UEFA Champions League
Kindle Unlimited
Unlimited reading. Millions of titles. Learn more
Read now
OR
£0.99

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Sold by Amazon Media EU S.à r.l..
You've subscribed to ! We will pre-order your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships and Subscriptions
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Chris Limb
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

I Was A Teenage Toyah Fan Kindle Edition

by Chris Limb (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 93 ratings
From 1986 until its closure, Chris Limb ran the official Toyah Willcox Fan Club Tellurian as well as designing and selling merchandise during Toyah's extensive tours in the early nineties.

This is not that story.

This is the story of what happened before. It began on a dark winter's night at the tail end of 1979 when a nerdy 14 year old boy watched an episode of the BBC's detective show Shoestring and realised that there was more to life than Blake's Seven/Star Wars crossover fanzines. . .
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    146 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    2 Nov. 2011
  4. File size
    3.6 MB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
Next slide of product details

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0070B6510
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Chris Limb; 1st edition (2 Nov. 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.6 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 146 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1447887212
  • Customer reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 93 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Chris Limb

Chris Limb

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Chris Limb is a Brighton-based writer and designer whose novel Comeback was published by Unbound in January 2021. Chris writes short stories across genre, thirteen of which are gathered in The Demon Face collection.

Chris also writes reviews for the British Fantasy Society and when time allows plays bass guitar as well as performing random acts of web and graphic design for a diverse selection of clients.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
93 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Customers say

Customers find the book an enjoyable read that brings back memories from the 1980s. They appreciate the author's skill in capturing the feel and ambience of the time. The included discs feature classy music that helped shape a generation.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more

ReadabilityEvocation of timeMusic qualityPicture quality
19 customers mention ‘Readability’19 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and enjoyable. They describe it as a well-written, insightful read about teenagers' music preferences.

"a well written and realised book about teenage attitudes to music and how they can affect and even mold your life ...." Read more

"...Chris Limb is an excellent and talented writer and I got so much into this book that I couldn't stop reading it...." Read more

"I was actually really impressed with this book. Obviously i am a Toyah fan so from that point of view it was brilliant...." Read more

"...as someone who's followed bands I greatly enjoyed reading this well written book...." Read more

9 customers mention ‘Evocation of time’9 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's evocative descriptions of an era. They find it nostalgic and captures the feel and atmosphere of the time. The book provides a great look back at 1980s pop culture, with never-before-seen photos.

"...I'm not a Toyah fan, but it was still a highly nostalgic journey back in time to being a teenager at the start of Eighties and about being obsessed..." Read more

"...He absolutely captures the feel and ambience of the time - it will never happen again and i felt so lucky to have been part of it...." Read more

"...fan, Chris has made a good job of this; the book brings back so many memories of the period, and the antics of trying to see/meet whoever your..." Read more

"...That aside the memories evoked are priceless, I was at the Old Grey Whistle Test Xmas eve gig at Drury Lane,, and I had forgotten much that Chris..." Read more

4 customers mention ‘Music quality’4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the music quality. They say the discs included are classy and helped define a generation. The book also mentions teenage attitudes to music and how they can affect them.

"a well written and realised book about teenage attitudes to music and how they can affect and even mold your life ...." Read more

"...inaccessible (no facebook, no twitter, no internet etc) and the music was so great it made my hair stand on end!" Read more

"...I have kept all the vinyl, pictures discs included because the music is class and helped define a generation...." Read more

"...in ages, it really relates to how you felt in the 80's, the music the magazines , the anticipation of a new single or album coming out...." Read more

3 customers mention ‘Picture quality’3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's picture quality. They say it paints a good picture of Toyah and Chris. The book has a great style and humor that engages readers.

"...Contains a whole host of great early pictures of Toyah. I throughly enjoyed it." Read more

"I enjoyed it as an easy read. Nothing too cerebral; it paints a good picture of Toyah and a rather nerdy one of Chris Limb" Read more

"I just wanted to read more of this short book - great style and humour, and really took me back!" Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Ms S. Randall
    5.0 out of 5 stars memories of your youth
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 January 2012
    Verified Purchase
    a well written and realised book about teenage attitudes to music and how they can affect and even mold your life . it harks back to a time when vhs was just arriving , before the internet and mobile phones . before this big brother world of cctv and the 24hr lifestyle we now come to accept . it is a rites of passage book from youth to adult and the many adventures had along the way.
    hardly put it down since its arrival and finished it very quickly . i wish it was longer and perhaps a little more detailed , but i realise memories of thirty years ago are probably quite hazey .
    i would recommend this book to anyone old enough to remember their own days of musical discovery and feelings associated with the trials of becoming an adult .
    heres hoping to a follow up book . enjoy .
    2 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Nick Pendrell
    4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent (But a Little Too Short)
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2012
    Verified Purchase
    You don't have to be a Toyah fan to enjoy this book. I'm not a Toyah fan, but it was still a highly nostalgic journey back in time to being a teenager at the start of Eighties and about being obsessed with music and individual bands (Japan in my case). It's all such a long time ago that I had forgotten what it was like to be a music fan in the pre-Internet era where finding out anything about a band required a lot of research and a fair bit of luck.

    It reminded me a little of Andrew Collins' excellent two autobiographical books Where Did It All Go Right?: Growing Up Normal in the 70s and Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now: My Difficult 80s: My Difficult Student 80s which covers similar ground.

    Chris Limb is an excellent and talented writer and I got so much into this book that I couldn't stop reading it. Unfortunately though, this is a very short book (I finished it in just a couple of hours and am no speed reader) and it left me feeling a little short-changed as I would have loved to have read more. I would have liked to have learned more about the author and the rest of his life at the time and I would also have liked to have read about his experiences in running the Toyah Willcox fanclub from 1986. To stop the book just as he was taking over the fanclub seems to be delivering just half a book, which is a shame and the only reason I didn't give it a 5-star review.

    I really hope that the author writes the rest of the story - or a completely different one would be fine as well as I would certainly be interesting more of his work.
    3 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars I could almost smell my hair burning in the crimpers!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 June 2012
    Verified Purchase
    I was actually really impressed with this book. Obviously i am a Toyah fan so from that point of view it was brilliant. I could draw so many parallels with the author that it was almost as if i had written it myself. He absolutely captures the feel and ambience of the time - it will never happen again and i felt so lucky to have been part of it. Unfortunately i wasn't part of The Angels & Demons as i was just a year or two too young but i do remember seeing them when i went to see Tanzi. I had the same feeling when reading the book that i get now when i look back at the old album covers such as the Blue Meaning, Anthem or Toyah Toyah Toyah.

    The book captures how different things were back then without everything being so immediate as it is today with downloads and the internet... being a fan back then was all about anticipation and imagination and guess work. The excitement of walking into a news agent and unexpectedly seeing a magazine smothered in a photo of Toyah was amazing - or turning on the telly and seeing her bouncing about on TV... or the ultimate... walking into a record shop and seeing a new album! I remember when Warrior Rock came out on album. I saved for weeks and knew the release date. So on the day I gave my dad my money as he worked in London and asked him to get it, poor dad! He got home and I listened to side one and side two and loved it...to my horror when i played side 3 i realized that the lable on the record was wrong and in fact i had two copies of side one and side two! The next twenty four hours dragged by until my dad got home from work the following evening with the exchanged albums... it really was hell!

    I feel this book is almost an historical documentation of the 80's - we will never see the likes of again.

    Also, it is easy now to forget what an amazing star Toyah was and still is. To see a career fall from grace at one point with the media, then to have a renaissance especially more recently with The Changeling Resurrection Tour. It's really great how a piece of work can remain the same and yet change. Seeing Toyah Live recently is like a dream come true because she now performs all the stuff that i wanted to see her sing live back in 81-83... I always wanted to hear stuff from the first 4 albums live and now here it is....but in smaller venues :)))

    I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Chris Limbs journey to the point that i almost felt i knew him.

    Thanks to Chris and Toyah for keeping the dream alive even though after a gig it takes more time to recover!

    Great book x x x
    5 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Simon-E
    5.0 out of 5 stars I was not a teenage Toyah fan
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 September 2012
    Verified Purchase
    I wasn't particularly a Toyah fan, but as someone who's followed bands I greatly enjoyed reading this well written book. In fact it was probably the quickest book I've ever read, wholly due to the fact I simply couldn't put it down.
    Chris writes with honesty about the personal highs and lows of his teenage years as he discovered Toyah's music, gigs, forms a following and his journey to ultimately run the Fan Club. Many of us who have taken an interest in music, gigs and the fun of 'following' a band will recognise snippets of our own lives in this nostalgic book.
    I'd recommend this not only to Toyah fans, but simply anyone who has a passion for music - 80's, 90's, whatever. A great read from a talented writer.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • iaincatt
    4.0 out of 5 stars Such Good Memories
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 July 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Although written from the viewpoint of a self-confessed obsessive fan, Chris has made a good job of this; the book brings back so many memories of the period, and the antics of trying to see/meet whoever your favourite artist of the time was. So no matter whether you are/were a Toyah fan or not, if you lived your teens through the late 70s or early 80s, this book is well worth a read.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • M. Jackson
    5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing trip down memory lane
    Reviewed in the United States on 26 November 2012
    Verified Purchase
    Wow! As someone who grew up in the 80s and was SERIOUSLY influenced by Toyah this book really struck a chord. The writing style is easy and comfortable, nothing too trite or ostentatious. Having bought (actually numerous times) the whole Toyah discography, listening to the music as I was reading the book was monumental. I was actually 16 at the same time as Chris and went to lot's of the same gigs (did we cross paths?). I'd recommend this book to anyone who not only was a Toyah fan but grew up in this unique period in musical history. So glad someone has put this into writing - the only thing that would be better would be an autobiography! Such a shame Toyah left Safari Records (as well as breaking with writing partner Joel Bogen)!! I think everyone would agree that was the end of an era. And, at least for me, the end of being a HUGE fan, the music just wasn't the same after Safari. But what hat an amazing lady Toyah truly is! Thanks Chris for the trip down memory lane and more importantly thank you Toyah for the impact you had not only on my young life but through all the years to today :)
    Report
  • Mike Moore
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Flashback to the 80s
    Reviewed in the United States on 10 April 2012
    Verified Purchase
    While I admittedly am not a huge Toyah fan, I was enamored by Chris Limb's account of following her career from the onset until the present day. It's so well written that I felt I was at the gigs with him, hanging out at the stage entrance hoping to spend a few minutes talking to his idol prior to the show. Limb does an excellent job of bringing back memories of a great time for many of us, the early 80s. Well worth the read!

    And much credit to Toyah for being so dedicated to her fans! Many stars fail to appreciate they legions of devoted followers.
    Report
  • Huhana
    3.0 out of 5 stars OK
    Reviewed in the United States on 17 July 2013
    Verified Purchase
    It's a good story about being a teenage fan obsessed with music. I prefer stories written by the musicians themselves. It wasn't captivating enough for me because being a fan was something I have experienced, I'd rather read about something I don't know. So I struggled with it and it took me ages to read because it couldn't hold my attention. Love Toyah and it reignited my interest.
    Report
  • Berto
    5.0 out of 5 stars lovely
    Reviewed in the United States on 3 May 2012
    Verified Purchase
    Honest, absolutely honest book, written by an adult who looks back at how he grew up. And stunningly deep, in the way real deep things are: by hints, more than by loud declarations. Worth reading even if you do not give a heck about the subject.
    Report
  • Zxt68
    5.0 out of 5 stars Memories :)
    Reviewed in the United States on 5 June 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Because I was a teen age Toyah fan too, this book evoked great memories of a lost time of great music.
    Report

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report