SOUNDS: 1 March 1980 CRASH COURSE IN SHEEP FARMING
Toyah goes
back on the road in March to play a series of gigs. She’s just completed a tour
here and her import album, “Sheep Farming In Barnet”, is featuring in the
Sounds Alternative Chart.
She starts
at Bath Pavilion on March 7 and then plays Leicester University 8, Birmingham
Top Rank 9, Manchester Polytechnic 11, London Electric Ballroom 14. Toyah
herself has just finished filming a new BBC series “Jekyll And Hyde” and
appearing in Derek Jarman’s new film “The Tempest”, which opens soon at
London’s Screen On The Green.
SOUNDS: 22 March 1980 TOYAH,
LEEDS
Having
trashed Huddersfield a couple of days earlier, “pert punkette” Toyah Willcox
moved east to bring home the full implications of her recent successes to the
Fan Club audience whose responsiveness lent weight to the snowballing thesis
that she’s “arriving” but pronto. It might well be premature to start talking
about “Toyahmania”, but since she cameoed in “Shoestring”, fracas of one form or
another are the order of the day – all of which adds up to one of the heaviest
acts of recent times.
The Short
White Dukette opened this one with “Neon Womb”, “Race Through Space” and “Our
Movie” – the three “biggest” numbers on “Sheep Farming In Barnet” – instantaneously
finding favour, so that later on, mid-set, even “the weaker numbers” (Toyah’s
description) stormed the joint.
Toyah owes
much to Bowie, and much to her band. Pete Bush (keyboards), Joel Bogen
(guitar), Steve Bray (drums) and Charlie Francis (bass) are definitely tight –
especially in the gig situation where they cut the experimentals of “Sheep
Farming” – owing much to the sterling rapport between Bray and new-boy Francis
(I identified you as useful when you were with P. Fitzgerald and I claim my
£5), while Ms Willcox on “verbals” delivers along the lines of Bowie and Lovich
in a voice not unadjacent to, but certainly more substantial and emotive than
the standard female new wave vocal. Additionally, she rightly perceives rock as
a form of theatre, and fully realise its limitations. For her, this is only one
ballgame amidst the “chaos” of a multi-media life.
Manifestly
relating to/identifying with Toyah in a pretty big way, the punters surrendered
unconditionally, thus necessitating protection for the starlet plus a
re-evaluation of the Fan Club’s air-conditioning. “Tribal Luck”, the new
single’s flip, achieved the biggest response, demonstrating the extent of the
band’s improvement since “Sheep Farming” and showing just why Toyah’s “so
embarrassed” that the album is set for UK release.
Finishing,
appropriately enough, with “Last Goodbye” – a number with a strong “Man Who
Sold The World” (album) resemblance – which coincidentally, gave Bogen a
belated opportunity to get his rocks comprehensively off, the band stuck around
to encore the single “Bird In Flight” before splitting for fresher oxygen and
another conflab on just how big this whole thing can get.
DES
MOINES
