Sunday Lunch: the 10 best covers by Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox
The internet is famed for being a kaleidoscopic environment, full of some of the kookiest sights known to man. With regards to the video-sharing giant YouTube, for nearly 20 years, it has been home to some of the most memorable and unorthodox characters ever seen. Two of the most beloved to regularly contribute to the site in recent years with a host of musical covers is the dynamic duo of Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox. English eccentricity incarnate, they soothe their fans with weekly Sunday Lunch instalments.
A power couple in every sense of the phrase, Fripp and Willcox remain illustrious names of the industry. The former is the creative mastermind of prog-rock pioneers King Crimson and undoubted guitar hero. Aside from his main gig, Fripp has also helped to bring the works of eminent artists such as David Bowie, Brian Eno and David Sylvian to life and enjoy a successful solo career. As for the latter, Wilcox fronted the successful new wave band Toyah between 1977 and 1983 and has since enjoyed a respected solo career of her own. Outside of the musical sphere, she’s also an esteemed actor, having starred in Derek Jarman’s cult 1978 punk film Jubilee and the ultimate mod drama, Quadrophenia.
The pair married in 1986 and have been going strong ever since. Then, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the couple knew that they had to do something for their own sake and those of others. Sunday Lunch was Willcox’s idea, as she wanted to keep her husband busy whilst he and King Crimson were forced off the stage by the lockdown. Since then, the pair have uploaded a host of musical covers to YouTube under the Sunday Lunch tag.
From Black Sabbath to Right Said Fred, their lighthearted yet eccentric takes on classic songs have been a remedy for many a woe on a Sunday afternoon. One part unhinged and one part kinky, they’ve kept fans interested for nearly three years, evidencing their potent formula. With Fripp mostly sat in his chair and Willcox on vocal duties, backed by a host of props and occasionally friends, Sunday Lunch has been a breath of fresh air since its debut.
The King Crimson leader recently acknowledged that the series has frustrated many longtime fans of the prog band, a group not necessarily known for their lighthearted flourishes. He explained to The Telegraph: “My wife insists performers have a responsibility to lift people’s spirits in hard times. Do I respect that? My answer is yes, completely and utterly I do.”
Fripp added: “My wife said to me, ‘if all we’ve done in two years is help one person through their bad time, it’s all worth it.’ So I’m not sure if that meets a criteria of serving what is highest in music, but for me, it’s a real undertaking that I respect. And I am quite prepared to strap on a guitar and rock out to a classic riff in order to achieve it.”
To that sentiment, all you can say is “fair enough”. So, without further ado, we’ve listed the ten best Sunday Lunch covers by Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox – so far.
The best covers by Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox so far:
10. Green Day – ‘Basket Case’
Arriving on March 13th, 2022, this cover of the 1994 Green Day hit had to be on the list, with it a perfect place to start. Uploaded with the short caption of “Basket Case – once again we at Toyah And Robert HQ are lost for words!”, we see Frippcox instil their usual theatrics into the punk classic.
Utterly bonkers, the cover starts with Fripp yelling the usual punk introduction, “One, two, three, four”, before he plays Billie Joe Armstrong’s earworm of a riff. Although he dons his familiar yellow waistcoat, new wave stripe across the eyes and pointy Trolls-like hair-do, it is Willcox that catches the eye. Dancing in the background while standing on a chair, in the beginning, she has a basket coving her head and has Aubergines in each hand before flinging the wicker off and beating a drum with the phallic vegetables. This is a vintage Sunday Lunch moment.
9. Limp Bizkit – ‘Nookie’
Although Fripp and Willcox have made it clear throughout Sunday Lunch that they love all music and are afraid of no cover, to see them take on the horny Limp Bizkit track ‘Nookie’ was a surprise, despite the pair’s prurience being palpable. Premiering on August 21st, 2022, the caption reads: “The Duo are back on form this week – we have literally no words for this one, Oh and we have left the Fripp mistake in because it’s so funny!!”
With Fripp donning a sideways cap echoing the style of the nu-metal era and Willcox on fine form, aesthetically, this is a classic Sunday Lunch moment, with it fusing the kinky and absurd. One notable aspect of this instalment is that Fripp even messes up his part at the start, an anomaly for the King Crimson man. Adding to the spectacle, watching the aviator-wearing Willcox sing Fred Durst’s famous lyrics is interesting, as is her decision to cut the profanity from the following line: “Now she’s stuck with my homies that she fucked”.
8. AC/DC – ‘Back in Black’
Premiering on June 24th, 2022, Frippcox’s cover of the AC/DC classic ‘Back in Black’ is one of their finest. Here, we see Fripp dressed like a schoolboy to mirror the famous aesthetic of AC/DC lead axeman Angus Young, and he is in his usual position, front left of the shot, in his chair.
As for Willcox, she also got the school memo and is dressed in a tartan skirt, with her white shirt completely undone. Heightening the school theme, Willcox fires elastic bands at the camera as Fripp plays the riff. She then entertains fans with a high-pitched performance, with her falsetto ringing out. At the end of the rendition, after Fripp introduces Sunday Lunch, Willcox proceeds to pour a pint glass of ice down his top, which sees him cry out a painful scream in a toddler-like voice, saying: “That’s really horrid”. Bizarre.
7. Metallica – ‘Master of Puppets’
This is one of two Metallica covers found on the list, but it is more than deserving of its place due to just how mental it is. Premiering on November 14th, 2021, this rendition saw Fripp swap out his golden Les Paul-styled guitar for more of a supporting role. Here, Fripp introduces the song, welcoming fans to Sunday Lunch before the King Crimson leader, with his Trolls-like hair-do and makeup, is pulled around on strings attached to his arms, controlled by rolling pins held by Willcox above him.
Arriving with the caption, “So we finally found out who pulls the strings in the Frippcox household!”, the duo made good on the themes of the Metallica piece. With Willcox singing to a backing track in a wailing, metal-like fashion and her outfit boasting a silver breastplate, it is certain Metallica will have been pleased with this rendition. Here, Willcox was plucked straight from the universe of the 1981 cult film Heavy Metal.
6. David Bowie – ‘Heroes’
A more serious moment. When Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8th, 2022, Frippcox mourned the late monarch like many other Britons. Taking that Sunday’s opportunity to pay their respects, they decided to re-upload their cover of David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’, which they originally recorded for VE Day 2020. They dedicated their rendition to the late Queen, writing in the description: “Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp wish to extend condolences to the Royal Family, and respect the dedication HRH Elizabeth II showed her country during her unprecedented reign.”
They continued: “The Sunday Lunch series is paused to play ‘Heroes’ in acknowledgement of the passing of Her Majesty the Queen.” Notably, Fripp is no stranger to the song. He played the guitar on the original 1977 recording from Bowie’s album of the same name.
5. Fountains of Wayne – ‘Stacy’s Mom’
This is the first entry on the list to feature a guest star on Sunday Lunch. For this instalment from October 16th, 2022, Frippcox invited Windsor’s favourite son, Mr. ‘The One And Only’ himself, Chesney Hawkes, to help. Preceding his surprise appearances at the World Cup, Hawkes helped the pair deliver a cover of the Fountains of Wayne hit, ‘Stacy’s Mom’, which became an instant highlight of the series.
It features Hawkes taking up Fripp’s position front and centre left of the shot. He wears a vest and similar makeup to Fripp’s, with his hair even styled in the same way. Although the music is better than expected, the peculiarity that makes the series tick remains.
The posters in the background read, “Pop bandits have Fripp” and “Pay the ransom or else”, and we see the King Crimson leader sporting a Hannibal Lecter mask and getting tied up by his wife. The kinkiness of this clip is undoubtedly helped by Willcox wearing a latex maid’s dress, similar to garments found in Berlin techno clubs. Aside from the theatrics, Frippcox occasionally chip in with the backing vocals, which add to the unsettling dimension of this upload.
4. System of a Down – ‘Chop Suey’
Uploaded on July 24th, 2021, we have a classic Sunday Lunch moment on our hands. An outlandish performance for the cover of System of a Down’s frenetic hit ‘Chop Suey’, Frippcox are joined by their mysterious, mask-wearing compadre, Sidney Jake, who assists Fripp in the guitar duties. One instantly memorable aspect is that Fripp is wearing a black vest, donning body art drawn to look like that seen on the body of SOAD guitarist Daron Malakian in the ‘Chop Suey’ video.
Outside of this, it is Toyah who steals the show once more. With her hair spiked up similarly to a mohawk, wearing a see-through netted top sporting black angel wings, and warpaint-esque makeup, this makes a claim to be the most absurd cover Sunday Lunch has delivered. Strengthening the point are Fripp and Jake’s chorus-drenched guitars sounding nearly as terrible as that of a high school band, Willcox’s histrionic vocals, and the T-shirt saying “Fripp’s Ma Bitch” hanging in the background. It is made all the more strange by Willcox’s crazed scream at the end.
3. Black Sabbath – ‘Children of the Grave’
A Halloween special released on October 30th, 2022, this entry marked the second time Sunday Lunch covered a Black Sabbath favourite. In one of their earliest instalments from November 2020, they covered the 1970 hit ‘Paranoid’. Famously, that edition invited a hilarious response from Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, who told Heavy Consequence: “I think they’ve gone mad, actually. I think this lockdown has drove them mental.”
However, there was no such response from Iommi for this water-tight rendition. In the background of their ‘Children of the Grave’ cover, a large cobweb covers a spooky sign featuring a cartoon that reads: “ALL BOW OZZY”. For this entry, Fripp is dressed as a mummy whilst shredding, as Willcox hops in one of her typically revealing outfits, wailing into the fan. It is unfettered eccentricity.
2. Right Said Fred – ‘I’m Too Sexy’
This instalment had to make it to the second spot because of the extent of its idiosyncrasy. Arriving on October 17th, 2021, it came with the caption: “We literally have no words for this weeks episode, other than this is Robert Fripp as you have NEVER seen him before!!” It made good on this promise, coming with the warning, “Some things can never be unseen”.
Taking on the marvellously camp Right Said Fred hit ‘I’m Too Sexy’, Frippcox instilled complete insanity into the song. With Fripp’s guitar absent, he appears to be standing on a chair whilst Willcox dances into another screen, donning a large South American-looking headdress. Here, Fripp sings comedic takes on the original lyrics, with lines such as “I’m too sexy for King Crimson, too sexy for guitar, the world; I’m too sexy for the world!”. Completely batshit, this is a classic Sunday Lunch episode.
1. Metallica – ‘Enter Sandman’
No other Sunday Lunch was ever going to make the top spot, as it has all the best ingredients of the series. Fun, kinky and surreal, musically and dramatically, Frippcox will struggle to top this instalment from January 10th, 2021.
An undiluted edition, it sees Fripp in his sharp garb, playing his golden Les Paul-styled guitar to the left of the screen. On the right hand of the screen is Willcox, bizarrely pedalling on her exercise bike wearing a tight white top, shaking her stuff. As Fripp chugs on his guitar, she wows everyone with the power of her voice, even giving Metallica frontman James Hetfield a run for his money. With over eight million views on YouTube, owing to the power of the married couple, the entertainment contained in this clip will likely see it live on as the finest Sunday Lunch instalment.
