“I was summoned to have tea with the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. We talked about the philosophy of punk.” In 1980, when Britain’s royal family wanted “to see what a punk rocker looks like” they invited Toyah Willcox to St James’s Palace
Toyah recalls the day she talked punk rock with royalty
In the summer of 1977, punk rock gatecrashed into the mainstream consciousness in Britain when the Sex Pistols’ second single, God Save The Queen, entered the UK charts at number 2 during the week of the official observation of Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee: it’s widely believed that the single was actually the UK’s highest-selling single that week, but the official chart stats were deliberately ‘adjusted’ to ensure that the nation’s most infamous punk band were kept from reaching number one.
As controversial as the song was, however, it seems that it didn’t necessarily alarm the monarchy, for three years later, punk starlet Toyah Willcox was summoned to one of London’s royal palaces so that Queen Elizabeth’s mother and sister could see at close quarters “what a punk rocker looks like,” according to a new [paywalled] interview the singer has given to The Telegraph.
Toyah and Robert Fripp played an epic version of Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir as Robert Plant watched on at a festival three weeks ago and somehow we missed it
What happens when Toyah and Robert Fripp leave their kitchen behind and head out on the road
After three years cooped up in their kitchen releasing shabby yet loveable cover versions, it’s easy to forget that Toyah and Robert Fripp are professional musicians, with an audience to entertain and a crust to earn. So we hope you’ll forgive us for only just noticing that the pair performed a rather epic version of Led Zeppelin’s classic Kashmir during their set at Fairport Convention’s annual Cropredy festival earlier this month.
It was a set that relied heavily on the songs that have turned the King Crimson man and his post-punk bride into viral celebrities, with just a trio of Toyah originals – Thunder In The Mountains, It’s A Mystery and I Want To Be Free – finding their way onto the setlist.
• Continue reading at Classic Rock/Louder. Toyah & Robert’s Rock Party Tour – inspired by Sunday Lunch – begins at the end of this month. All the dates and ticket links available at toyahwillcox.com.
“We realised during lockdown that classic rock changes people’s lives…”
Toyah and Robert Fripp on the healing powers of music: “We should live every year of our lives as if it’s the best year of our lives”
Robert Fripp and Toyah appeared on BBC Breakfast news this morning, 21 June, to promote their forthcoming appearance at Glastonbury, the first time either of them have played the Worthy Farm festival.
Asked about the Toyah and Robert’s Sunday Lunch videos “which spread such joy” during lockdown, Toyah gave a bit of insight into the thinking behind them.
“We realised during lockdown that classic rock changes people’s lives and it gives people the chance to visit really good memories. For me, it will be David Bowie’s Life On Mars, which I first heard when I was 12. Every time I hear that song, I’m taken back there. And very much the concept of what we are doing is taking people back to classic rock, but also introducing new generations – who’ve just come from the dance tent – to Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, or even introducing them to classic Blondie.”
The presenter commented that the age range of people entering Glastonbury for the festival was huge. “Let’s face it,” said Toyah, “we should live every year of our lives as if it’s the best year of our lives and age should not be something that we judge.”
• Rolling Stone: King Crimson’s Robert Fripp, Toyah Willcox Continue to Break Our Brains With ‘I’m Too Sexy’ Cover: Couple tackle the Right Said Fred classic with some customized lyrics in their latest Sunday Lunch video.
In the year and a half that King Crimson’s Robert Fripp and his wife, singer and actress Toyah Willcox, have been doing their wild and bawdy Sunday Lunch series it’s almost shocking that they hadn’t yet busted out a cover of Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy.” Well, that wait is finally over – Continue reading… (Log In required)
• Classic Rock/Louder: Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox are back and we’re scarred for life: Robert Fripp declares he is “too sexy for King Crimson” in the couple’s jaw-dropping new Sunday Lunch spectacle.
Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox are one of those couples that you can guarantee would throw an absolute corker of a dinner party. Calendars would be cleared, RSVPs would flood in – especially if they were hosting the party in question on a Sunday.
The couple’s frisky Sunday Lunch offerings became a staple during lockdown, with Fripp and Willcox covering a number of classic tracks to varying degrees of SFW-ness. And with Fripp now back from touring the US with King Crimson, the couple have picked up right where they left off. Sort of – Continue reading…
Watch a tattooed Robert Fripp play Black Sabbath in a prison cell while Toyah dances
You heard us right: Watch a tattooed Robert Fripp play Black Sabbath’s Paranoid in a prison cell while Toyah dances
Imagine: you wake up from a coma in November 2020. You’ve been asleep since Christmas, so you’re entirely unaware of the year’s contents. You don’t know about the virus, or the lockdowns, or that Liverpool are champions and that everything’s been cancelled.
You grab your smartphone, and you log into Facebook to check out what’s been happening in your absence. And the first thing you see is a video of a heavily tattooed Robert Fripp. The King Crimson mastermind is alone sitting in a prison cell, playing Black Sabbath’s Paranoid on a Les Paul. In the background stands his wife of 34 years, the adventurous pop star Toyah Willcox. She dances, and at the point where Ozzy Osbourne would normally start singing, she sings.
King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp and wife Toyah release another tongue-in-cheek lockdown video
King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp and wife Toyah have released another tongue-in-cheek lockdown video, this time pondering how to get more women to attend King Crimson shows.
“Welcome to Toyah and Robert’s Sunday Lunch,” says Fripp in the new clip. “I asked Toyah’s advice: how do we get more women to come and see King Crimson. And my wife says ‘If women can dance to King Crimson, they’ll be there!'”
• Contine reading at Louder. Watch the new video, “Women Dancing to King Crimson”, below. Browse toyah.net’s News Archive of posts on Toyah and Robert Fripp’s lockdown dances, Sunday lunch videos and more…
The King Crimson guitarist and his wife honour VE heroes with version of the David Bowie song
King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp and his wife Toyah have released a video of themselves performing a cover of David Bowie’s Heroes (a song Crimson themselves released back in 2017) to celebrate VE Day.
Fripp’s Uncle Bill, aka RAF Flight Sergeant Alfie Fripp, and Toyah’s own relative Beric Wilcox had both been in the armed services, Alfie Fripp even helped in the planning of The Great Escape. Radio 2 even played Bowie’s original version of Heroes in Fripp’s honour when he died, which of course featured his nephew on guitar.
Both Fripp and Toyah have been entertaining fans with humorous videos of themselves during lockdown, including the pair dancing and even performing ballet. Most can be seen on Toyah’s You Tube page.
• Continue reading at Louder. Visit Toyah’s You Tube channel.
“I was summoned to have tea with the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. We talked about the philosophy of punk.” In 1980, when Britain’s royal family wanted “to see what a punk rocker looks like” they invited Toyah Willcox to St James’s Palace
