Toyah Wilcox and Robert Fripp share punk cover of ‘Rockin Around The Christmas Tree’
Husband and wife duo Toyah Wilcox and Robert Fripp have returned with a cover of ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’, the latest video in their long-running Sunday Lunch series.
This festive cover follows Wilcox and Fripp’s recent rendition of The Cardigans’ 1998 hit ‘My Favourite Game’. Before that, the couple performed The Cramps’ ‘Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?’, which came after reworks of ‘Seek and Destroy’ by Metallica and ‘Holy Wars’ by Megadeth.
The Sunday Lunch series began in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Wilcox, the venture was a way of helping Fripp deal with the lockdown. The couple later explained that they were hoping to expand the collaboration.
Fripp recently acknowledged that the series has upset many longtime King Crimson fans. In defence of the videos, Fripp told 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.”
The guitarist 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.”
‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ was penned by Jewish songwriter Johnny Marks, who wrote a number of other Christmas classics, including ‘Holly Jolly Christmas’ and ‘Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer’. It was first recorded by Brenda Lee in 1958.
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