Toyah: Chameleon – The Very Best of Toyah, 2CD Edition

• Cherry Red Records and Toyah are delighted to announce the release of Chameleon – The Very Best of Toyah on Friday 5 September 2025. This is the first career-spanning collection to encompass Willcox’s full recording history.

• Spanning 45 years of music, the impressive collection includes the 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. A pioneering figure in the UK’s new wave and post-punk movement, Toyah has made an indelible mark on the entertainment industry with her unique voice, electrifying stage presence, and artistic versatility.

• Chameleon lives up to its name and highlights Toyah’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 who has remained an ever-evolving creative force across five decades. Her music, which blends theatricality with powerful rock energy has earned her a devoted fan base, Gold-selling records and respect as an acclaimed live performer and songwriter

The 40-track double CD edition is presented in two chapters. CD1 collects 20 hits and classic cuts from 1979-1983 by Toyah – the band which she formed with composer and guitarist Joel Bogen, and Pete Bush. Toyah’s otherworldly lyrics and evocative vocals have ensured these songs have had a lasting legacy beyond the chart hits. Album cuts such as ‘Jungles of Jupiter’, ‘Race Through Space’, ‘We Are’ and ‘Angel & Me’ are as revered as those chosen as singles.

CD2 is dedicated to Toyah’s solo recordings from 1985’s Top 30 hit ‘Don’t Fall In Love’ up to most recent single ‘Roses In Chains’ which Toyah performed at Glastonbury 2024. Fans will delight in the inclusion of previously unreleased track ‘Worst In Me’. A personal favourite of Toyah’s, the song comes from the album sessions by Sunday All Over The World, the band which Toyah and Robert Fripp formed and toured with in the late 1980s.

The 2CD digipack and 24-page booklet is awash with the striking, inventive and chameleonic images that are synonymous with Toyah. The package is presented with meticulous photography of the iconic looks Toyah Willcox crafted herself alongside the world’s very best stylists and rock photographers. Sleevenote contributions come from Shirley Manson (Garbage) and Saffron (Republica) reflecting on the impact Toyah had on them personally.

To date Toyah has recorded and released 23 studio albums and 6 live albums and was 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. Her impact on the entertainment industry has 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 presented by Paul McCartney.

TRACK LISTING

DISC ONE

TOYAH BAND 1979-1983

1  I WANT TO BE FREE

2  IT’S A MYSTERY

3  THUNDER IN THE MOUNTAINS

4  BRAVE NEW WORLD (SINGLE VERSION)

5  GOOD MORNING UNIVERSE

6  REBEL RUN

7  BE PROUD BE LOUD (BE HEARD)

8  WE ARE

9  JUNGLES OF JUPITER

10  DAWN CHORUS

11  ANGEL & ME

12  THE VOW

13  I EXPLODE

14  OBSOLETE

15  BIRD IN FLIGHT

16  NEON WOMB

17  IEYA (SINGLE VERSION)

18  RACE THROUGH SPACE

19  DANCED

20  VICTIMS OF THE RIDDLE (LIVE)

DISC TWO

TOYAH SOLO 1985-2024

1  DANCE IN THE HURRICANE

2  DON’T FALL IN LOVE (I SAID)

3  SOUL PASSING THROUGH SOUL

4  ECHO BEACH

5  SENSATIONAL (POSH REDUX)

6  ROSES IN CHAINS

7  SPACE DANCE

8  INVISIBLE LOVE

9  VELVET LINED SHELL

10  SLAVE TO THE RHYTHM

11  LATEX MESSIAH (POSH REDUX)

12  LEVITATE

13  LITTLE TEARS OF LOVE

14  DESIRE

15  REVIVE THE WORLD

16  BRILLIANT DAY

17  WORST IN ME* - Sunday All Over The World

18  IMPROBABLE THING – Toyah & The Humans

19  TAKE ME HOME

20  FASHION (LIVE)* - Toyah & Robert Fripp

*previously unreleased