Hello There!
Happy February!
This month I start the writing process for a potential new album under the working title of SECRET WORLD.
I say potential because in this day and age it might be more exciting and more immediate to release a track per-month ie: a single per month, backed by intense social media coverage and visuals, with a record label distributing vinyl and BIG PR.……But at this point, the beginning, the music comes first and the way to release it comes once there is a form to the project, the earliest it can land is mid-June because I am promoting Meteorite exclusively for the storytelling tour.
When promoting Chameleon last summer I was awed at how powerful top end PR and mainstream radio shows are. The main influence is Radio 2, having over 8million people listening to you informs the public and industry of who and what you are…..there have been many brilliant, sold out live shows but I still rely heavily on someone of influence acknowledging to their millions of listeners that “Toyah is a thing.”
I am forever trying to find out what this “thing” is. Anthem was a “thing”, Telly Tubbies was a “thing”, Strictly was a “thing” and because I embraced all publicity in 2025 Chameleon was a “thing”.
It’s fascinating how the industry works and after 50yrs being part of it , it is still an enigma!
This year I am keeping my PR person all year, it was the biggest investment of last year and it worked. It obviously opens doors and that’s fine by me.
Robert, myself and Simon Darlow are going back into the studio this month to see what we come up with, it is always a rewarding and spontaneous experience.
Simon was with us last night and the conversation went late into the night.
Topics covered were how the world is now run by PR, to the point of wondering what parts of humanity are fictitious, what parts are naturally occurring the way events happened when we were all children. It’s an interesting time, as layers are peeled away to reveal fractious relationships where the world once believed all was perfect. It’s almost inspiring.
Another huge topic the three of us had last night was our age and what is expected of us.
I went to bed hearing the news that Catherine O’ Hara passed at a very young age of 71…….I sobbed.
This amazing, brilliant, unique, beautiful, talented actress who had sublime timing won’t be in the world to inspire and give masterclasses to all who aspire to follow in her footsteps. I was devastated.
Thus the discussion with Simon and Robert. We all feel at our age the world has no expectations of us. We in fact create our own interest ie: I still tour, I love my work, I love my audience who I think may have the same feelings about age as all three of us, I intend to put new music out…..why…..because the relationship between myself and my audience is a unique community, everyone is welcome, but the world will keep turning whatever all three of us do.
It’s bizarrely liberating and exciting, there are no boundaries and confinement of mass expectation and mass fear of stepping out of those defined expectations. Simon said this “age acceptance” has been on his mind for a year. It was hard to relate to at first but once he saw the truth of it, he feels free to create without being controlled in any way.
I feel my job is to keep the message real, as a woman about to turn 68, at the same time using PR to connect to fans via a musical connection.
Goddammit, I am so accident prone! In the space of 8hours I have sliced into the nail bed of my middle finger left hand prepping lunch, broken my third toe on my right foot by catching on a corner of a mirror and strained my groin picking the bunnies up…. well there’s no third accident to wait for! I’ve managed all three in one go.
If my memory serves me well this is to be expected of me.
When I was 5 at infant school I walked across a metal bar in the playground, it was about three feet off the ground, slipped, landed on my teeth and had the rest of the day off. This left a permanent red blemish on my top lip that friendly people, thinking its smudged lipstick, try to wipe off still today.
When I was about 7 my brother asked me to sit on his feet while he lay on his back with his feet in the air. I did as I was asked. He propelled me into the air and I landed with my left arm underneath me and snapped it……….I can still remember the pain today. HIDEOUS!
The time has come to keep this in mind. I am a danger unto myself and I need to be in one piece for the entire year.
January has been busy. Tons of creative writing.
I film my project in Blackpool this week, it has been a joy to work on. I am the storywriter and the storyteller, working in conjunction with some amazing event builders and designers. It will be good to have this in the can as I have a busy month putting the tech together for SONGS & STORIES 2026 TOUR.
It is this part of the process I love. My mind rushes with ideas that I can’t write down fast enough.
The Songs and Stories Tour is going to be great. I am very happy with the venues, they are small enough to see the audience and large enough to make a big sound.
I am formatting the show now so my two guitarists can become familiar with the running order, but truthfully I intend to be “in the moment” adding topical things as well as historic as the tour progresses.
My aim is to give insight into my life, the industry and how important it is to me to keep aiming high and to keep believing we all have a place in the world. Above all it’s going to be slightly outrageous and funny.
I am super confident about the live shows, it’s hubby and the bunnies I worry about.
They are now a huge part of my day. The bunnies take four hours a day to clean/feed/socialise and groom.
Robert needs a little support. He has been brilliant while I have been flat out on projects but he is 80 this year and even though he is doing exceptionally well I need to keep an eye on him, there are the odd moments of walking into potential danger.
He has agreed to be with me on parts of the tour, which is a relief, the bunnies though have to stay at home with neighbours and PAs looking after them.
Valentine’s Day is a big day for us, it’s something to head towards after Christmas, I need celebration days in my calendar.
My next WONDERFUL WORLD OF WEIRD is about to be posted ready for Valentine’s Day.
It’s called THE BALCONY. Writing this story has allowed me to fantasise about a 100yrs in the future, into a world where human contact is rare and intimacy happens via Bots…….until………..
I had a great day with Susan Calman and Carol Vorderman last week.
I don’t believe I’ve met Susan before. I have appeared on COUNTDOWN in the 90s and been on the dictionary corner a few times, Carol would have been in charge of the vowels and numbers but to be honest the Carol I met in the 90s is no where near the Carol I met last week…she’s morphed into a goddess and is still terrifyingly intelligent.
Susan is a little smaller than me. I found myself trying to match her height for photos, knowing what it is like to only come up to the average persons waist. Honestly I was cross with myself for being concerned about this. Susan has huge confidence and at one point we both had to stand on a box to elevate us enough to be able to reach across the scenery!
I sincerely hope we get to work together again…..Oh and she had a poster of me on her wall when she was younger.
I am super happy to be appearing at REWIND HENLEY on Sunday 23rd August. The line up is great and Henley is always one of the best venues of the year.
Nigel of Dodgy appears on Sunday too, he was my neighbour for about 15yrs and I can’t wait to see him. Last year I was in Dubai with Clive The Doctor and Tony Hadley who are both doing Henley, we had a blast in 2025 and this year in Henley will be a blast too, I last saw Nick Kershaw two months ago at his Song And Story Tour, he is on the bill but I am working with him in Dubai this week.
I fly to Dubai on Thursday for Rewind on the beach at the Blah Blah, these journeys are intense and fast, we fit a lot in and I can’t wait to see how the sky line has changed. Nick Kershaw and Marc Almond are appearing too, so there will be a LOT of catching up to do behind the scenes.
There are more announcements to come.
Both Robert and I love music documentaries and I ask him to watch the new TAKE THAT series on Netflix, offering that he can watch something else if it was not for him.
Robert never ceases to surprise me. He loved it, we watched all three episodes in one go. He was super impressed with their journey, their work ethic and how hard it was after the break up. Both Robert and myself had similar experiences in the past, which were heartbreaking at the time and Robert could see his journey wasn’t one he took alone
I asked him why had the series moved him so much and he said “ A good song is a good song no matter who the artist is and you can see those boys worked hard for everything they had and have today.”
Me…..I love this series, its brutal honesty shows who the good guys are and what genuine talent they have. When they returned in 2005 their new material was breathtaking,
Rule The World remains one of my all time fave songs…….WELL DONE TAKE THAT, YOU HAVE SURVIVED.
BE PROUD, BE LOUD, BE HEARD
BIG LOVE
TOYAH
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX