Toyah Wilcox and Robert Fripp perform a pounding version of ‘No One Knows’
Toyah Wilcox and Robert Fripp have become something of an internet sensation in recent months, as the pair have issued a series of covers popularised by Neil Young, The Smashing Pumpkins and The Who from the vicinity of their home. The latest cover is a searing rendition by Queens of The Stone Age’s ‘No One Knows’, a propulsive rocker that showcases Fripp’s power chords.
The pair are well known for their work outside of the videos. Toyah Wilcox is a pop star of high repute, having recently released Posh Pop, an insightful solo album that made fun of her standing in life. The single, ‘Levitate’, featured Simon Darlow and Bobby Willcox on support.
Guitarist Robert Fripp, meanwhile, is best known for his work with King Crimson, doubling as their lead guitarist and in-house arranger.
The band were credited with starting progressive rock with their debut In The Court of The Crimson King, springboarding the band into more esoteric territories. The outfit has featured such prog-rock luminaries as bassist Greg Lake, drummer Bill Bruford and guitarist Adrian Belew.
In his interview with Far Out, Bruford claims that Fripp is more collaborative than he’s often credited as. “Robert would deny he was any kind of a bandleader,” Bruford explained. “He frequently has done that, and he wasn’t necessarily the ‘Great Guru’, which is a common sort of feeling that Robert sort of walked in with sheets and sheets of music, and we all sat down and played that. It was not the way at all..”
Fripp finds the term “progressive rock” amusing, claiming that it is not his place to dictate a term for the music he is playing: In a humorous aside, Fripp says that the best way to present himself is to avoid the term “progressive”, as it’s a throwaway comment.
Fripp was also one of the guitarists’ who contributed to Peter Gabriel’s debut album. Gabriel reportedly needed “a Brit” to perform on the album because he was worried that the atmosphere was becoming too American for him. The guitarist produced Gabriel’s second album. and played lead guitar on ‘White Shadow’, the album’s most fondly remembered track.
Stream the cover of ‘No One Knows’ below.
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