Toyah
Most people think they know Toyah Willcox. She’s rooted in popular perception as the rebel queen of 80s new wave, responsible for mega-hits like It’s A Mystery, I Want To Be Free and Thunder In The Mountains. But there’s a whole other, less-celebrated side to Toyah – the edgy adventurer, surveying the worlds of improv, art rock and experimental music.
“I’ve always needed to walk away from the predictable,” she tells Prog. “I love doing the 80s festivals and the touring shows, and my audience turns up in their thousands, which I’m so grateful for. But there’s also a part of me that is very off-the-wall. And I need to feed that.”
In recent years, that creative nourishment has taken the form of The Humans, the trio that she co-founded in 2007 with multi-instrumentalists Chris Wong and Bill Rieflin (latterly drummer with King Crimson). The band’s studio endeavours – now collected in a handsome five-disc box set, – are centred around Toyah’s voice and two bass guitars, making for a fascinating aural
