Sheep Farming In Barnet

The long-awaited remastered release of Toyah’s debut album Sheep Farming In Barnet which kickstarts a reissue programme of Toyah’s entire Safari Records catalogue. Produced by Steve James and Keith Hale, the album reached number 1 on the UK Independent Albums Chart in February 1980 and celebrates its fortieth anniversary in 2020.

The 7” single Victims Of The Riddle (1979) was Toyah’s very first release and is included here. This was followed up by 6-track mini-album Sheep Farming In Barnet that contained three tracks per-side on a 33 1/3 playing 7” vinyl. This mini-album was then expanded to a full length 11-track album (originally for the German market) in early 1980 by adding the Victims 7” A-Side / B-Sides and some further tracks also recorded at Chappell Studios, London. This album contains the fan favourites Race Through Space, Neon Womb and Danced, all of which went on to become signature songs for the band.

3CD - 2CD and DVD digipak with a fully illustrated 24-page booklet containing a brand new introductory note from Toyah plus rare and unseen imagery including album cover shots taken at RAF Fylingdales Early Warning site, Yorkshire. This expanded edition features 30 bonus tracks made up of non-album singles, rarities and demos. Amongst the 20 previously unreleased tracks are versions originally recorded for Shoestring, the original improvisation vocal that became Victims of The Riddle and the band’s first ever pre-signing 1978 demos.

Includes a DVD containing two brand new features with Toyah Willcox; an interview about the album/period, a track-by-track album interview and an exclusive acoustic three-song session of songs from the era – all filmed August 2020. The DVD also includes rare archive TV footage available on DVD for the first time ever including a 1979 interview/performance clips of Race Through Space filmed at Toyah’s Battersea warehouse ‘Mayhem’ for broadcast on What’s On (ITV Midlands-only region) and two songs filmed in February 1980 for BBC’s The Old Grey Whistle Test.

LP+ -Limited-edition picture disc featuring four stunning unseen colour photographs from the album photography shot at RAF Fylingdales in West Yorkshire. The photos picture Toyah in front of the iconic white "golf balls" that were part of the early warning system for ballistic missiles to the UK and US governments. Pressed with the 2020 album remaster by Nick Watson, the vinyl comes protected in a PVC sleeve and is housed in a special die-cut outer jacket that carries a further two unseen images unearthed from the archives.