Being A Toyah Fan in the U.S. = Lonely Feeling

So, I think I'm that one person in the United States who was predestined to become a Toyah Willcox fan. You know there's one person in every country who latches onto that obscure English celebrity that nobody else in that country has ever heard of. I'm that person for Toyah Willcox in the United States. Who is Toyah? And, how did I become her one U.S. fan? Let's go back to a fateful day in Strawberries record store in the Fall of 1994. That's where I stumbled upon a bargain cassette copy of Toyah's album "Ophelia's Shadow." It looked so interesting, what with Toyah covering her mouth with her hand on the cover but with a make-up painting of lips on that hand. The song titles were so interesting, like "The Woman Who Had an Affair With Herself." My Kate Bush radar was buzzing like crazy. This woman might sound like Kate Bush!!! In truth, Toyah did turn out to have a Kate Bush-like voice and penchant for dark, literary lyrics a la Bush. But, Toyah is also very unique and has a sound quite unlike anybody else. So, my Kate Bush radar served me well, but it was ultimately Toyah being the fabulous artist that she is that won me over. Needless to say at this point that "Ophelia's Shadow" is a brilliant album, but since those were the days before the Internet had really caught on, I wasn't able to find out anything about Toyah until about 5 years later. That was when I got a job in an office that had Internet access. I was finally able to do some Toyah Willcox research. I found out about other albums that she has and decided to order "Phoenix" from Amazon.com. Here's where my story must end for now, but stay tuned for next time when you find out what happens next in "Josh's Adventures in Being the Only American Toyah fan."