Toyah

Born on May 18, 1958, in Birmingham, England, Toyah Ann Willcox studied acting at the Old Rep Drama School. Two provocative late-’70s films established her as an anti-establishment presence: Derek Jarman’s punk rock feature Jubilee, in which she portrayed the character Mad, and the Who’s cinematic reworking of their early-’70s rock opera Quadrophenia, where she played Monkey. Fronting the punk rock outfit Toyah—whose lineup included guitarist Joel Bogen, bassist Mark Henry, drummer Steve Bray, keyboardist Peter Bush, and Willcox on vocals—she projected a vivid stage image defined by bright orange hair tipped in pink. The group aligned with the independent Safari Records label and issued its debut album, Sheep Farming in Barnet, produced by Steve James and Keith Hale; what began as a six-track EP later expanded into a full-length release.

Although the album drew critical praise, Safari’s distributor proved unable to secure chart placement, prompting a shift to specialist distributor Spartan. The resulting second album, The Blue Meaning, issued in June 1980, sold sufficiently to enter the Top 40, yet broader commercial breakthrough remained elusive. A live set, Toyah Toyah Toyah, appeared early in 1981; captured the previous June at Wolverhampton’s Lafayette Club, it highlighted concert staples such as “Victims of the Riddle,” “Danced,” “Race Through Space,” and “Ieya.” Shortly afterward Safari released the four-track EP Four from Toyah, containing “It’s a Mystery,” “Revelations,” “War Boys,” and “Angels & Demons.” By then the band’s roster had changed completely, retaining only Joel Bogen alongside newcomers Phil Spalding, Nigel Glocker, and Adrian Lee.

Radio embraced “It’s a Mystery” in early 1981, and the subsequent single “I Want to Be Free” carried the group into the Top Ten for the first time. Both tracks preserved Toyah’s blend of punk edge and buoyant pop, the latter accompanied by a video depicting Willcox hurling furniture and demolishing a multi-tiered wedding cake. The 1981 album Anthem, built around those two hit singles, became her highest-charting release, peaking at number two during the summer; only the Stars on 45 disco-medley phenomenon prevented it from reaching the summit. Teaming with producer Steve Lillywhite for the follow-up, The Changeling, yielded a darker, more gothic sound that marked her final Top Ten entry. Later that year the double-live album Warrior Rock: Toyah on Tour appeared, and early in 1982 she received the Best Female Singer award at the British Rock and Pop Awards.

Her pop momentum had already begun to fade, and a 1984 greatest-hits compilation—also titled Toyah Toyah Toyah—failed to restore her to higher chart regions. Disbanding the group, she signed with Portrait, a CBS imprint, and delivered the solo album Minx, which incorporated cover versions such as Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out.” When that release likewise failed to revive her recording career, Willcox returned to acting, appearing in straight dramatic roles on television and stage, among them the Quatermass remake, The Ebony Tower alongside Sir Lawrence Olivier, and the part of Billie Piper’s mother in the 2007 series Secret Diary of a Call Girl. She continued issuing albums through the late ’80s and ’90s with minimal commercial traction. In 1986 she married guitarist Robert Fripp, formerly of King Crimson; he contributed to her 1991 album Ophelia’s Shadow, and together they formed the band Sunday All Over the World.

Into the twenty-first century she maintained activity across media platforms, serving as a presenter on VH1, voicing characters for the children’s series The Teletubbies, taking the role of Cruella de Vil at Nottingham Theatre Royal’s production of 101 Dalmatians, and releasing In the Court of the Crimson Queen in spring 2008. Forming the Humans alongside Bill Rieflin of R.E.M. and Chris Wong, she prepared the group’s debut album, We Are the Humans, which surfaced in May 2009. The 2010s brought sustained touring—often with the Humans—and further albums including Sugar Rush and Strange Tales. Throughout the decade she revisited earlier works, restaging The Changeling and Love Is the Law to mark their anniversaries. Marking her sixtieth birthday in 2018, she toured under the #Toyah60 banner and issued the new EP Four from Toyah. A 2019 reissue of In the Court of the Crimson Queen reached number 74 on the U.K. albums chart, her first appearance there since 1985.