TOYAH ON
BBC RADIO 2
WITH JASON MOHAMMAD
30.6.2019

JASON MOHAMMAD: Good Morning!

TOYAH: Hello!

JASON: Fantastic to see you! It's going so well, you were in my home city of Cardiff, at the Acapela

TOYAH: It was crammed to the rafters. It was 40 degrees in the venue. It was like performing in a sauna. It was fabulous (laughs)

JASON: Did the Welsh crowd treat you well?

TOYAH: Oh, they went absolutely bonkers! We're getting so many standing ovations. It was really gorgeous. At point, when it's so hot, I'm so thankful for them being there, for being awake! (laughs)

JASON: Thank you so much for coming in to see us. You're going to play some live music with your band ... By the way, who have we got here this morning?

TOYAH: We've got John Humphrey on percussions, Chris Wong on guitar and Andy Doble on keyboards

JASON: Nice too see you. What's it like being back on the road and you've got a record out as well, Toyah?

TOYAH: I've been on the road for 42 years (Jason laughs) But I suppose the present phenomena with me started in 2002. I was performing in a theatre in the West End and I got a fax saying “do you want to play Wembley Arena?” I thought it was a joke. It was one of these big 80s line-ups and I've never looked back

Then slowly the dedicated Toyah following has been building up over the last ten years. My latest album “In The Court Of The Crimson Queen” went straight into the Top 10 two months ago. The first track we're going to play for you today is my next single off it. It's coming out on July the 17th. It has just been an absolutely stunning year -

JASON: The single is “Dance In The Hurricane” -

TOYAH: The year has gone crazy! It's just been fantastic

JASON: You're on social media as well. There's dangers in it but people engage with you, Toyah -

TOYAH: I am blind to negativity. I just don't bother with it. Life is so precious, time is so precious. Music is multi-generational and this is what I do. Accept it. We need to learn acceptance in a lot of how we go about our daily lives. So yes – I do do social media but the delete button is very active.

I just don't pick up negativity and we can talk about this in a minute. My mother was particularly negative and I've learned to survive and it's as simple as that. We are all gloriously miraculous just being here, floating on a rock in a very immense universe. No one's going to tell me I'm not good

JASON: I heard someone say “don't be negative. Give yourself shot at the title”. I'm so going to use that every day -

TOYAH: We're here for a purpose. No matter what you do - we're a part of a greater picture. I think negativity can just stop you. It stops you moving forward and believe me - I have my own battles with myself. It's very evident in my music. The best things come in life when you're positive and you see that the glass is half full rather than half empty

It may sound glib and easy to say because we all have to fight our dark clouds but I think that life is so precious. Especially when you get to my age. You just don't want to waste it!

JASON: Very true. You must get that positive energy from your crowds as well?

TOYAH: For me the most rewarding part of my life is on stage where there is no mobile phones, there's no e-mail, there's no distraction. It's a very extraordinary experience which I'm grateful for

You do feel moments where everyone in the room is one and it's like a phenomenal meditation. You can just feel their energy tuning in and I am so grateful for that! It's very powerful

JASON: What about this latest record then that you're going to play for us. Is it about something specific?

TOYAH: “Dance In The Hurricane”, to be brutally honest, is about overcoming the grief of losing your parents. I lost my parents ten years ago and my life has never been the same. I'm still really only finding my feet but I believe grief makes us strong and “Dance In The Hurricane” is a song of victory over grief

JASON: OK, we'd love to hear it

(They play “Dance In The Hurricane”)

JASON: Toyah, that was absolutely magnificent! As a parent you've kind of touched me here. I was very emotional listening to that, especially the words “be loud, be heard, be proud”. Such a powerful message in that record -

TOYAH: We've got to tell our children that they inherit the world -

JASON: Absolutely! That's exactly it. The challenging world, go out there and be loud, be heard and be proud. Are you going to do another record for us in a moment?

TOYAH: Definitely

JASON: I just want to ask you about Glastonbury. Have you done it?

TOYAH: We were guests with PRS (Stage). We played there about three years ago. It was magnificent. You arrive in this massive kind of city of people and you can feel it! It's very wonderful! And so upbeat! That might sound strange ... I'm scared of big crowds but everyone was so happy! 

JASON: It is that sort of vibe. Can I just ask you about about music as we get older ... I often have a conversations with my kids - “can we put something else on?” Am I getting old or is that something that happens when it comes to music?

TOYAH: It's your experience talking. We've all got this mammoth library of experience in us and we've grown up with absolutely brilliant songwriters. The Beatles, The Stones, Led Zeppelin … 

I mean they're all utterly brilliant and these young people are going to discover that eventually. When I look out over the crowds that we play to at festivals the majority of the age is under 25 and they've just discovered us. They will discover the music you love

Personally I don't think there's such a thing as bad music. I think generations just need their voice and you can't take that voice away from them. That's the divide between you and your children

JASON: Yeah. I took them to see Elton last week -

TOYAH: Oh, I'm so jealous! I saw “Rocketman” last week, the music is so profound!

JASON: They loved it and they got into “Rocketman”. There was a lad, about ten years old on his dad's shoulders. Elton is banging out “Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting” and this kid is singing the words back to Elton. That is just so powerful, isn't it, Toyah?

TOYAH: That's storytelling writing, isn't it? The 80s was very similar that we told stories about the listener to draw the listener in. Elton's “Yellow Brick Road” about going back to the farm, going back to your roots … 

I found that so powerful because I only got a change to hear the lyrics sitting in a cinema watching the film. I was like oh, my goodness! Because we do in a sense return to our roots so many times

JASON: And what about those musicians who criticise younger singer songwriters - no names being mentioned. Is that fair? Are some of them accurate?

TOYAH: Well, the one musician you're mentioning is actually an incredible songwriter. I think if you are the best songwriter in the world you have the right to criticise. I'm still learning. I learn every day - as a songwriter, as a human being

I'm still learning and checking myself all the time. I've been writing music for 42 years and it's a journey without an end. I would not judge someone else's writing because it's the process of being creative that's important

We have to remain a creative society. If we're too busy losing ourselves in our phones we're going to lose a cultural strength because we are all brilliant at expressing ourselves. We must be encouraged to go deep and express ourselves and that's what songwriting is

If I was to criticise I would say go beyond the telephone and listen to Elton John, listen to Rolling Stones, because the depth of what they're saying is so truthful

JASON: Absolutely. Great advice. What are you going to play for us next? What's the significance of this next record?

TOYAH: This is a really important track to me. It's off “In The Court Of The Crimson Queen”. Simon Darlow, my co-writer and I wanted to submit it to the Paralympics partly because I've had to learn to walk again three times

I was born with a spine defect so I know what's it's like to keep running up that hill and get back on your feet. We wrote “Sensational” because we felt it was important to write about that everyone is utterly remarkable. No matter what body shape, what height you are, where you come from ... We are sensational and this is what this song is about -

JASON: Fabulous! Let's hear it. Thank you, Toyah

(They play “Sensational”)

JASON: Love it! Toyah live here on BBC Radio 2. Lot's of our listeners are getting in touch. This is lovely - from Sally, who says “I'm absolutely loving Toyah's music. We miss both of our parents very much indeed” ... but your words have provided comfort for them this morning -

TOYAH: Yeah. I'm so sorry. It's the hardest grief. But you learn to live with void. That's the only way I can describe it. You're never quite the same again but something quite amazing happens with your life at that point and you move forward with strength

JASON: Absolutely thrilled to have you in the studio today. Thank you so much for coming in to see us. The album is out as well?

TOYAH: Oh yes, “In The Court Of The Crimson Queen”

JASON: Fantastic. Thank you also to Chris, Andy and John, lovely to see you guys. Keep in touch, Toyah! And hopefully I'll catch you on tour sometime -

TOYAH: Yay!