I was making singles that were eight minutes long with bunches of lyrics and they were never a hit. When Safari Records played my 1980 single Ieya in rotation at their office, a man appeared at their door with a knife and said: “If you play that song again, I’ll kill you!”. I started working with a new producer, Nick Tauber, who said I needed to simplify the message. He was absolutely right. It’s a Mystery was written by Keith Hale, who was in a band called Blood Donor. The Safaris were convinced it could be a success, but I wasn’t. The demo lasted more than 12 minutes, with a very long intro and an instrumental. We shortened it to less than four minutes so it would play on the radio. Then I wrote the second verse that starts, “He can treat you with a vengeance and drag you down into the dark.” This piece is about empowerment, because we are not in control even though we think we are. Toyah on ITV’s Razzmatazz in 1981. Photo: ITV/Shutterstock Otherwise, it’s a song about how life really is a mystery – it’s a mystery to me that a plane can fly! But the song is vague enough that anyone can read their own life story into it. I did the vocals in one take, and then Nick said, “Could you be more thoughtful at the beginning?” We repeated the first four lines in a different voice, which made the rest sound like a call to arms. It was released on an EP called Four by Toyah, but there was a lack of vinyl at the time. Safari were knocking to send old records to the factory to be melted down and pressed so the song would hit the charts. Soon it was selling 75,000 a day and went to No 4. Having doubts about the track, It’s a Mystery opened every door for me. Shortly afterwards, I went with Katharine Hamnett to have tea at St James’s Palace with the Queen Mother. Princess Margaret was wonderful. He asked me what I did and I said, “I’m a punk rocker.” He went, “Oh! How ridiculous!’

Nick Tauber, producer

I went to the set of an ATV documentary with Toyah’s band and saw them play a song. They asked me what I thought and I said, “Do you want the truth?” I told them that the guitarist – Joel Bogen, who had done everything with Toyah – was great, but I wanted to start a new band for her. Toyah wasn’t too happy about losing the other musicians, but she was a very driven young lady and wanted to be successful. I brought in Nigel Glockler, a great drummer, an incredible bass player called Phil Spalding and an electronic kid called Adrian Lee. They gave us a very modern sound. I always think a producer’s job is to make records that are creative and representative, but it’s no good having something that nobody can listen to. Toyah’s previous records were eclectic and dark, but didn’t make much of an impact. My role is to make things a little more commercial, so I think Safari got me. I spent hours in the studio with Adrian trying to get things in sync as everything was manual in those days. To her credit, even though Toyah didn’t like the song at first, she took it and understood why it would be a hit. She was a star the moment she stepped out of her front door – and she was brilliant at it. It was the same in the studio. I had previously worked with another punk band called Slaughter and the Dogs, which I really loved, but it was difficult. They had been kicked out of their hotel for vandalizing it and writing graffiti all over the studio control room on the first day of recording their album. There was none of that with Toyah. He never made a fuss. She just had to listen to the music in her headphones and put the lights right in the vocal booth, then she would nail it.

Toyah’s Anthem deluxe box set is out now. Her UK tour kicks off at Epic Studios, Norwich on September 16.