Spanning 45 years of music, Toyah Wilcox’s Chameleon – The Very Best of Toyah, encompassing her recording career thus far, will be released on Friday 5th September through Cherry Red Records.
Awarded Best Female Singer at the British Rock & Pop Awards in February 1982 and nominated for a BRIT Award for Best Female Singer the same year, Wilcox – with 23 studio albums and 6 live albums to her name – has also been recognised with an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Central England in Birmingham and a LIPA Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts Companionship for Outstanding Achievement in music, drama, performance and media as presented by Sir Paul McCartney.
Chameleon highlights Wilcox’s musical longevity as a singer/actress that burst out of the punk/new wave scene in the late 1970s, became a pop icon in the 1980s and remained an ever-evolving creative force since. Her music blends theatricality with powerful rock energy and has earned her a devoted fan base, Gold-selling records and respect as an acclaimed live performer and songwriter.
A pioneering figure in the UK’s new wave and post-punk movement, the collection includes her top 40 singles ‘I Want To Be Free’, ‘It’s A Mystery’, ‘Thunder In The Mountains’, ‘Brave New World’, ‘Good Morning Universe’, ‘Rebel Run’ and ‘Don’t Fall In Love’, alongside classic cuts right up to the 2021 Top 20 album Posh Pop.
CD1 collects 20 hits and classic cuts from 1979-1983 by Toyah – the band she formed with composer and guitarist Joel Bogen, and Pete Bush. Her otherworldly lyrics and evocative vocals have ensured these songs have had a lasting legacy beyond the chart hits alongside revered album cuts such as ‘Jungles of Jupiter’, ‘Race Through Space’, We Are and ‘Angel & Me’.
CD2 features her solo recordings from 1985’s Top 30 hit ‘Don’t Fall In Love’ up to the most recent single ‘Roses In Chains’ that she performed at Glastonbury in 2024. Fans will delight in the inclusion of previously unreleased track ‘Worst In Me’ – A personal favourite of Wilcox’s, the song comes from the album sessions by Sunday All Over The World, the band which she and Robert Fripp formed and toured with in the late 1980s.
CD3 is exclusive to this edition and collects 17 rarities and collaborations from 1980-2024. Remastered rarities include an alternate mix of ‘Rinaphobia’ recorded with Blood Donor in 1980 alongside the first version of ‘It’s A Mystery’ committed to tape. Previously unreleased 90s material with Kiss Of Reality includes a rare demo and two unreleased songs from their 1992 UK gig at The Orange Club, London. More recent unreleased rarities are ‘Blue Pearl’ and ‘Darkest Moment/Well Connected’, the latter recorded with Chris Guard (Indians In Moscow) for the radio drama Children Of The Circus but not heard in full.
The box set is completed by the first ever Toyah Wilcox Blu-Ray that brings together 12 promo videos, 22 classic BBC appearances and six songs from recent concerts. The promo videos span ‘I Want To Be Free’ to ‘Roses In Chains’. The Safari-era promo videos appear in brand new transfers from the original master reels. A special bonus feature is an exclusive extended video of ‘Brave New World’ with the iconic promo video edited to the full album version with previously unseen footage from the 1982 video shoot, without any AI processes.
A 48-page booklet includes rare photos, imagery and ephemera encapsulating the iconic looks she crafted herself alongside the world’s very best stylists and rock photographers. Sleeve note contributions come from Shirley Manson (Garbage) and Saffron (Republica) reflecting on the impact Toyah Wilcox had on them personally.
