TOYAH ON
REIGNITE
WITH CATHY GRANT
25.5.2021

CATH: Hello everyone and welcome to Reignite. I'm your host Cath Grant Spookypeg, and I am here to lead you on a journey reigniting our passion for music. So let's light that fuse and go. Our guest today - she's got an incredibly impressive CV. She's had eight top 40 singles, made 20 albums, starred films, stage plays, appeared and hosted countless TV shows. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. So, from Shakespeare to "Sunday Lunch", it's the fabulous Toyah!

TOYAH: Hi, how you doing?

CATH: Hey, Toyah! Welcome to Reignite. Thanks so much for doing this.

TOYAH: It's a pleasure. Thank you for having me, Cath

CATH: That is such a CV, I mean that's just scratching the surface, isn't it, really?

TOYAH: Well, I am 63 . . .

CATH: And you do not look it! (laugh) So can I start by wishing you belated happy birthday, and to Mr Fripp, and Happy Anniversary

TOYAH: Thank you very much. We had a fantastic three days together. Our birthdays and anniversary have buffered together, and it's been a really really lovely time. And of course it was virtually our second birthday anniversary in lockdown, but we really love each other's company, so it was okay.

CATH: You’ve been spending a lot of time together!

TOYAH: We’ve spent so much time together we've written a new album so it's been creative.

CATH: Absolutely. I'm just wondering . . . after this week’s "Sunday Lunch" . . .  Have you managed to hoover up all that confetti yet? (laughs)

TOYAH: At the moment the kitchen is covered in white feathers.

CATH: Oh, is that a clue for this week's?

TOYAH: Yes.

CATH: Oooh! We're looking forward to that.

TOYAH: We're going to start releasing little films of what the kitchen looks like after we've made "Sunday Lunches" because it's devastating.

CATH: Can we also see what the bathroom looks like after all the body painting (laughs)

TOYAH: Not good (shakes her head)

CATH: Not good (laughs) So talking about "Sunday Lunch" - what a massive success! I mean that just has gone crazy!

TOYAH: If you told us this a year ago we'd have gone no way! This can not be but we we're told that since January we've had 37.7 million people pass through Toyah YouTube. That's just breathtaking. "Sunday Lunch", it has just hit the right note, excuse the bun, classic rock - it's beautiful, beautiful genre and so many people love their rock music.

CATH: Absolutely. Do you actually know the reason why I contacted you to come on the show?

TOYAH: No (laughs)

CATH: Okay. You are a big Alice Cooper fan?

TOYAH: Yes! I love Alice Cooper!

CATH: Do you remember doing the “Poison” video. (Toyah cackles) Do you know who saw that “Poison”video? (above)

TOYAH: I was so embarrassed! I felt a like naughty child!

CATH: It was amazing! Have you seen the show “In The Trenches” where it was shown?

TOYAH: Yes!

CATH: That's my friend Ryan Roxie, the guitarist that runs that show. He will be watching at some point later, he's busy because he's got a show this afternoon, but do you have any message that Ryan Roxie could pass on to Mr Cooper?

TOYAH: Alice Cooper made my childhood possible, because I just knew I did not belong in the place I was born. When his music appeared in my life - I was about 12 - I realised that I had a right to be who and what I a, and I have adored his music and adored who and what he is ever since. I think his band are incredible. I think his songwriting is incredible, and I absolutely am inspired by his life journey.

CATH: Yeah, can’t fault for any of that. And you know what - I have to say you did the same for me.

TOYAH: Yes! (punches the air)

CATH: I was this 13 year old little oddball, who didn't fit in anywhere and everyone was pretty nice ones and there was this little dumpy me who was a bit strange. I mean, I'm still strange - I'm just bigger strange, and I saw “I Want To Be Free. You crawling around on the floor, I just sat there, I thought it's okay to be whoever I want to be

TOYAH: That’s exactly it. I feel I'm not a gender, I feel I'm a person. I feel I'm a person who's experienced a lot of lives. I just feel that we should be allowed to be seen for what we are as individuals. I've always had a lot of problems being seen as a gender before my individuality. So “I Want To Be Free” is just saying stop labelling me. I'm not a label, I'm going to be different.

CATH: Yeah. If anyone younger is watching and don't know that song. So for number one go and check out the video, but the line in it that really struck me was “don't want to be told what to wear, as long as you’re warm, who cares?” and I've lived by that ever since. If you don't like it . . . tough. (laughs) Anyway, I digress. We have to come on to the massive news of this week, and I hope you're going to tell us all about it and show us the rerelease of your fabulous “Blue Meaning" . . .

TOYAH: It's a beautiful looking album . . .

CATH: Let’s have a look

TOYAH: (shows the album) So this is the 1980 album “Blue Meaning”, which is remastered, rereleased Friday the 28th (of May 2021). Pink vinyl in celebration of my pink hair at the time. That’s by (the back cover photo, above) Gered Mankowitch the legendary guitarist . . . legendary photographer! Sorry! I’m trying to find the camera and talk at the same time.

There's also this deluxe edition CD, which is remastered and then you get another - this is rarities, demos and unheard material of that time. And then you get a DVD which is me being interviewed and doing a TV programme called “Friday Night, Saturday Morning”. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous rerelease, and critics are very kindly saying that this is the embryonic beginnings of the goth movement.

It's a dark album. Groundbreaking in its sound. Very angry from my lyrical content, and a very very exciting time in music history when punk was evolving into new wave, into New Romantic. I just am so relieved that this album is back out there again.

CATH: Absolutely. So are we. It looks amazing! It looks absolutely gorgeous.The energy on that, I’ve been listening to it, and the helium tank . . . That was a story I heard you talking about. (laughs) What fun times!

TOYAH: (laughs) It was one in the morning and we discovered a tank of helium. I didn't know helium could do that to your voice, and I was messing around, you know the way 23 year olds do with a tube in my mouth making people laugh. And we suddenly said okay, we're going to make a song based on this completely improvised song about floating down the Orinoco while kind of travelling in outer space. It's completely psychedelic, probably the most dangerous and stupid thing I ever did because I think I was on that can of helium for an hour!

CATH: Oh my goodness me! That doesn't end the story though in terms of what you're rereleasing does it?

TOYAH: You mean this year?

CATH: Yeah. “Posh Pop” and all these lockdown videos you’ve been working on. What can you tell us?

TOYAH: I've directed 10 videos for “Posh Pop” the album. They were all made in lockdown, but you wouldn't guess that because thanks to technology I was able to build a green screen studio in the house, so I could put myself, Robert Fripp, Simon Darlow my co-writer into otherworldly places. The first single “Levitate” is being released on the 26th of June, then we're releasing five more singles.

The album comes out on the 28th of August. All recorded in lockdown, and we were very much moved by "Sunday Lunch", our little Sunday clips that Robert and I do at the how the world was unified by this just horrible virus, and how vulnerable we all were at this time. So “Posh Pop” for me is an exploration of communication and contact while being kind of incarcerated in our own homes. So I think it's a really great album, obviously. Robert Fripp is playing on it under the name of "Bobby Wilcox", because I do not want any connections to King Crimson via this album.

This album is inspired by late 1970’s artists rather than by the fact that I've been married to Robert for 35 years. It's a really fresh, new approach to writing, but with a nod and a wink to Alice Cooper in the 70’s, to Debbie Harry in the 70’s, to studio 54 in the 70’s. It's a kind of fantasy album, about how our minds have connected us at a time where we've not been able to hug those that we love.

CATH: Absolutely. It's amazing having that content that you put out because it's not just that. It’s “Toyah At Home” and it's your “Agony Aunts”. Every week is a Toyah weekend because there's just show after show after show and it's inspirational what you did because people were sitting at home, not knowing what to do, feeling disconnected and I think you did bring not just entertainment but connection because people can contact you, ask you questions, feel involved in it.

TOYAH: You will know this and every musician will know this that there were so many dispossessed workers that we cannot do our work. They're the people that put up the PA systems, they put up the LED screens, they carry our equipment, they run the venues, and these people in the UK we're not getting financial help. And we've found that by doing “Agony Aunts” - we were just saying, we're here, we see you, and we are communicating, you're not forgotten and you're certainly not taken for granted.

And “Agony Aunts” really did take off and people were surprised that we were willing to do “Agony Aunts”. So we've now decided, both Robert and myself, even though we've got two years of solid touring ahead of us, that we are going to keep the brand. We're going to keep exactly those programmes going. Saturday morning, Saturday evening, Sunday lunch. We're going to keep them going. They have developed us as human beings, people are seeing what Robert’s become doing them (Cath laughs) My God, he’s such a gloriously iconic and funny human being. No one knew that side of him so long live Robert Fripp, the new Robert Fripp, the lockdown Robert Fripp! We're going to keep it going.

CATH: Yes, the “Firestarter” look was a great one. If anyone hasn't been watching these “Sunday Lunches”, you have to go and check these out on Toyah’s YouTube channel. There is an absolute tonne of them, but you will not believe “Firestarter”! (laughs) That was … oh! Amazing!

TOYAH: Well, I've done a lot in my life, and genres, and I've been a respected BBC reporter . . . I think “Firestarter” just is so brilliant.

CATH: It’s fabulous! You just never know know where you're going to go next because somebody contacted me the other day and said, “have you got the telly on? Toyah’s on “Tipping Point”” . . .

TOYAH: (laughs) Yes! Not only was I on “Tipping Point”, I was terrified! That was my first job in public out of lockdown, and I was terrified! I thought I'm going to catch something! I'm going to catch something!

CATH: Oh my God . . .

TOYAH: It was quite scary. I've got to get used to the outside world again. Yes, God bless “Tipping Point”, I'm so grateful to have done it, it paid some bills as well. The thing is, I'm an actress as well as a musician and I really have no boundaries. Things don't worry me. I don't mind being made fool off. I certainly don't mind making a fool of myself, but I have no boundaries. And I've put that down to the fact that as an actress, you don't get on in that world if you're precious, and I have no fear.

CATH: We have a connection because I actually did “The Chase” a few years ago as well.

TOYAH: How did you do?

CATH: Well, we had Anne (Hegerty, as the "Chaser") and we were doing really well. We had some ridiculous amount of money because one of our guys went for the higher offer. One of our team got knocked out, three of us got through. We would have got £19,000 each but it was Anne and she caught us with about 16 seconds to go. You know the outtakes you get from “The Chase”, where he kind of loses it and starts giggling? I got one. I had a question that said “what colour is the cock on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square?”, and he couldn't get the words out, we had to stop filming for about half an hour (Toyah laughs)

TOYAH: Was this Bradley Walsh?

CATH: Yeah

TOYAH: I love Bradley!

CATH: It’s all over YouTube of him completely falling to pieces and just as he pulled it back together - I think the answer is white so he said I got it wrong and Anne got it wrong and then I muttered under my breath to him when he said it was blue - and I said well, it must have been cold that day, and that was it - he started off again (they both laugh) So yeah, we have that gameshow connection going on there.

TOYAH: I love it!

CATH: But you you mentioned there about getting used to getting out again and obviously it's something we've all got to do. It's been such an amazingly strange time. And you also mentioned how you've got a lot of tours coming up and I was just looking through, it's kind of a split tour, starting next month, going through to Christmas. There's some “Posh Pop”, there's some festivals. There's some acoustic stuff, and then you start again next year with Hazel O'Connor. So can you run us through? If you can tell us about it? That'd be great.

TOYAH: Well, all of last year's shows I was doing in 2020 - it was sold out. So we're moving all of those shows into the rest of this year and into next year, as well as the following two years. We're already fully booked. So we're flat out. I think there's something like 150 shows about to be added so “Posh Pop” is out on the 28th of August, I have nine festivals before that, "Let’s Rock" festivals in stately homes across the UK. Then in September/October, I will be doing “Posh Pop” acoustic, and then I'm pencilled for an arena tour in December but that's a "pencilled", I don't know about that

February/March, we are back out on the road with “Posh Pop” acoustic and then the whole of June is Hazel O'Connor and myself celebrating 1980, which is very iconic slightly new wave punk music and we'll be on the road all across the UK. That's sold out, and then I'm back on the road because “Anthem” - which I can show you there (behind her) - which is my gold album, I think it's probably platinum by now, is rereleased, and we're going to do the "Anthem" tour in August onwards next year.

CATH: Oooh! Wow! Are you kidding me?! I did not know that! You're going to do an “Anthem” tour?!

TOYAH: Yes! (Toyah during the orignal "Anthem Tour" in 1981, above)

CATH: Oooh! That is amazing! Count me in! I already want to be in! I don’t know if tickets will be available but you and Hazel are coming here to Milton Keynes at The stables. That's two days off my birthday, 9th of June next year so that's my birthday present, my tickets to go to The Stables (laughs)

TOYAH: I will see you in the audience and I'll make sure that “I Want To Be Free” is aimed your way.

CATH: Oh, yes please! That would be wonderful! (laughs) There was one thing I did want to touch upon because when I read stuff about you and watch your interviews, you have a lot of spooky stories and I am spooky, very spooky. So I wanted to hear from you. My favourite one from you is about the Silverman . . .

TOYAH: Oh, yeah. Silverman was wonderful. I actually sometimes feel a bit brokenhearted about Silverman, because right through my teens I would have these phenomenal dream experiences that were very very tangible. They changed me incredibly and Silverman would stand at the foot of the bed, very tall, very slim and just lift me out of my body and take me off and show me parts of the universe. But the last time I saw Silverman he was teaching me mathematical equations. And I was thinking why are you doing this? I'm completely dyslexic!

But I really hope that when I pass from this body Silverman is waiting for me because those dream experiences gave me such confidence. They took away my fear. They took away my fear that this is all that exists. I have absolutely no doubt that this is the illusion where we're allowed to experience this time and the real thing is outside of this body. It was a wonderful, wonderful experience.

CATH: Fabulous. I'm the same, I'm always questioning, I'm always looking to see other people's opinions and it's important to listen to everyone's opinions. My own opinion is there's something out there. What it is? I don't know but we’ll find out eventually

TOYAH: Can I tell you a quote that was sent to us a few days ago?

CATH: Please

TOYAH: It's to do with quantum physics and quantum physicists feel that every word we speak, every one of us, every individual, every word we speak affects stars in the outer atmosphere of the whole of the universe. It changes old stars, immediately, meaning that there is quantum entanglement, that everything that we do means that we are not separate at all. Nothing is separate. So every action, every sound, every piece of music, every word we speak is affecting the universe. I just find that glorious because it makes you feel really responsible when you do something

CATH: Absolutely. It's amazing. Do you have an opinion on orbs?

TOYAH: Yes!

CATH: Have you experienced orbs?

TOYAH: Yes!

CATH: When you confirmed you were coming on this show I was lying in bed thinking about it, and both of my parents passed over some time ago, and two orbs appeared in the centre of my ceiling. It's the first time I'd ever seen them, and they know what a huge fan of yours I was as a child. Are they giving me some kind of message of approval here?

TOYAH: Oh wow, okay. Have you heard of spirit darts?

CATH: No. Enlighten me.

TOYAH: Okay, on last week’s “Sunday Lunch”, Scorpions - I'm just going to give you the exact timing that we discovered a spirit dart. At 1.27 into “Rock You Like A Hurricane” . . . There’s a spirit dart on that film. So anyone that wants to see what a spirit dart looks like - 1.27 on “Rock You Like A Hurricane”, the spirit dart goes diagonally across when I've got a wind machine below me, blowing everything up so that spirit dart is not affected by the presence and the dimension we're in now.

CATH: Wow! So it’s over on your YouTube, the one you did last week “Rock You Like A Hurricane”. 1.27

TOYAH: Going back to your orbs . . . I believe that we are contacted all the time, because I believe eternity is where we go where time doesn't move. Eternity, at the worst it's a void, it's a vacuum, but we are placed in eternity, but everything we've experienced in our lives past lives remains constantly running, it's like a video in a loop. Souls can communicate with you by touching their experiences in that loop. This is very quantum physics. So your parents wanting to contact you can affect you by making you see those orbs, and yes, they were contacting you.

CATH: That was the first time since they passed over that it's ever happened. It's because you're on the show, so thank you

TOYAH: Awww …

CATH: Thank so much

TOYAH: They are with you all the time so never doubt that. They are with you all the time.

CATH: They're here for sure (touches her heart) I know we're running short of time, but there's one question that I will not be forgiven if I do not ask you, and it's a crucial part of my life since lockedown. Because currently, we're in my cupboard under the stairs and that's where I kind of film anything that I'm doing, and for some strange reason, which I actually don't know, I became obsessed with eating Jaffa Cakes. And recently there are other Jaffa Cake products, gateau (cake), donuts that are called “Joenuts” except in different flavours. So I have become obsessed. So what I want to know is do you like Jaffa Cakes and if not, what's your favourite biscuit?

TOYAH: I love Jaffa Cakes because they're only 33 calories per Jaffa Cake and I'm having to watch my weight so three Jaffa Cakes keeps the snack under 100 calories. I love to eat the chocolate and then the jelly and then the sponge.

CATH: Oh, do you dissect them?

TOYAH: Yeah

CATH: I'm like that with lots of things, biscuits like “Clubs” - I have to have all the chocolate from the edge, then the orange and then the biscuit. Okay, so now just me, Ash! I’m just letting my husband know it’s not just me! (Toyah does a thumbs up and Cath laughs)

I'm hoping maybe at some stage after your tour is done and you have a bit of time you'll come back because I have got so many questions.

TOYAH: Cath, you and I are alike. I will come back anytime and it's been an absolute joy and thank you.

CATH: You’ve great new merch! There’s new mugs! They’re fabulous!

TOYAH: And I've got Christmas baubles coming out soon as well! (laughs)

CATH: That's my Christmas present sorted. My husband doesn't have to worry about any gifts now forever (laughs) This is one more thing - what is your favourite Tarot pack? Because you and I both share a love for Tarot

TOYAH: We collect Tarot. This is the deck of cards (shows the deck) I've had since I was 13. So 50 years. This is very very tuned to me. On the morning my father had a stroke I pulled The Tower. So I really respect this particular pack, but we have virtually every Tarot pack that's released because we collect Tarot and obviously we believe in Tarot

CATH: That's really going to freak me out because my name is Spookypeg from when I was 13 and I started reading Tarot cards and it was the exact pack (laughs)

TOYAH: I find this a very powerful pack. It’s a great learning pack as well.

CATH: Absolutely. I won't hold you up as much as I could talk to you all day. I know you're a very busy lady. So every Saturday and every Sunday head over to YouTube watch Toyah. You do not want to miss “Sunday Lunch” and we got a clue about feathers . . . so I'm trying to think it's going to be . . .?

TOYAH: You won’t guess

CATH: (Cath laughs) Toyah, thank you so much for joining us and being our first guest! You were the Reignite virgin (Toyah laughs) I will see you back sometime soon. Thank you so much for joining us.

TOYAH: It really great to meet you. See you again soon!

CATH: See you soon.

TOYAH: All right, lots of love.

CATH: Good luck on the road!

TOYAH: Thank you.

You can watch the interview HERE