When Robert Fripp briefly joined The Stranglers
The Stranglers, in the eyes of the fans at least, were genuinely hard – they’d served time in prison and purveyed an image of punk rock toughness. In 1979, frontman Hugh Cornwell, no stranger to illicit pharmaceuticals, was found in possession of cocaine during a police check in Hammersmith, a large amount of which had been “donated” by fans of the group during live shows.
In January 1980, Cornwell was sentenced to two months in Pentonville prison, where the last execution in London had occurred just twenty years earlier. This was very bad news for ticketholders to The Strangler’s upcoming concert at the Rainbow, where the band was set to perform two nights alongside UB40, The Monochrome Set, Joy Division and Section 25.
Unperturbed, The Stranglers decided not to cancel the Rainbow shows and instead organised a special set featuring guest musicians such as Ian Dury, Toyah Wilcox, Richard Jobson and members of Steel Pulse, Dr. Feelgood, the Vibrators, Hawkwind, and Stiff Little Fingers. On the might, an effigy of the absent singer was ritually hanged.
Toyah Wilcox’s soon-to-be husband, King Crimson’s Robert Fripp, was also in attendance, though the couple wouldn’t be formally introduced until a charity concert in the 1980s. Fripp ended up reuniting with his former collaborator Peter Hammill, who formed the progressive rock outfit Van der Graaf Generator in Manchester in 1967.
The pair performed together on ‘Tank’ from The Stranger’s 1978 album Black & White. Hammill departed early, but Fripp stayed on, playing on ‘Threatened’ and a version of ‘Toiler on The Sea’ featuring Quadropohenia’s Phil Daniels on vocals. What a sight that must have been.
While the rest of The Stranglers were rocking out in Rainbows, Cornwell was sat in a cold cell in one of London’s most infamous jails. He would later describe the experience as deeply unpleasant, even if he was only sharing a cell with “people who hadn’t paid their parking tickets or had defied court orders to stay away from their estranged wives” rather than convicted murderers.
Still, you can’t help but feel sorry for the old codger. He even missed out on Billy Idol being floored by JJ Burnel after the former made an uninvited dash for the microphone. You can listen to the full performance below.
