Acting wise, I’ve worked with them all - Steven Rae, Laurence
Olivier, Timothy Spall, Brenda Blethyn. People’s talent never
ceases to amaze me, in the young and old, all through my career.
I’ve just seen the new Star Trek film and I could have wept tears
of joy at how brilliant the cast was. In just the same way I could
have wept tears of joy over Kate Winslet in The Reader. Sheer genius
is a joy to behold.
Digger: How do you manage to balance the different disciplines of
acting, writing, recording and performing?
Toyah: It's simple, I just love to
work. Home life, ordinary life, down time are all my worst
nightmare. I just cannot cope with normality. So because of
this I will seek work the way a drug addict seeks their particular
vice. I’m work-dependant!
With acting and singing I need an audience, which is a challenge in
itself, because a good idea is nothing without an audience. So
sometimes I use one medium to attract attention to another career.
Acting always brings a new audience to my music. But writing
for me demands solitude. I will travel the world to find the peace
and quiet I need to hatch an idea. What never ceases to amaze me is
that as soon as I start a new writing project some member of the
family, or press, will inadvertently cause a drama which halts the
project. My father is very good at this. He has never done it
deliberately but it is as if he senses I want to withdraw from his
world in order to write. And the phone starts ringing and the tales
of woe begin. But he is 89, so I listen more now than ever
before!!!!!!!!!
Digger: What are your biggest achievements and what would you still
like to accomplish?
Toyah: Achievements are
subjective. Two weeks ago my band The Humans played in front of the
president of Estonia - that was wonderful. But also was the fact that
my husband Robert Fripp was supporting us, but instead decided to
play with us. That was an achievement! My husband turns everyone
from Eno to Bowie down. For me the achievement is reached the
moment I finish a song, or feel an idea is ready to be made into a
song. Or the moment I’ve mastered a script and can feel the
character.
As for accomplishment, every decade I am a different person and a
different talent. So I expect to accomplish all the time. Past
accomplishments belong to a person I no longer am! I still
hanker to be a great actress and a great songwriter and a great
performer. I never feel I’ve arrived at this destination.
Toyah with Hazel O'Connor and Kim
Wilde

Toyah with Steve Strange
Digger: Would you have preferred to have been a punk, a hippy, a mod
or a beatnik given the choice of living in the appropriate period?
Toyah: I suppose a hippy,
because they truly believed they changed things. The reality is in
the belief, not in the fashion. And out of all the movements the
hippies experienced the most pleasure, I’d say. I was a
punk, which was perfect for me, but it was driven by angst and
self-destruction to a degree. Hippies just let go. I admire that!
Digger: What is the legacy of punk and the eighties?
Toyah: Well the 80's has
influenced the catwalks around the world this year. The music
is the longest-standing legacy, as it’s been in revival for the
past 8 years and is going strong. But the legacy of both punk and
the 80's is women are allowed more freedom. Freedom to dress how
they choose, work how they choose and many other areas are open to
them thanks to punk and 80's breaking taboos and outdated
traditions.
Digger: What do you think of the reality TV culture and the
fame-for-fame's-sake mentality?
Toyah: It’s inevitable. The
majority of people have a very hard life. Earning little for
intolerable hours. Of course reality TV is going to be a success
because it allows everyone to dream it could be them. I get
bored of reading about stars and their perfect lives. We are
constantly bombarded with impossible images of perfection. Reality
TV allows people to vent their feelings and have a vote that counts.

Joan of Arc
Digger: What are your views on the recent MP expenses debacle?
Toyah: The question I ask is would
I have done that myself? I like to think no! It’s disgusting! Too
many people have been encouraged to spend and live on credit and are
now in terrible debt because this government failed to warn them the
credit crunch was coming and they have known for two years.
Now MP's have profited from tax-payers money, it is unforgivable.
How can we raise a new generation of children and expect them to
have moral fibre when democratically-elected politicians are
blatantly disrespectful of those who elected them? Greed
isn’t the word. Gentlemen’s club is the phrase. Damn them. I
don't believe they have one clue of how hard people’s lives have
been this year.
Digger: Can you please tell us about your current projects and what
you have planned for the future?
Toyah: I recently finished filming
Three to Tango in which I had the lead. It is a very small,
independent British film which will start its showings in small
cinemas around September 2009.
http://www.powerofthreefilm.com
In September I start a four month tour of Vampires Rock.
http://www.vampiresrock.com
And I am in Seattle most of the summer recording with The Humans.
Digger: Who would you invite to a dinner party of guests, living or
dead, real or fictional?
Toyah: Arch Angel Gabriel. The
Holy Ghost, God, Bill Rieflin (The Humans), Joan Of Arc, Pinocchio,
E.T., and The Head Of The Atheist Society.
Digger: Are you nostalgic or do you tend to look forward, and what
do you think about/how do you deal with getting older?
Toyah: Nostalgia has played a huge
role in my life. Even though I’ve had many achievements
independently of my 80's past, I cannot deny my 80's success has
influenced my getting other jobs! But I live in the present
with a foot in the future. I’m always thinking about planning for
the future and am very aware of my physical capabilities and that my
body cannot be as athletic as it once was. That said, I am not
slowing down, I’ve just dropped the dream to skydive. I’d break
every bone in my body. Projects like The Humans is geared for
my future, and for my age. It is gentle, very personal and with
people I love above all other.
Digger: At 14, I once stood outside Brian Ferry's house in London
with some friends and managed to see his fridge and called him and
invited him to a party in Basildon! What is the daftest thing you
have done as a fan and the daftest thing a fan has done to you?
Toyah: I once had a fan fall
through the roof of the Oxford Apollo, when I was in concert in
1981. He had taken the slates off the roof and fell through onto the
stage! He was okay, very emotional! New year 1991 I gate-crashed
Alan Bennett’s new year party at his home, because I wanted to
work with him. He had no idea I wasn't invited and I helped him
prepare food in his kitchen. He was lovely.
|

|

|
|
|
|
David Bowie |
Alan Bennett |
|
|
|

|
|
|
Pinocchio |
|
|

|
|
|
Elbow |
Digger: What makes you laugh, what makes you sad, what makes you
angry and what makes you hopeful?
Toyah: Talent keeps me going. I
love to see people’s talent. Sadness for me is missing someone.
Rudeness and insensitivity make me angry. Every time I write an idea
down I am hopeful.
These are personal reflections; obviously the question can be
answered about the outside world. Seeing someone not achieve their
potential is saddening and infuriating. What makes me hopeful is
when we all pull together.
Toyah with husband Robert Fripp


| Rock
Music Memorabilia - The site devoted to the Bath and
Knebworth Festivals 1969-1979 |
Website |
Rock
Music Memorabilia |
Details |
Rockmusicmemorabilia.com
Ltd was started in 1999 by Henrietta Bannister
with the express intention of reproducing posters,
programmes and T shirts etc. from the festivals
organised between 1969-1979, by her father, promoter
Freddy Bannister. The aim is to offer exact replicas
of the originals, reproduced to the highest
standards possible.
The posters are printed in limited editions and
signed and numbered by the promoter as proof of
authenticity. In keeping with Freddy Bannister's
philosophy of always giving the very best value for
money (just look at the admission price on the
festival posters) the price of the items has been
kept as low as possible and represents truly
excellent value.
Tel: +44 (0)1954 268088
Email: info@rockmusicmemorabilia.com
|
Remarks |
Visit the website for
details |
|
| Steepletone
Record Players and Jukeboxes - Jukeboxes & CD
Players, LED Signs & Pictures, Nostalgic
Telephones, Radio and Alarm Clocks |
Websites |
steepletonerecordplayer.com
steepletonejukeboxes.com
|
Details |
On our website
you will find a range of Steepletone products for you
to buy. Our range includes Jukeboxes, CD Players,
Record Players & Turntables, Nostalgic Telephones,
Radios and Alarm Clocks
The remarkable changes in technology over the last few
years has pushed the Jukeboxes to new limits, now
offering 'No Moving Parts' music in MP3 format. we
also carry a large range of LED 3D Pictures and new
LED Neon Effect Wall Signs. Great eye catching designs
with simplicity of use that, of course, still offer
excellent value for money!
Steepletone Record Players. Listen to the classics the
way they were intended on our superb range of record
players. Many of us have collections of records and
cassette tapes, but nowhere to play them or easily to
convert to a modern digital format. Old record
players, if they have been used over many years, can
actually damage records, so it is important, if you
wish to keep your collection in good order, to use a
record player that is both high quality, and in full
working order (especially the stylus!) Why not
transfer your old LP's on to the MP3 format or CD
using one of the Steepletone CD Burners
You don't even need to connect to your PC and run
complicated software to do it - you just put in a
recordable CD and transfer the music directly onto the
CD. You can then either play back the recorded music
using the CD, or even transfer the files to your PC
(for storage, transfer to MP3 Player etc) if you wish.
Our Steepletone 5-in-1 Edinburgh Music Centre is very
competitively priced. Steepletone is a British company
that has been making high-quality audio equipment for
35 years, so you know you are buying a reliable
product from a reputable company.
Customer Services
GiftedGadgets.com
Midlands Distribution Depot
PO Box 9276
Leicester
TEL: 0845 390 1555 |
Remarks |
Visit the
website for details |
|
| Jukebox One
Night Hire - You can create a little bit of magic at
your party no matter what the occasion |
Website |
Jukebox
One Night Hire |
Details |
Curtis Beauclair
Automatics Ltd was founded in 1958. We have now
been in business for over 50 years so you can rely on
us as an established company.
We first supplied jukeboxes to bars and clubs in
London and the surrounding area. Later we
started supplying jukeboxes to private parties. We
cater for everyone having any sort of party or event
from weddings and birthdays to company events.
We have supplied jukeboxes to many hotels and party
venues throughout London and the South East and we are
recommended by many as their preferred music supplier.
We also have a number of party planners and suppliers
of marquees who recommend our company. Our
jukeboxes have been used by TV and theatres in their
productions.
You can create a little bit of magic at your party no
matter what the occasion.
Contact Information
Jukebox One Night Hire
Mr, Robin Rowe
99 Wills Crescent
Hounslow
MIDDLESEX
TW3 2JE
Tel: 0208 894 4463 Mobile: 07850881896
Email: cutejuke@aol.com |
Remarks |
Visit the
website for details |
|
Toyah Willcox interview. June/July 2009.
Many thanks to Toyah and to Craig Astley for their help and kindness.
More information at:
Toyah
Willcox website
Toyah's
IMDB entry
Official
Toyah MySpace
Official
Toyah YouTube Channel
Official
Toyah Facebook
David
Bowie's website
Images courtesy of and © copyright www.rexfeatures.com
Visit the rex
shop for photographs, framed prints and canvasses.
This page layout and content is the intellectual property of www.retrosellers.com
and cannot be reproduced without express permission.
We are not responsible for the content of external websites.
If we have inadvertently used any image
on this web site which is in copyright and for which we, or our
retailers on our behalf, do not have permission for use, please
contact us so that we can rectify the situation immediately. Images in
this article are, to the best of our knowledge, either in the public
domain or copyrighted where indicated.