how did Toyah ever get BIG?

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how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby naughty boy » 28 Nov 2018, 16:45

I'm always interested in those old artists who had brief moments in the sun and now (or maybe even then) it all looks really bad. I mean, objectively bad.

Take a look at this:



I almost feel bad having a go at it. It got to number 8 in the UK charts and the follow-up was even more successful and even worse (I'll spare you the video for now).

And I suppose you could 'defend' it by saying it was great when you were 13 and who cares that it wasn't deep? and all that - but honestly, there's about 83 things very seriously wrong with it. Isn't there?



(and if you don't want to talk about her, then mention somebody else who had a year or two of major-league success and then fucked off, to everybody's satisfaction)
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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby Brickyard Jack » 28 Nov 2018, 16:50

She appeared in Shoestring.

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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby sloopjohnc » 28 Nov 2018, 17:09

I used to have a subscription to Melody Maker from about '80 to '84 and you'd read about these artists who'd you never here in the US. Some would appear quite frequently in the charts of reviews, like Toyah or Hazel O'Connor, and there was always a little curiosity about what they sounded like.

Some shitty artists would definitely make the charts over here, but when you eventually got to hear them, I'd wonder, "What the fuck?"
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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby Jimbly » 28 Nov 2018, 17:19

Positive Passion wrote:She appeared in Shoestring.


and had a ep out at the time, which raised her profile. then a few hits followed. She was for a short time a female Adam Ant, would appear on just about anything to promote her latest release. She captured an audience which was mostly wee girls and love struck boys. Going by who bought her records in the shop i worked in. She jumped back into acting before her music career totally fizzled out.

She always came across well but her music was awful.
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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby Minnie the Minx » 28 Nov 2018, 17:27

And love struck girls.
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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby Walk In My Shadow » 28 Nov 2018, 17:47

Isn't she married to Robert Fripp?


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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby the masked man » 28 Nov 2018, 18:00

Yes, she is married to Fripp.

She chose her time well. The late 70s / early 80s were an odd time for the UK pop business. Record labels had largely been confused by punk and flummoxed by new wave and as a result signed a load of good, bad and indifferent acts in the hope that some mud would stick. This was an era in which the biggest teen idol was the frankly odd Adam Ant, where Kevin Rowland and Julian Cope appeared on the covers of teen pop mags, and where even a band as leftfield as the Associates had chart hits. Somehow, despite her awful music, Toyah arrived in the slipsteam of this strange time.

Talking of pop mags, Mark Ellen from Smash Hits once backed up Jeemo's point about her sheer availability. Smash Hits used her as an insurance policy. If they were stuck for ideas, or a major interview had fallen through, they knew a quick call to Toyah's management would always lead to a hastily-arranged interview. She worked very hard in this respect. And her record company would always send over dramatic photos of Ms Willcox so she often ended up getting covers almost by default, although Ellen knew her music was ropey.

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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby harvey k-tel » 28 Nov 2018, 18:02

That song sounds like it belongs on a kids' teevee show or something...

Over here we have Canadian Content laws, which are meant to promote and protect the Canadian music industry from the pernicious effects of over-saturation by our neighbours to the south, but which also has the effect of boosting the profiles of bands and artists who, in a just world, would never be able to inflict their garbage on a mass audience. I'll spare you the gory details, but the 80's commercial music scene in Canada was a fucking nightmare.
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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby yomptepi » 28 Nov 2018, 18:10

She had an Equity card, which gave her access to loads of TV so she could promote her wretched racket. She also had some sort of punk credentials because she had appeared in Jubilee.( a Julian Temple film set in a punk London) everything about her music screams "I am acting the part of a pop star" and that is exactly what she was doing. Horrible.
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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby the masked man » 28 Nov 2018, 18:13

She did a lot of kids TV shows, right enough. The weird thing is, she still has an audience. In an 80s nostalgia mag I read an interview with her, and found out she still tours!

Regarding Harvey's diversion on Canadian Content, that always seemed self-defeating. I spent time in Toronto in the early 90s, and the local alternative music station played decent stuff like Sloan or The Tragically Hip that they probably would have playlisted without CanCon, plus a whole load of uninspired nonsense that was only there to fulfil the quota. I suspect the legacy of this law is to leave generations of Canadians thinking that their country's music culture is inferior to that of the USA and UK.

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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby Jimbly » 28 Nov 2018, 18:14

yomptepi wrote:She had an Equity card, which gave her access to loads of TV so she could promote her wretched racket. She also had some sort of punk credentials because she had appeared in Jubilee.( a Julian Temple film set in a punk London) everything about her music screams "I am acting the part of a pop star" and that is exactly what she was doing. Horrible.



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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby bobzilla77 » 28 Nov 2018, 18:21

Yeah I was kind of hoping to like her because of the Fripp connection - they have a band together called the Humans - but I just don't.

I remember she is in the URGH! movie but I can't remember a thing about it, if it was good or stupid or ludicrous. "Of that time" is all I can dig up.
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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby Diamond Dog » 28 Nov 2018, 18:29

I was working in a record shop at the time - Toyah was very highly promoted by her record company.... I remember getting loads of freebies for stocking her single "Ieya"....



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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby Minnie the Minx » 28 Nov 2018, 18:36

How about y’all LEAVE HER THE FUCK ALONE
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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby naughty boy » 28 Nov 2018, 18:45

Minnie Cheddars wrote:How about y’all LEAVE HER THE FUCK ALONE


:)

I originally wrote something like 'sure Minnie will come along and tell us to leave her alone'....
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby ` » 28 Nov 2018, 20:11

It's a mistaweee...

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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby Rayge » 28 Nov 2018, 20:38

caramba wrote:It's a mistaweee...


'It'th a mithtuhwhee', shurely?
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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby Belle Lettre » 28 Nov 2018, 21:19

No, "it'sh a mishtewee "
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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby Minnie the Minx » 28 Nov 2018, 21:34

WHEN YOU’VE ALL FINISHED
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.

Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?


Flower wrote:I just did a google search.

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Re: how did Toyah ever get BIG?

Postby ` » 29 Nov 2018, 08:41

I hereby agree to wefwain from mocking Toyah's accent any further. Now if Rayge and Belle would also agree to theeth and dethitht...


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