HELLO FROM THE HAIL AND RAIN IN PERTH!!!!!!!!!
HELLO FROM THE HAIL AND RAIN IN PERTH!!!!!!!!!As I write this I am spending the weekend in Perth hosting and singing at REWIND SCOTLAND and I have never seen weather like it. Yesterday, Saturday, there was hail the size of small marbles, in abundance, in late July.
The audience were heroic, 20 thousand of them, armoured up in only flimsy plastic rain macs endured the 20 minute onslaught of hearty hail from the heavens. Howard Jones was on stage at the time and nothing was going to distract his fans.
For me, this weekend, the majority of what I have to do is run around backstage researching the artists and then introducing them to the audience but I cant help slipping in personal stories, for example: meeting Hugh Cornwall for the first time….(UK’S DARK LORD OF PUNK…..according to Rolling Stone magazine)…..Hugh is a lovely, quiet, modest man.
Our paths have crossed but we have never met until this weekend. In 1979 Hugh was a guest of Her Majesty, I am not sure why and it doesn’t really matter, its confined to history, so back then in support of Hugh many, many artists stood in for him with The Stranglers for two nights at the iconic Rainbow Theatre in London.
I sang with Hazel O’Connor and Ian Dury (my husband Robert Fripp played on one of the nights but I didn’t met Robert that time, that happened 4 years later). In the 70’s and 80’s I never got to meet Hugh until back stage this weekend at REWIND 37 years later. He came over and said hello, what a sweet guy!
Talking of hubby, he was a blessing this weekend. I had a charity appearance in Derby then we drove over night to Carlisle, staying in a truly depressing hotel ..but we slept….for 5 hours and then hit the road to Perth. Hubby made it possible, it would have been hell on my own…..8 hours in the car each way but bless him, he did most of the driving and was completely zonked once we got on site!
Robert only has three weeks until King Crimson start their world tour. He will be away until Christmas week, so we are having as many “hot dates” as possible, REWIND was one of them!
When not on stage I am learning my lines for BBC DOCTORS. My episode is filmed this week and it is a great story. Sadly I am not allowed to tell you any more…but it is very different and quite “out there” for day time drama! I think my episode airs on the 9th or 10th November…..look out for it because I am very happy indeed with my role…HA HA HA!
Being on DOCTORS has hooked me up with friends from the radio drama series I was in 8yrs ago SILVER STREET. We have a lot of catching up to do and a lot if giggles over the pressure of shooting 20 pages of dialogue a day, but I am loving it!
Also I have my first role in a feature film with Bollywood actors…there’s no songs or dance routines in this feature film….which I would have loved…I adore traditional Bollywood….no this is a dark drama being shot in northern England. All of the Bollywood stars fly into the UK for the filming in Sept/Oct. I start in Sept with the filming very conveniently fitting around my concert schedule! This project is also exciting me because there is a major Irish film star in the lead role, when I told Robert he went “WOW!”
What the hell is going on in the world……Cilla Black has passed away and Sam Fox has lost the love of her life Myra. It is one of those weird, weird times, when the universe decides to rearrange and unsettle us.
Hubby and I had supper with Cilla a couple of years ago and she was already saying she was finding age hard. She was upset that her hearing was going but she put on a brave face and was wonderful company, but in retrospect I can now see she was finding life hard physically….BLESS HER. She was exceptional.
AND now I’ve just read that Sam Fox’s partner Myra has passed away after a two year fight with cancer…….this is an awful week for news. Sam and Myra were inseparable. Dear Sam, Dear Myra.
Simon Darlow and I have managed to continue writing. We are coming up with some really great stuff. Simon has two sons who are about to enter advanced music college and he invited one into listen to a finished song this week, Arthur. I was nervous that he might think of us as silver surfers with guitars but the reaction was great. I don’t think he’s seen his father dancing around the studio and out onto the lawn before!
I pray August will have some sunshine. There are plenty of festivals in the calendar and I want the audience to have the time of their lives. Rewind North, Clumber Park, Eastbourne, Cropready, Aylesbury Park …… YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
I love festival season and I can’t wait to get out there! I am also looking forward to the first ever London outing for the ACOUSTIC, UP CLOSE & PERSONAL show on 13 Sept at London Hippodrome.NOW back to the rain!
BE PROUD! BE LOUD! BE HEARD!
LOVE TOYAH
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Live photographs on stage at Rewind top, below and second last row 3 courtesy Dod Morrison