TOYAH
THE BLUE MEANING
CHERRY RED
The second pre-fame album by Toyah’s original lineup was a vast improvement on the am-dram pretensions of their debut, Sheep Farming In Barnet. True, the band were still prone to self-indulgence that should have stayed in the studio, notably the helium vocal wackiness of Spaced Walking and Blue Meanings’ overblown jam. But the songwriting was generally a big leap forward in concision, with Ieya and Ghosts a perfect match of Toyah Willcox’s uncompromising attitude running headfirst into a rallying anthem. Vision showed they were adept at low-slung funk, while Insects proved that they could take on The Police’s mantle, too, if they wished. If you still couldn’t predict what Toyah would do next, at least you could be more confident they’d remember to collect a song somewhere along the journey.