Toyah Willcox
Toyah Ann Willcox (born May 18, 1958 in Kings Heath , Birmingham ), stage name Toyah , is a British singer and actress .
biography
singing
Toyah Willcox's singing career only went under her first name Toyah. It began in the late 1970s after starring alongside Adam Ant in the 1977 punk film Jubilee . With her extraordinary voice she was very popular in the punk rock scene and in 1982 she was voted best singer at the British Rock and Pop Awards. Toyah put twelve titles in the UK charts . The album Anthem rose to number 2 on the British album charts. Her best-known song in Germany, I Want to Be Free , rose to number 8 in the British charts in June 1981.
In 1984, Toyah split from longtime guitarist Joel Bogen and the record company Safari to continue solo. Various albums followed, including with her husband Robert Fripp (from the King Crimson group ), with whom she has been married since 1986.
In the middle of September 2008, In the Court of the Crimson Queen was released , their first studio album in a long time. The ten songs were written together with then band member Simon Darlow (ex-member of The Buggles and author of Grace Jones ' Slave to the Rhythm ). Another current project is the band The Humans, together with Bill Rieflin from REM and Chris Wong. The group describes their style as "European experimental meets West Coast American grunge".
Film, television, stage
Toyah Willcox was known as an actress even before her singing career. Some of her first roles were alongside Katharine Hepburn in the George Cukor film The Grain is Green and alongside Sting in the film adaptation of the musical Quadrophenia by The Who . In 1979 she played Miranda in Derek Jarman's version of Shakespeare's The Tempest . Other roles besides David Hemmings were in a remake of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and next to Laurence Olivier in Ebony Tower . During the 1990s and early 2000s she was the dubbing voice of one of the Teletubbies in the original UK preschool television series of the same name, and appeared in the second season of the UK version of I'm a Star - Get Me Out of Here! With. In 1987 she performed in Cabaret in London's West End .
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 UK
|
|||
| 1980 | The Blue Meaning |
UK40 (4 weeks) UK |
|
| 1981 | Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! |
UK22nd  (18 weeks)UK |
|
| Anthem |
UK2  (46 weeks)UK |
||
| 1982 | The changing |
UK6th (12 weeks)UK |
|
| Warrior Rock - Toyah on Tour |
UK20 (6 weeks) UK |
Live album
|
|
| 1983 | Love is the law |
UK28 (7 weeks) UK |
|
| 1985 | Minx |
UK24 (4 weeks) UK |
|
| 2019 | In the Court of the Crimson Queen |
UK74 (4 weeks) UK |
More albums
- 1979: Sheep Farming in Barnet
- 1985: Mayhem
- 1986: The Lady or the Tiger? (with Fripp feat. The League of Crafty Guitarists )
- 1987: Desire
- 1988: Prostitutes
- 1991: Ophelia's Shadow
- 1991: Kneeling at the Shrine (with Sunday All Over the World )
- 1993: Kiss of Reality (Kiss of Reality & Special Guest Toyah)
- 1994: Dreamchild
- 1995: Looking Back
- 2003: Velvet Lined Shell
- 2006: Take the Leap
- 2008: In the Court of the Crimson Queen
- 2010: This Fragile Moment
- 2015: The Acoustic Album
Compilations
- 1982: Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!
- 1994: Best of Toyah
- 1997: The Very Best of Toyah
- 1998: Live & More - Live Favorites & Rarities
- 1998: The Best of Toyah - Proud, Loud & Heard
- 2005: The Safari Records Singles Collection Part 1: 1979–1981
- 2005: The Safari Records Singles Collection Part 2: 1981–1983
- 2008: Good Morning Universe - The Very Best of Toyah (2 CDs with material from 1979-2003)
Singles and EPs
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
UK
|
|||
| 1981 | Four from Toyah (EP) |
- |
UK4th (14 weeks)UK |
|
| I want to be free anthem |
DE61 (5 weeks) DE |
UK8th (11 weeks)UK |
||
| Thunder in the Mountains Warrior Rock |
- |
UK4th (9 weeks)UK |
||
| Four More from Toyah (EP) |
- |
UK14 (9 weeks) UK |
||
| 1982 | Brave New World The Changeling |
- |
UK21 (8 weeks) UK |
|
| Ieya The Blue Meaning |
- |
UK48 (5 weeks) UK |
already published in 1980
|
|
| Be Loud Be Proud (Be Heard) Toyah! Toyah! Toyah! (Compilation) |
- |
UK30 (7 weeks) UK |
||
| 1983 | Rebel Run Love Is the Law |
- |
UK24 (5 weeks) UK |
|
| The Vow Love Is the Law |
- |
UK50 (7 weeks) UK |
||
| 1985 | Don't Fall in Love (I Said) Minx |
- |
UK22 (6 weeks) UK |
|
| Soul Passing Through Soul Minx |
- |
UK57 (3 weeks) UK |
||
| World in Action Minx |
- |
UK93 (1 week) UK |
||
| 1987 | Echo Beach Desire |
- |
UK54 (6 weeks) UK |
|
More singles
- 1979: Victims of the Riddle
- 1979: Sheep Farming in Barnet (AP = Alternative Play, six track single incl. Neon Womb )
- 1980: Bird in Flight / Tribal Look
- 1980: Danced (Live)
- 1980: computer
- 1981: It's a Mystery
- 1981: Stand Proud (Flexidisc)
- 1981: Sphinx / For You (Flexidisc)
- 1981: Good Morning Universe / In the Fairground (Promo)
- 1982: Nine to Five (with Maneaters and Adam Ant , from the film Jubilee )
- 1985: World in Action
- 1987: Moonlight Dancing
- 1993: Out of the Blue
- 1994: Now & Then
- 2002: Little Tears of Love EP
- 2007: Latex Messiah (Viva la Rebel in You)
swell
Web links
- Official website
- Toyah at Allmusic (English)
- Toyah at Discogs (English)
- Dreamscape - Info page about Toyah Willcox
- The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive Blog (at blogspot.com)
- Toyah Willcox in theInternet Movie Database(English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Willcox, Toyah |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Toyah; Willcox, Toyah Ann |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British singer and actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 18, 1958 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kings Heath , Birmingham |