TOYAH ON
BBC BREAKFAST TIME
WITH MIKE SMITH
SEPTEMBER 1983

MIKE: Toyah's got a new single coming out this week (“Rebel Run”) and an album and a tour and all these things. Number one single at the moment is (Culture Club) “Karma Chameleon” -

TOYAH: (surprised) It's still number one?

MIKE: Yeah, but you're the chameleon. I mean, you just keep changing all these different jobs and things that you do

TOYAH: I think it's important to keep changing. I think once you get set in your way, especially within the entertainment business, people tend to forget you

It's not only that, when I wake up in the morning and I look in the mirror … hey, ugh, enough of that one. I change it. I like to wake up and shock myself

MIKE: What was this steamy scene with Sir Lawrence Olivier? (in the film “The Ebony Tower”)

TOYAH: (annoyed) There's no steamy scenes. I mean, John Fowles', “The Ebony Tower” the book is very steamy. In fact, when I read the book, I really didn't want to be involved with the film

But the script is very different, and it's all about mind games between four different people. And there's nothing much to see, as far as The Sun's concerned, or any of those tabloids. It's actually going to be a very beautiful, very artistic film


MIKE: But there were stories going around that you were doing a nude scene with Sir Lawrence -

TOYAH: There's hundreds of stories going around. Let the stories happen. I'm afraid people will be very disappointed if that's all they're going to watch the film for. I like to think they're going to see some really good acting, because it was an excellent cast

MIKE: You're 25 now - you've achieved so much in the past ten years -

TOYAH: (laughs) 25!

MIKE: Why are you laughing at that?

TOYAH: (laughs) I feel 16!

MIKE: (laughs) But you started in Birmingham all those years ago. Did you set out to be a punk?

TOYAH: Oh, gosh, no! When I was a teenager I was madly in love with anything to do with science fiction, and suddenly this picture evolved called “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”. I saw pictures of Little Nell and Tim Curry. I remember it's the most beautiful thing I ever saw

That encouraged me to dye my hair, much for my mother's dismay. I turned up at home one day with my head shaved at the back - it was long in front, and one side was pink and the other side was blue

I'd say this was about two years before punk happened because I remember two years later - and many colors later - I was still at school and I going to see the Sex Pistols play at a club called Bogart's in Birmingham

I suddenly walked into this club, and I was among hundreds of people that had the same emotions as me and looked similar to me, even though we were all very individualistic. I suddenly felt at home. This was the big movement called punk


MIKE: From little punks great actresses do grow, eh?

TOYAH: Sometimes

MIKE: Something like that. I don't know whether we'll get another chance to talk to you before nine o'clock, because time is tramping on

Thank you for coming in this morning and for being a part of the show. You've been sitting here bouncing up and down, like a Jack In The Box (a toy)

TOYAH: I'll go cycling when I get back (home)

MIKE: You just can't keep still, can you?

TOYAH: I find it very difficult

MIKE: Right, you keep bouncing away

Watch the interview HERE