WFMU DJ Julie (of Dark Night of the Soul) says:
This spring I excitedly told friends and family that I'd be interviewing one of my childhood idols, singer/actress Toyah Willcox. This announcement was met with blank stares and silence from those who assumed they didn't know her due to their age or a "Who's that?" from the unembarrassed. At least one responded with, "Oh, Robert Fripp's wife." When I explained she was a household name in the UK, with huge hits like "I Wanna Be Free," and "It's a Mystery," they may have thought I exaggerated her fame because of my excitement.
So why don't people in the U.S. know Toyah Willcox? Her biggest claims to fame here, aside from the Fripp connection, may perhaps be her appearance in the film "Quadrophenia," or her narration of "Teletubbies." Toyah blames her reluctance to tour outside the U.K. for her relative anonymity. But there are other English performers who never played the U.S. -- Kim Wilde and Kate Bush for example -- who still managed to have American hits in the '80s. So what is it about Toyah that people here never picked up her records? Why no airplay?
Hooked since I saw her photo in the UK magazine Smash Hits and immediately sought out her records, I count myself among the elite group of American Toyah fans. There was enough interest to justify the (temporary) existence of the North American Toyah Fan Club. Back in the East Orange days, Toyah appeared on WFMU in 1991, with Fripp, on Dave Mandl's show for an interview about their project, Sunday All Over the World, and I was delighted to bring her back on the air -- via phone -- 20 years later.
Toyah is currently touring the UK in celebration of the 30th anniversary of her classic album, Anthem. Always eager to travel, I headed out to London to see one of her shows and meet the lady herself. Her current band, The Humans, recently signed to a New York label, and it seems a tour with them is brewing for the fall. Whether she comes with her new band or her classic material, new and old American Toyah fans will be happy to finally see her.
her records never got released in America, so how could they be heard? It all comes down to the record company: I, as a fan,managed to get two of videos onto MTV in the US despite the fact that there was no US deal, and still the label did nothing;
the same fate awaited Wayne County, who was also signed to safari records in the UK;
there was no concerted efforts to get US deals for either Toyah or Wayne County
Posted by: Jimi LaLumia | July 20, 2011 at 04:49 PM
Thanks for the Toyah interview! I've followed Toyah's career ever since I saw her in the Derek Jarman's film, "Jubilee" in the early 80's. And even though I live in the US, I even remember seeing her in an episode of the British detective series, "Shoestring" and I've always managed to find her albums here in the US or abroad. What I admire about Toyah, is that she's blazed her own path and continues upon it!
Posted by: Jeff | July 24, 2011 at 06:03 AM
Friends of mine who were big into "progressive" music made fun of me for liking Toyah, so I had fun giving them the business when Toyah married Robert Fripp.
Posted by: Doc | August 01, 2011 at 07:40 PM