She began her career as an actor in Quadrophenia and Quartermass, and in the 80s, declared she wanted to be free. Within the last few decades, she’s teamed up with Bill Rieflin, Markus Reuter and husband Robert Fripp and even been In The Court Of The Crimson Queen. So now we have to ask: how prog is Toyah?

Words: Rob Hughes

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, Noise In Your Head - are centred around Toyah’s voice and two bass guitars, making for a fascinating aural experience. You’ll find ambient music, gnarly avant-rock, elastic funk and deconstructed pop. And yes, even prog.

Toyah is acutely aware of the connotations of being labelled prog. She is, after all, married to Robert Fripp. And even though they’ve deliberately kept their artistic lives separate, her husband pops in and out of her story like a recurring King Crimson riff. The birth of The Humans is a prime example.

“When I first met Robert I was three days away from suicide and he just took me out of the country and unravelled the knots and put me back on my feet. He’s a wonderful husband.”

“I made a feature film in Estonia [Tied Up In Tallinn] during the country’s first year of independence,” she begins, “and I fell in love with the place. Then Robert and I became great friends with the Estonian ambassador for the UK, Dr Margus Laidre. In 2007, the president [Toomas Hendrik Ilves] asked if Robert would come and play on his birthday, to which he said, ‘No.’ I’ve heard Robert say ‘no’ to everybody - David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, you name it. He’s always got an excuse not to play. So I contacted Dr Margus and said, ‘Look, there’s a project really dear to my heart and I want it to be a spontaneous thing with three musicians.’ He was intrigued. I told him, ‘We’ll do this, for your president, on his birthday.’ I didn’t expect to hear anything back, but, within 24 hours the invitation was accepted.”