#nigel durham

[stoneoferech]

Saxon

[longliverockback]

Saxon Destiny [Expanded Edition] 2014 Parlophone ————————————————— Tracks: 01. Run Like the Wind 02. Where the Lightning Strikes 03. I Can’t Wait Anymore 04. Calm Before the Storm 05. S.O.S. 06. Song for Emma 07. For Whom the Bell Tolls 08. We Are Strong 09. Jericho Siren 10. Red Alert 11. I Can't Wait Anymore [12” mix] Live 12. Rock the Nations 13. Broken Heroes 14. Gonna Shout  Monitor Mixes 15. Ride Like the Wind 16. For Whom the Bell Tolls —————————————————

Biff Byford

Nigel Durham

Paul Johnson

Graham Oliver

Paul Quinn

* Long Live Rock Archive

[evan-buck]

this is going to be the nastiest most awful election, but i will be seated for every single minute of these horrible campaigns until the last constituency is called. i need a bingo card for how many times the tories call the police on angela rayner, how many curries keir starmer eats in durham even though it's not relevant, how many more sad, wet, pathetic speeches we'll have to pretend to listen to from rishi sunak, how many slogans and false promises on buses we must endure, how many pints we have to watch nigel farage pose with as he pretends he's running but he's not but he is but he's not but he might be (he's not), a wildcard option for whatever laurence fox is about to do to embarrass himself this time, and how many times rishi sunak or jeremy hunt or david cameron tell us about the bit of paper!! left behind from labour!! saying there's no money!! i'm going to have the time of my life.

[e350tb]

18 June 2023

Boney Was A Warrior

Aspley House 18 June 2023

It is now 208 years since the Battle of Waterloo. It was here, on perhaps the most famous battlefield in history, that the forces of the Duke of Wellington’s Anglo-Allied Army and Field Marshal Gebhard von Blucher’s Prussian Army decisively defeated Napoleon, ending over two decades of near constant European War and establishing a political order that would persist mostly unbroken for thirty years. In 2015, there was great pomp and ceremony at the site to mark its bicentennial. I was there. (At the bicentennial, not the battle.) So was the then Prince of Wales, and for reasons I’ve never completely worked out, Nigel Farage.

I couldn’t make the trip to Mont St Jean (for the battle was fought a few miles away from Waterloo itself), but I was going into London today, and it seemed appropriate to drop in to Aspley House, the Duke’s London residence, to mark the occasion.

Aspley House - ‘No. 1, London’ - is as handsome a Georgian townhouse as ever there was, and with the exception of containing perhaps more paintings than it did in his time, is kept pretty much as Wellington knew it. It is absolutely worth a visit. Yet I must make one major criticism of how Aspley House is run, and that is that it has a blanket ban on interior photography. I simply cannot agree with this. No flash photography is completely understandable, but I can’t help but feel that prohibiting photography altogether is a step too far, and out of touch with the modern world of phone cameras and go-pros. I do understand the reason - copyright - I just think it’s a poor reason.

Of course, you can take photos of the exterior to your heart’s content, and as an English Heritage property, there’s often little events going on to attract interest. Today, being Waterloo Day, the front of the house was occupied by redcoats - the men of the 68th Foot, the Durham Light Infantry. Of all the regiments of the British Army (or at least those I don’t have a family connection to), I’ve always had a particularly soft spot for the DLI. The 6th, 7th and 9th Battalions, during WWII, were formed into one brigade for most of the war in Europe, and Montgomery regarded them quite highly. (The 6th and 7th were rotated home at the end of 1944 for a well-earned rest, but the 9th DLI was folded into the famed 7th Armoured Division and fought for the last few months of the war.) On top of this, they had green facings, and my favourite colour is green, so that works well.

The reenactors drilled before visitors at 1pm, giving their audience a good idea of how British soldiers drilled, what they wore and how they fought in the Napoleonic Wars - specifically in the Peninsular and Waterloo campaigns and the War of 1812 against America. It was a very good show, and I quite enjoyed it. Kudos to the 68th!

(In case one is wondering what other British regiments I have a ‘soft spot’ for, they would be those my family were part of - the descendents of the 60th and 95th Rifles, plus the Royal Engineers and the Royal Artillery - the 2nd (Coldstream) Foot Guards, the Royal Marines, the Middlesex, the Black Watch, the Ox and Bucks and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. I’ll stop myself there because I kept thinking of others.)

After Aspley House, we headed back down the Victoria and Northern Lines to Edgware, which will be my home base for tonight. Tomorrow will be a long day - the longest day, I’d say, except that refers to the wrong war - ambling around Central London looking at war memorials, the great monuments of the Imperial Metropolis, and a little provincial church they call Westminster…

[kwebtv]

Prince Regent - BBC One - September 4, 1979 - October 30, 1979

Period Drama (8 episodes)

Running Time: 60 minutes

Stars:

Peter Egan as George, Prince of Wales, later King George IV

Nigel Davenport as King George III

Keith Barron as Charles James Fox

Frances White as Queen Charlotte

Susannah York as Maria Fitzherbert

Dinah Stabb as Princess Caroline, later Queen Caroline

Bosco Hogan as Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany

David Horovitch as Lt. Col. Lake

Clive Merrison as Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Barbara Shelley as Lady Isabella Hertford

Caroline Blakiston as Lady Frances Jersey

Cherie Lunghi as Princess Charlotte of Wales

Patsy Kensit as Young Charlotte

Rupert Frazer as Prince Leopold

David Collings as William Pitt the Younger

Murray Head as George Canning

David Pinner as Prince William, Duke of Clarence

Ralph Nossek as Dr Francis Willis

Katy Durham-Matthews as Princess Mary

Chrissy Iddon as Mary Robinson

Robert Hartley as Lord Jersey

Pat Nye as Frau Schwellenberg

[college-girl199328]

A popular restaurant in Toronto was hit with multiple infractions by city health Indian Cuisine has three storefronts, but it is 796 Bloor St. W. location that received a conditional pass notice on Feb. 15 after 10 infractions were found, DineSafe reported.

While Bloor St. W. and Danforth Rd. restaurants remain open to the public, their midtown location has had to close due to, according to its website, a crucial infraction pertaining to its food storage, specifically, "Store potentially hazardous foods at an internal temperature between 4C and 60C."

The restaurant's utensils and food equipment were reported as "not in good repair," as well as a "failure to protect against pest harbouring." 

The eatery’s two minor infractions were that the floors in the food-handling room were not clean or maintained, and equipment surfaces were not "sanitized, as a detailed list of infractions at Toronto restaurants can be found on DineSafe.

Teresa Santos, 75, was brutally stabbed and beaten in her Shaw St. apartment in August 2020 by Damien Allred, a burly construction worker and father of five. Allred was sentenced to life in prison with no parole for the murder of his elderly Toronto neighbour.

The motive remains a mystery, though his lawyer blamed his previous mental health issues and increased anxiety due to being laid off during the decomposing body's discovery days later in a pool of blood with a pillow over her face bearing the imprint of a Puma shoe.

An autopsy revealed a knife lodged inside her mouth that had penetrated deep into her skull. She’d been beaten on her head, had five dislodged teeth, and multiple rib fractures from being her footprints led police down the hallway to Allred’s unit on the same floor; video footage from earlier in the day showed him wearing Puma sandals DNA was found under her fingernails, now 43, was convicted by a jury last November of second-degree murder.

An autopsy revealed a knife lodged inside her mouth that had penetrated deep into her skull; she had been beaten on the head and suffered five dislodged teeth and multiple rib fractures as her footprints led police down the hallway to Allred's unit on the same floor; earlier in the day, video footage showed him wearing Puma sandals, which were found under her fingernails.

"By any stretch of the imagination, this was a horrific attack: an elderly, vulnerable woman was beaten, broken, stabbed, and killed in the confines of her own home—the one place in which she was entitled above all others to feel the slaying was brutal, and the knife was buried so deeply that it could not be seen when Santos was first found, and it was only detected through a CT scan." 

Durham Regional Police said on Monday at around 1:30 a.m., officers received a report of a stabbing in Eric Clarke Drive and Garrard Road and found a 22-year-old man suffering from "multiple stab wounds."

According to police, he was taken to the hospital in stable condition, and the suspect, who was out on bail at the time, was present but allegedly refused to cooperate.

"Officers engaged in lengthy negotiations with the male who eventually surrendered without incident," police said in a news release said 47-year-old Nigel Taylor from Pickering is facing 11 charges including aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and forcible confinement.

Nigel Taylor, 47, of Pickering, is facing 11 charges, including aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, and forcible confinement, according to police.

[henryfitzempress]

Henry II and some of the events of 1154 according to “Court, Household and Itinerary of K. Henry II”.

“October 25. King Stephen dies.

December 7.  Henry, Duke of Normandy, embarked at Barfleur for England. The 'Duchess Alianora' accompanied him, as did his two brothers, Geoffrey and William.

Dec. 8. Duke Henry landed near the New Forest. [He] next proceeded to Winchester, where several Winchester nobles met him, to do fealty.

King Henry crowned at Westminster by Theobald Archbishop of Canterbury. There were present Roger Archbishop of York, Richard Bishop of London, Robert Bishop of Lincoln, Walter Bishop of Chester, Gilbert Bishop of Hereford, Robert Bishop of Bath, John Bishop of Winchester (read Worcester), Robert Bishop of Exeter, Hilary Bishop of Chichester, Joceline Bishop of Salisbury, Walter Bishop of Rochester, Nigel Bishop of Ely, William Bishop of Norwich, Hugh Bishop of Durham, Adelulf Bishop of Carlisle, Hugh Archbishop of Rouen, Philip Bishop of Baieux, Arnulf Bishop of Liseux, Herbert Bishop of Avranches, and Theodoric Comte of Flanders.

At Westminster, and (as presumed) immediately after his coronation, K. Henry expedited the Charter whereby he gives to William, Earl of Arundel, the Castle and Honour of Arundel and the tertium denarium of Sussex. 

Witnesses, Theobald, Abp of Canterbury; Hilary, Bishop of Chichester; Nigel, Bishop of Ely and Chancellor; William, the King's brother; Boger (read Reginald), Earl of Cornwall; Hugh, Earl of Norfolk ; Henry de Essex, Constable ; Richard de Humez, Constable ; Richard de Lucy ; Warm fitz Jerold, Chamberlain; Josceline de Bailliol; Robert de Dunestanvill; Robert de Curci.

At Westminster also, by another charter (of apparently the same date), K. Henry confirms to William, son of Robert FitzWalter of Windsor, the lands of his late father. Witnesses, Earl Reginald (of Cornwall) ; Robert, Earl of Leicester ; Hugh, Earl of Norfolk ; Henry de Essex, Constable; Richard de Humez, Constable ; Joceline de Bailliol.

Dee. 25. K. Henry held his Court at Bermondsey.”

Fancast: Tom Hiddleston as King Henry II of England and Tony Curran as King Stephen.

[kevindurhamstuff]

New Post has been published on kevindurham.com

Nigel Farage Brexit Comedy Sketch -Speech Commentary - Funny Video on https://www.kevindurham.com/project/nigel-farage-brexit-comedy-sketch-speech-commentary-funny-video/

In this Nigel Farage Brexit Comedy Sketch we do a commentary on a Nigel Farage speech as he talks about Brexit.

#nigelfarage #brexitcomedy #nigelfaragecomedy

If you think this is a funny video then please leave us a comment in the comment box below.

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[metalsongoftheday]

Friday, April 2: Saxon, “Red Alert”

Destiny was the unfortunate culmination of Saxon’s increasingly pathetic attempts at mainstream success: buttressed by jarring keyboards and stuffed with limp pop-metal and embarrassing power ballads, the former NWOBHM stalwarts capped the 80s with an unmitigated disaster.  And in some ways it was even worse that they closed the record with its heaviest track: “Red Alert” attempted to recreate the ramshackle biker metal of old, and actually came within an inch of getting there.  Paul Quinn’s primary riff nodded to better times, Biff Byford sounded more engaged, and the temporary rhythm section of Paul Johnson and Nigel Durham got a chance to flex a bit.  But speaking of rhythm sections, once and future sticksman Nigel Glockler was sorely missed, while future bassist Tim “Nibbs” Carter would’ve given this more bite (though to be fair, Johnson co-wrote “Red Alert” with Quinn and Byford). This was likely Saxon’s attempt at throwing a bone to their core audience while they desperately chased the charts, which had the effect of making the rest of Destiny sound even more insulting.  Fortunately for them and us, the core trio of Byford, Quinn and Graham Oliver would soon bring back Glockler, bring in Carter and rethink their approach, thankfully using “Red Alert” as their jumping off point for a hard reset.

[eaglesnick]

All Our Yesterdays: Day 241

22.03.20. Sunday Telegraph:

“NHS facing Italian-style crisis if we don’t stay at home, says PM.”

Full marks to Johnson for giving this good advice. Such a shame that only days later his chief adviser Dominic Cummings chose to deliberately ignore his bosses warning, taking a trip to Durham and then to Barnard's Castle with his family. What is worse, Johnson then refused to condemn his friend for breaking lockdown rules, thereby sanctioning law-breaking for the rest of us 

There then followed a succession of prominent people breaking lockdown:

Professor Neil Ferguson, member of SAGE

Catherine Calderwood, Scotland’s chief medical officer

Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government

Stephen Kinnock, Labour MP

Nigel Farage

Stanley Johnson, Boris Johnson’s father.

Rachel Johnson, Boris Johnson’s sister.

BORIS JOHNSON

Yes! Boris Johnson also broke his own rules. Not content in boasting he shook the hands of Covid hospital patients, this is the headline at the beginning of this year.

11.01.21. Euro Weekly:

           “Boris Johnson Has Broken His Own Lockdown Rules”

Johnson was photographed in a park seven miles from Downing Street despite his own rule that no one was to travel outside of their local area.

WE DESERVE BETTER

[forbidden-sorcery]

Towards Cornwall the spectral company becomes transfigured into the figure of the Devil and his Dandy Dogs. T. Quiller Cough says of the Cornish Hunter that he was, “terrible to look at and had the usual complement of saucer eyes, horns and tail, accorded by common consent to the legendary Devil. He was black, and carried in his hand a long hunting-pole. The dogs, a numerous pack, blackened the small patch of moor that was visible, each snorting fire and uttering a yelp of indescribably frightful tone.”              In some accounts, the Devil rode a headless charger and the coal-black Dandy Dogs bore horns. This rather surreal motif of headlessness is also found in the legendary ‘Death-Hearse’ of Durham, an apparition of headless horses and driver which appears at midnight, racing toward the Churchyard before a death in the vicinity. The Wild Hunt as Death-Hearse or black funeral carriage is found in the Irish tales of the ‘Coiste Bodhar’ or ‘Deaf Coach’ which transports post-mortem souls into the realms beyond this world. This motif of the funeral Wain is also found in Breton legends concerning the Ankou, the creaking wagon of the King of the Dead which rumbles along certain spirit-paths during the night hours, halting by the houses of those fated to die and rapping upon their doors to summon them into his train.

Nigel Jackson - Masks of Misrule: The Horned God & His Cult in Europe

[longliverockback]

Saxon The Complete Albums 1979-1984 [Box Set] 2014 Parlophone ————————————————— Tracks CD One: Saxon 01. Rainbow Theme 02. Frozen Rainbow 03. Big Teaser 04. Judgement Day 05. Stallions of the Highway 06. Backs to the Wall 07. Still Fit to Boogie 08. Militia Guard Demos 09. Big Teaser 10. Stallions of the Highway 11. Backs to the Wall 12. Rainbow Theme 13. Frozen Rainbow Live 14. Judgment Day 15. Still Fit to Boogie 16. Backs to the Wall 17. Stallions of the Highway 

Tracks CD Two: Wheels of Steel 01. Motorcycle Man 02. Stand up and Be Counted 03. 747 (Strangers in the Night) 04. Wheels of Steel 05. Freeway Mad 06. See the Light Shining 07. Street Fighting Gang 08. Suzie Hold On 09. Machine Gun Demos 10. Suzie Hold On 11. Wheels of Steel Live 12. Stallions of the Highway 13. Motorcycle Man 14. Freeway Mad 15. Wheels of Steel 16. 747 (Strangers in the Night) 17. Machine Gun

Tracks CD Three: Strong Arm of the Law 01. Dallas 1 PM 02. Strong Arm of the Law 03. Sixth Form Girls 04. Hungry Years 05. Heavy Metal Thunder 06. Taking Your Chances 07. To Hell and back Again 08. 20,000 Ft. 09. To Hell and back Again [alternate version] 10. 20,000 Feet [Abbey Road mix 2009] 11. Mandy [early version of «Sixth form Girls»] 12. Heavy Metal Thunder [Abbey Road mix 2009] 

Tracks CD Four: Denim and Leather  01. Princess of the Night 02. Never Surrender 03. Out of Control 04. Rough and Ready 05. Play It Loud 06. And the Bands Played On 07. Midnight Rider 08. Fire in the Sky 09. Denim and Leather 10. 20,000 Ft [remix] Live 11. Bad Shoo Ap 12. Intro / And the Bands Played On 13. Princess of the Night 14. Midnight Rider 15. Never Surrender 16. Fire in the Sky 17. Machine Gun 18. Play It Loud

Tracks CD Five: The Eagle Has Landed 01. Motorcycle Man 02. 747 (Strangers in the Night) 03. Princess of the Night 04. Strong Arm of the Law 05. Heavy Metal Thunder 06. 20,000 Ft 07. Wheels of Steel 08. Never Surrender 09. Fire in the Sky 10. Machine Gun 11. And the Band Played On 12. See the Light Shining 13. Frozen Rainbow 14. Midnight Rider 15. Dallas 1 PM 16. Hungry Years

Tracks CD Six: Power & the Glory 01. Power & the Glory 02. Redline 03. Warrior 04. Nightmare 05. This Town Rocks 06. Watching the Sky 07. Midas Touch 08. The Eagle Has Landed 09. Denim & Leather [live] 10. Suzie Hold On [1982 version] Demos 11. Turn out the Lights 12. Stand up and Rock 13. Power and the Glory 14. Saturday Night 15. Midas Touch 16. Nightmare 17. Redline 

Tracks CD Seven: Crusader 01. The Crusader Prelude 02. Crusader 03. A Little Bit of What You Fancy 04. Sailing to America 05. Set Me Free 06. Just Let Me Rock 07. Bad Boys (Like to Rock ‘n’ Roll) 08. Do It All for You 09. Rock City 10. Run for Your Lives Demos 11. Borderline 12. Helter Skelter 13. Crusader 14. Do It All for You 15. A Little Bit of What You Fancy 16. Sailing to America 17. Set Me Free 18. Just Let Me Rock 19. Do It All for You (intro) • Run for Your Lives

Tracks CD Eight: Innocence Is No Excuse 01. Rockin’ Again 02. Call of the Wild 03. Back on the Streets 04. Devil Rides Out 05. Rock‘n’Roll Gipsy 06. Broken Heroes 07. Gonna Shout 08. Everybody Up 09. Raise Some Hell 10. Give It Everything You’ve Got 11. Back on the Streets [12” club mix] 12. Live Fast Die Young 13. Krakatoa Live 14. The Medley I. Heavy Metal Thunder II. Stand up and Be Counted III. Taking Your Chances IV. Warrior 15. Gonna Shout 16. Devil Rides Out 

Tracks CD Nine: Rock the Nations 01. Rock the Nations 02. Battle Cry 03. Waiting for the Night 04. We Came Here to Rock 05. You Ain’t No Angel 06. Running Hot 07. Party ‘til You Puke 08. Empty Promises 09. Northern Lady 10. Chase the Fade 11. Waiting for the Night [edit] 12. Northern Lady [edit] Live 13. Everybody Up 14. Dallas 1 PM 

Tracks CD Ten: Destiny 01. Run Like the Wind 02. Where the Lightning Strikes 03. I Can’t Wait Anymore 04. Calm Before the Storm 05. S.O.S. 06. Song for Emma 07. For Whom the Bell Tolls 08. We Are Strong 09. Jericho Siren 10. Red Alert 11. I Can’t Wait Anymore [12” mix] Live 12. Rock the Nations 13. Broken Heroes 14. Gonna Shout  Monitor Mixes 15. Ride Like the Wind 16. For Whom the Bell Tolls —————————————————

* Long Live Rock Archive

[burlveneer-music]

The DangerFeel Newbies - Culture Dawn

Inspired by the story of Dangerfield Newby, one of five African-Americans in the John Brown party, this Atlanta-based duo delivers a set that is deeply rooted in blues, jazz, soul, funk, hip-hop & house. Formed by DJ's Jamal Ahmad and Mark Angel, the mission was to create a sound that encapsulated a soulful and well-rounded listening experience.

Personnel: John Beal - piano, keyboards Khari Cabral Simmons -bass Landon Anderson - drums Ulysess "Nakayo" Dupree - percussion, flute Dashill Smith - trumpet Marquis Hare - saxophone Carey Durham - violin(Lonely) Najee - sax(You're My Alter Ego) Victor Lawrence - vibraphone(Nobody Knows) Sabor! Brass Band: 1. Clarence "Tre" Levy III - Bandleader/Percussion 2. Richard "Serious" Gross - Percussion 3. Matthew "Snaxxx" Ross - Percussion 4. Christopher "Ace" Allison - Trumpet 5. Edward "Eddie P" Platenburg - Trumpet 6. Mokota "Lightnin'" Turner - Trombone 7. Chancellor "Chance" Mills - Trombone 8. Nigel "Nigerial" Burnette - Tuba 9. Marquis Hare - Saxophone

[toyahinterviews]

LOUDER THAN WAR WITH NIGEL CARR 9.8.2022

TOYAH: How are you? NIGEL: Great, thank you. How are you? TOYAH: Oh really good, really good. You're not dressed for a heatwave. Where are you? NIGEL: Well, I'm sitting in a cool shed, a lodge in my garden so it's out of the sun first thing in the morning. Progressively hotter as we go through the day so I'm OK with that. If it gets hot I'll just take my top off. So how are you? You have had a busy few days, haven't you? TOYAH: Oh, I don't mind the gigs. I really love performing but the travel is a nightmare. Heathrow Airport on Saturday, all of us - Wet Wet Wet, me, Carol Decker, Chesney Hawkes, quite few others - were supposed to be on an 11 o'clock flight that got withheld by an hour So by the time we landed in Belfast I literally had to get changed in the car, run out the car onto the stage, do the show, run back into the car and get the plane back. I mean, it's just … I get so wound up by these things. The only time that you think aaah is when you're actually on stage! NIGEL: You can relax almost! 

TOYAH: I can relax (they both laugh) People always say to me "you're so energetic" and I was just so fucking happy to be here NIGEL: Well, I saw some of the photographs over the weekend. You had Rebellion Festival. Thursday, wasn't it? TOYAH: Oh! Friday, it was amazing! NIGEL: I did Friday and Saturday but I was working on Friday. So I was at the gig and I apologise so … and then you had Durham yesterday? TOYAH: Yeah, Stone Valley (below) It’s been three amazing shows. R-Fest was breathtaking. My sound man didn't realise there was a sound limit. So for my first three numbers it was so loud it was breathtaking. And then someone came with a sound monitor and said could you turn it down, please?

NIGEL: Were you in the Empress Ballroom? TOYAH: I was on the Promenade. It was huge. I loved it NIGEL: I've got the setlist and everything and it looks like a really sort of fun show   TOYAH: For me to be on the Promenade - I'm not a great performer at midnight, and when I've done that at Rebellion before, and you go on at midnight, I really feel it - it's quite hard for me to deliver my energy at that time. For me to be on in sunlight and it was very bright on Friday - with the Tower literally yards away and people were on the glass floor watching the show. I looked up and you could see people watching the show It was full,  absolutely rammed and I loved it. It was perfect for me to do an alternate festival. Going back to my punk roots at four in the afternoon for me was absolutely perfect. And I love the audience and you could hear the waves, which for me was just orgasmic. You're just hearing them hit the shore while you're singing. It's just something that I want to experience again. I really enjoyed it every minute of it. And the audience was great NIGEL: What a colourful audience. Have you ever seen it? The spiky hair, the studs, the leather jackets

TOYAH: What I really loved is you have the people who really look like that. And then you have the Blackpool holidaymakers who were wearing funny hats with mohicans. You just thought should the twain ever meet like that? It was so hard because the real punks and the real mohicans are very protective of the how they live and what they represent, standing side by side with someone with a stick-on mohican. It was fascinating NIGEL: It really was and I was walking around the venue as well around the Winter Gardens and you could see all of the hotels and the punks were sitting in deck chairs out the front TOYAH: I loved it! NIGEL:  It was just incredible. I've never seen such a colourful festival and I've been to Leeds and lots of different festivals, but where do you get such a concentration of just one mind, not one way of dressing yourself but a whole genre just represented so wholly in one place? It was incredible TOYAH: And for me, it made sense of Blackpool (Toyah on stage at Rebellion, below) because it is a hit and miss sometimes. The sun was out. You have these wonderful, diverse human beings who are always friendly. And they were everywhere. And it was the most perfect day and the most perfect world for me on that day  

Because when you look back to 45 years ago, that would have been a very different story. You'd have had riots, there would be chairs being thrown. But this was harmonious. It was beautiful. And I just thought this makes sense of Blackpool. It was the perfect place to have the festival NIGEL: Oh, absolutely right. And I was thrilled to see the mix of audiences. You talk about the locals and the punks, but I was looking down from the balcony at Cockney Rejects and the mix of people down there. It wasn't just people in the 50s and 60s who remember punk the first time and actually if they did fall over they were helping each other up - not smacking the hell out of each other. There were kids there as well, 20 year olds 

TOYAH: Very good disabled platforms as well. I can't bear it when people in wheelchairs are put right close to those speakers and they suffer for that. I looked out and I saw two fantastic platforms where they could really get the best view and they were safe. I thought it was very well designed NIGEL: Absolutely, I did as well. I thought it was fantastic. I just love the fact that when there was a skirmish in the mosh pit, there weren't people being knocked over TOYAH: They were holding each other up (both laugh) NIGEL: And another thing I noticed, and you'll know what I mean, is that there were people crowd surfing and they'd crowd surf to the front. And then like a kid with a sugar rush on a helter skelter they'd run round and do it again TOYAH: Yeah, it was great. It was perfect NIGEL: I absolutely loved it. So we're going to talk about predominantly  - you've got the tour with Billy Idol coming up, which is a fantastic event for you. Can you tell us a little bit about how that came together and how you got the -

TOYAH: A bolt out of the blue. I'm slowly learning the history of this tour, that it had to be postponed because of Covid and that The Go Go's were originally opening and ... just a bolt out of the blue. I got a phone call saying can I fit these arenas in while I'm doing my Anthem tour? Because my album Anthem is being rereleased on the 9th of September so I'm out touring that and by some really strange coincidence I can fit every one of the arena shows in. I'm wildly excited - not only about Billy Idol and I've been performing “Rebel Yell” for 20 years now - NIGEL: I noticed that on your setlist and I was going to ask you when you were going to be included - TOYAH: God no! NIGEL: Can you imagine doing “Rebel Yell” and then Billy comes on and does it TOYAH: The whole of my set - “Mony Mony”, “Rebel Yell”, “White Wedding.” “Enjoy Billy Idol!” (Nigel laughs) NIGEL: It’s like telling the best joke at a wedding, isn’t it? TOYAH: Yeah! Shouting out the answer. But another thing that's really exciting me about this tour is Television and (their album) “Marquee Moon”

NIGEL: Absolutely fantastic. I loved that when it came out in ‘79. I devoured it. I think it was amazing to see that TOYAH: And I think it's so clever of Billy and his management to do that. Because everyone is going to hear “White Wedding”, “Mony Mony” and “Rebel Yell”, and Billy has quite an extended repertoire. And I think for him to add Television and to add me with my punk history it allows people to go into the genre that Rebellion festival goes into I can play the pop, I've got “Slave To The Rhythm” coming out as a single. So we can deliver the hits, we can deliver the pop, but what I loved about Rebellion and Stone Valley this weekend - I was able to do my very first songs, which are completely out there. And this is what I'm going to try and do with the Billy Idol tour - just do the whole 45 year journey in half an hour 

NIGEL: Yeah, so you're going to be playing “It’s A Mystery”, “Thunder In The mountains” and that's a really clever thing, as you were saying, that Billy has done because you've got that New York cool going on one side and you've got the pop on your side   And then you've got Mr. Arena himself Billy Idol in the middle, which, honestly, when I saw the venues I thought my God Billy Idol is huge still! The thing that hit me that he was playing all of those … the AO Arena (in Manchester) and all that sort of thing. That was a huge venue. So you've got 3000 - 4000, no, actually, on the front of the promenade sort of 10 000 people - TOYAH: It was at least 10 000 NIGEL: I think we sold 15 000 ticket tickets, but even in the Empress Ballroom for people like Cockney Rejects, The Blockheads - there were 3000 or 4000 people in that ballroom. That was incredible. But moving up to the arenas, you're going to be talking 15-20,000 people, easily TOYAH: Yeah. Billy is a classic name now. Like Alex Cooper, like Ozzy Osbourne

NIGEL: Yeah, they fill these big arenas TOYAH: And I think it helps that Billy is a very visual artist. He's great looking. His videos are fucking amazing. When you've got all of those qualities about your historic work I think you can easily fill an arena NIGEL: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, he's got such a rich history going right the way back to Generation X of course.  So I believe that Robert’s appearing  with you which I'm thrilled to hear. Is he going to punctuate it with some prog edge? How's it going to work? TOYAH: Robert and I start touring together October 2023 with "Sunday Lunch" but you have preempted something because we are doing a premiere to it with Trevor Horn at Fairport's Cropredy Convention this Thursday (below)   NIGEL: Oh wow! TOYAH: We're in the Trevor Horn band and no one knows yet NIGEL: Can we say that?

TOYAH: Yeah! Well, my work with Robert – he is now part of the “Posh Pop” brand. Myself and Simon Darlow - we created that in lockdown with the “Posh Pop” album, which went to number one in about 36 charts. And 22 in the main chart. Robert is now part of the lineup, and we start writing “Posh Pop 2” in November. It's going to be quite a rocky album. So Robert and I are officially working together, but that's really coming in 2023

NIGEL: I'll talk about the videos later on, because I've got a few more things to go through. I just love the synergy of you two in the kitchen. It's just amazing, but I'll talk about that in a minute I just want to ask you a few questions to fill in a few holes and make the connection from the late 70s to now - so just indulge me for a second. You've always been a trailblazing woman in a man's world and an inspiration for so many    Who did you take inspiration from in the late 70s - because you were a woman working in a very, very difficult industry, acting and then you jumped into singing through “Quadrophenia” and “Glitter”. So how did that come about and what gave you the inspiration and the guts and guile to push yourself forward? TOYAH: I always intended to come to London and be a musician. My kind of rather stupid intention was using acting as a stepping stone. I got spotted on the streets of Birmingham because I was dressing like a punk when no one knew what punk was - including me  

I was a hair model, I made my own clothes and I was a hair model for Wella so my hair was pretty strange in 1975. I got spotted and I ended up starring in a half hour TV drama on BBC2 about a young girl who breaks into the Top Of The Pop studios to sing two songs NIGEL: That was “Glitter” TOYAH: “Glitter” and I had to write those songs. I'd had no experience of being in a band or of singing at a microphone until that studio experience. And then when that was seen, I was invited to join the National Theatre by which time I was 18 and that put me in an environment of musicians   And I started to learn about the London punk movement and performers like Polystyrene and performers that weren't your conventional Farrah Fawcett - Majors model type looking women. They really inspired me because I'm barely five foot tall and at that time I was three stone heavier I didn't know how I was going to fit into the music world but punk opened the doors for everyone - all diversity, all body types. And it made it possible for me and I put a band together and started to do gigs when I wasn't onstage at the National Theatre, mainly to help me get over my stage nerves which I had until about 1990. I just pushed and pushed and pushed to get gigs  

Back then (there was a) hugely healthy pub circuit. And eventually towards the end of the pub circuit time in my career we had 2000 people turning up every night blocking the roads. I still wasn't signed and Safari Records wanted to sign a “punk” act. So they signed me. No other label would touch me NIGEL: You were on Safari, but I didn't know any other bands on Safari. It wasn't a well known label at the time TOYAH: At the time you had Wayne County who's now Jane County. So historically, all of that catalogue with Safari but they also had Deep Purple NIGEL: Wow! And so that was the springboard into it TOYAH: Very much 

NIGEL: But must have been tough. So you were spotted, but it still must have been some sort of fight to get yourself out there TOYAH: It's always been a bit tough. I think if I was 6'2" and looked like Elle Macpherson, life would have been much easier. But it's always been tough. I'm relentless. I don't go away. I got “Monkey” in “Quadrophenia” because I helped Franc Roddam out by putting John Lydon through the screen tests for “Quadrophenia”   I didn't get a role and Lydon was absolutely astonishing on that screen test. He's a great actor and waiting to be discovered and I didn't get a job out of it and I just turned up at the production offices at Wembley Lee Electrics banging on the window of Franc Roddam’s office … “Give me a fucking job!!!” He called me in and he had Phil Daniels in the office with him and he said “well, if you can do the party scene with Phil now, you've got the job”. Well, Phil was in “Glitter” with me, I knew Phil. So we improvised the party scene there and then and I got the job but I think with   Franc Roddam I was not the ideal person to play “Monkey”. But he knew I just wasn't going to go away and I was up and coming. I was an award winning actress. And I was a big name within London

But it's still tough, mainly because virtually every scene I've done in a movie I've had to be on a box to do a two shot (two people in a shot together) because I'm so tiny. And that does affect you, especially in the world of Hollywood where the average actor is six foot. So I’ve really need to push and persuade people that I am the woman for the job NIGEL: Yeah, but it's really about the ability. It's about the skill. It's about the delivery. It's not really about being five foot one or whatever, it's in there, it’s in you TOYAH: Yeah, it is but a lot of British actresses are small. Judi Dench didn't break big time into movies until about the mid 80s. Up until that point she's the world's leading stage actress, leading comic TV actress and then whoomp! Straight into Hollywood and she made it possible for smaller actresses - Imogen Stubbs, myself - to be a movies because suddenly people said the talent comes first NIGEL: Absolutely. Tom Cruise is reportedly quite short, but I believe he's 5'9"or something. In a man's world 5'9" is short TOYAH: In my world it's bloody tall! (they both laugh) NIGEL: It's way up here! (points up) TOYAH: (looks up) Wow!

NIGEL: I noted you've had 96 roles, it says on IMDb. I think they include TV as well. That's a lot and it begs the question what do you prefer to do? Do you prefer the sort of kudos, maybe it's more cerebral? Having to learn the lines and being in front of a camera or getting up on stage and wowing 15 000 people. Where does the heart lie? TOYAH: They both have such a quality about them. I love performing on camera, and that's probably the only acting I'll do now. I don't think I'm going to do stage again. Unless it's like the National Theatre where you only do four shows a week NIGEL: I saw you in Manchester (the stage play of Derek Jarman's “Jubilee”, below)

TOYAH: It's backbreaking doing eight shows a week and I don't feel my body can take that anymore. But as a performer to be in a state of performance, whether I'm singing or acting, is absolute nirvana for me. It's my commune with God, it's unbeatable and there is no choice between the two. I love going into an area of that life, that supernatural, and for me performance is supernatural. I could never give it up. I would go cold turkey and die. It's such a remarkably rewarding thing to do NIGEL: The part itself - the learning the lines, that immersing yourself into a character … is that what you're talking about? Or the people and crew around you, the support that you get. Is that what it is? TOYAH: What support? (Toyah cackles) NIGEL: (laughs) Well ... you know I mean TOYAH: I just won Best Critics Award at the Richard Harris Festival for “Give Them Wings” as Best Actress, which premiered in Leicester Square last week. I was working in five degrees in a silk slip in bare feet on the street in Durham in winter in 2019 when we shot that! The reward is for me the kind of schizophrenic escape   

So when I’m learning lines and when I'm unravelling what the character is words give you every bit of information you need. It's like taking the best holiday to the Bahamas you can take because you don't know what the hotel's going to be like. You don't know what the weather's going to be like It's all about discovering something that is governed by words and I just adore it. When I'm on stage singing - the words and how you deliver those words and the breathing techniques you use to deliver those words just take you into a higher consciousness. And I just couldn't live without doing that NIGEL: Yeah. So actually, there's a lot to be taken from both. You can immerse yourself into acting, you can immerse yourself into the singing. I suppose with the singing you are singing more of your own words, your own creations and I guess that must give you extra. I can't imagine the feeling of writing something, a tune and words and having those people jumping around to it 

TOYAH: And the word is immersion. It's total immersion when you're singing. It's not just about the breathing and the delivery. It's about listening. And you're having to listen to every member of the band and come back into timing, because once you get expressive, you move out of timing. I've only really learned in recent years to use a motion on the downbeat. So to finish a word quicker rather than hold the note because it has more impact And another thing is learning about impact - music doesn't always come from having the bass end revved up. It comes from the harmonic interaction between the guitar, the keys, and the voice and all of that. So you've got your foot right down on the accelerator when you're doing a gig and you never take your foot off it. With acting most of the time you're working to a camera with an ensemble of actors but the other side of the camera, you've got people scratching their asses, yawning, eating, texting on their mobiles, reading the newspaper and that is terrifying Especially if you've got to cry on cue, and you've got someone who's just got their finger up their nose in your eyeline. It is extraordinary and when you hear stories of the A-listers losing it on set, because someone is distracting them in their eyeline, it's quietly terrifying when you are carrying a whole day shoot that costs sometimes over 1 million pounds to run the film on that day. And you're dealing with someone in your eyeline who's texting or looking at porn on their phone. The responsibilities are huge, but at the same time the rewards are bigger 

NIGEL: Yeah. You often go to the screenings and when you get to that it must be an amazing feeling to see how it’s put together 

TOYAH: I never go to the screenings. With “Give Them Wings” (above, Toyah as Alice Hodgson with Daniel Watson as Paul Hodgson) I've got all these awards for it and its started to be available for streaming now. I will look at it now. But I have to say the context of the awards and the good reviews and for me the reviews have been phenomenal, makes it possible for me to watch it NIGEL: Absolutely. There's been a huge renaissance in punk and post - punk and all of that type of music. It's like your time has come again, isn't it? That everything sort of converged in this perfect storm and I follow a lot of bands and a lot of bands that have burst out of Manchester and they've helped bring back this post - punk wave   I'm listening to “IEYA”, one of your core tracks and I love it and it sits slightly out of the “It’s A Mystery” “Thunder In The Mountains”. It's more sort of post - punk. It's more Siouxsie and the Banshees than anything else. It’s an amazing thing that this wave has almost hit perfectly for you

TOYAH: Yeah. I think the thing about “IEYA” and all my early stuff ... there were slight influences of prog rock in there - which was purely by mistake. I grew up in Birmingham. I was 11 when I saw Hawkwind and Black Sabbath, I grew up with Led Zeppelin. So all those influences were with me and when I discovered punk, what I discovered as a dyslexic was a form of music I could fit into but I still had in my memory the music I saw live for the first time   “IEYA” started its life as an improvisation because we needed to do so many encores on our shows. In ‘77,’78,‘79,1980 ... We were that large. We’d do 10 encores. So we just came up with “IEYA” and we’d play it for 36 minutes like a kind of tribal trance NIGEL: It goes to your bowels and it can just go on forever TOYAH: Just goes on and on and on until people just pass out. I can remember one performance we did the band was so hot they were down to their underpants and Phil Spalding was vomiting in a bucket. It just was going on and on and on and we couldn't stop it. So “IEYA” started as a live improvisation in front of screaming punks

NIGEL: That's amazing. And just going back to the very early days - because I do a radio show and in anticipation of this interview I played “Victims Of The Riddle” and it's almost avant - garde in its construction and in the way that it's delivered. There's a big difference between “Victims Of The Riddle” to “It’s A Mystery”. That was a massive jump. How did that happen? TOYAH: “Victims Of The Riddle” was an improvisation at two in the morning. So Steve James, wonderful producer, two in the morning. I said "just play three notes". Keith Hale played three notes. We looped those notes because everyone was into looping then, it was the beginning of synthesisers I said "give me a microphone" and I did a 20 minute improvisation, which is on the re-release of “Sheep Farming In Barnet”. So everything about the single is in that improvisation. And then Steve James and Keith Hale edited it into that single so it is avant - garde. Totally avant - garde NIGEL: It really is

TOYAH: It is the most extraordinary vocal and a 20 minute improvisation. I have to say is fucking amazing! NIGEL: Yeah, it is. It's an amazing track. And I like I said I played it in the middle of the show in anticipation of this, I absolutely love it. But there's a big jump from that to “It’s A Mystery” TOYAH: Yeah. Keith Hale wrote “It’s A Mystery”. I contributed the second verse, but I was never, ever credited as that and I certainly don't earn royalties off it. But Keith Hale had a band called Blood Donor who I regularly sang with and I did a lot of demos for them Keith had written this long song called “It's A Mystery”. It had a 12 minute vocal at the top and a 20 minute instrumental and Safari felt that that was going to be a hit song for me. So Keith and I went into the studio with (the producer) Nick Tauber and arranged the into the single  that everyone knows. So the record label Safari were desperate to iron out my avant - garde approach to everything NIGEL: Make it more pop

TOYAH: Make it more pop. I was complicit. I wanted success. Absolutely every other punk rocker around me was having major success so I was complicit in how that journey happened NIGEL: You immersed yourself in it and allowed yourself to be transformed into, well … they call you the Punk Priestess, don’t they? (laughs) TOYAH: Yeah   NIGEL: With the big hair - who styled all the hair and everything? Was that from the hair styling days?

TOYAH: The big hair started with “Thunder In The Mountains” (below) when I was in a shoot with the very famous fashion photographer John Swannell, and he brought in Robert Lobetta, who is a hair designer and Lobetta had spent a week making these amazing peacock fans that they attached to my head and then we had to find a way of making that work live   So live I would just back comb my very thick hair and have big sunflower hair, but I kind of adopted that with the makeup artist Richard Sharah on “Thunder In The Mountains” art work and never looked back. That really caught on NIGEL: It’s an iconic look. Like a huge peacock. It was just absolutely amazing TOYAH: And very, very satisfying at that time because it made look a foot taller

NIGEL: Yes, of course! Absolutely. Now, I have to ask you about "Sunday Lunch" because I watched some of the early ones and they were quite modest and then they got more flamboyant (laughs) TOYAH: We were learning as we went along NIGEL: You’ve got 430 000 people watching one video. It's incredible! TOYAH: Yeah. And we've now had 111 million hits. We discovered as we went on that heavy rock, and the more extreme the rock, like Rammstein and all those wonderful bands - the more views we'd get and we think it's the simplicity of the kitchen   There's no production values. We do one take. Sometimes, like Alice Cooper's “Poison” we did 21 takes, but most of the time we do one take, and we just go with that. And some people prefer to listen with the sound off because they can’t bear the sound (Nigel laughs)

But we discovered … when we did Metallica's “Enter Sandman” and I didn't wear a bra and I was on the exercise bike we hit 10 million very, very quickly. And we thought we're onto something here NIGEL: A bit saucy TOYAH: We say it’s our “Carry On”. It’s rock’n’roll “Carry On”. I am the Barbara Windsor of rock and roll NIGEL: What I love is the way Robert sort of looks into your bosom and goes (shakes his head) TOYAH: Yeah. For Robert … he just likes having a hot wife. The way Robert sees it is “look, I'm Robert Fripp, I've got a hot wife”. He's not possessive or jealous at all. But he really does like me to look his ideal of hot which is very 1970s Benny Hill NIGEL: He comes across as such a lovely man. I remember when you came out of the jungle (on “I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here”) and think Robert was waiting for you and he was almost in tears. You have this very special relationship that really comes across, not just in the media, but on those videos as well. You can tell there's true love between you. It's lovely to see

TOYAH: We are that cliche that we are soulmates and best friends and I think it helps that we are like chalk and cheese and we don't hold each other back. If he wants to go to the States for two months he goes, if I want to go off and make a movie for two months I go. There's never compromise and I think that helps us a lot NIGEL: What do you attribute that to, that relationship? I read somewhere that you lived in separate houses. I’ve read a lot for this interview!

TOYAH: For the first 20 years we lived in separate houses and then for the last 10 years we lived in the same house. And as of three years ago, we now have separate houses again. I just let him be what he needs to be. It's as simple as that. And he needs a hell of a lot of time alone. And funnily enough, I do too. And we we both give each other that space NIGEL: It's fabulous. I love watching your videos. I think they're absolutely amazing. And I look forward to the next one coming out and I wish you well with them. You said you were going to do some sort of extra stuff on those videos or a film or something. What did you say? TOYAH: In October 2023 we're touring “Sunlay Lunch” NIGEL: Oh, I see. You're going to do “Back In Black” and you're doing maybe “Poison”, all of those live on stage? TOYAH: Yes NIGEL: You have some special costumes coming for that tour then, have you? (laughs) TOYAH: Yeah. Basically it's going to be an absolutely stonking rock show, but it's all based around “Sunday Lunch” 

NIGEL: Look, Toyah, it's been an absolute joy talking to you TOYAH: Thank you NIGEL: We are running out of time and I don't want to take up more of your time. I've loved talking to you and I really wish you well for the tour with Billy, I think it's going to be amazing TOYAH: I’m so excited! I love arenas! NIGEL: Bet you are! It will be absolutely great and it's an opportunity for all of those people to see, 1000s and 1000s of people in those arenas. You must be so excited! TOYAH: It's thrilling, absolutely thrilling. I think I excel, I'm better Toyah in that environment than I am at home. So I'm very excited NIGEL: Fabulous. Thank you so much, Toyah. Thanks for talking to me. A joy talking to you TOYAH: Thanks, Nigel. See you out there NIGEL: Take care! TOYAH: OK! Bye! 

[meroedraws]

I was looking back at my portrait of Knuckles the Echnidna by the late, great Nigel Dobbyn the other day. I’d like to give it a new frame. He drew this for me in 2004/05 when he very kindly met me in Durham for an interview for my A-level graphic design essay. Nigel worked on the British Sonic the Comic for many years, along with a range other fantastic publications like 2000 AD. A wonderful man who sadly passed far too soon. #nigeldobbyn #nigeldobbyart #sonicthecomic #fleetwaysonic #knuckles #knucklestheechidna #sonicthehedgehog #britishsoniccomics #2000ad #judgedredd #illustrator #comicbookartist #graphicnovelist #illustration #sega https://www.instagram.com/p/ChxKKFqMIch/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[metalcultbrigade]

Nigel Durham, baterista que tocou com o Saxon, ex-Son of a Bitch, ex-Morpheus Rising, ex-Oliver/Dawson Saxon, completa 57 anos nesta data. https://www.instagram.com/p/ChsuCyWAC8l/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=