Internet legends Toyah and Robert Fripp have returned to action with an extremely lively version of the MC5's Detroit classic Kick Out The Jams.
King Crimson leader Fripp and Willcox chose the 58-year-old classic to celebrate punk music's 50th anniversary, and while the dates might not line up exactly, they do attempt to match the rabble-rousing intensity of the original. Although, sadly, the song's iconic “Kick out the jams, motherfuckers!” introduction is omitted.
It's one of the fiercest performances to have graced the duo's Worcestershire kitchen, and a fitting tribute to a song that was originally written in the kitchen of the MC5's 20-room revolutionary commune in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“We were commune-ists,” guitarist Wayne Kramer told Classic Rock in 2019. “We had this all-for-one, one-for-all… I hesitate to call it a business structure. We just saw ourselves as one unit, but it was [vocalist and lyricist] Rob Tyner and I that wrote Kick Out The Jams in the kitchen, smoking a joint.”
In more sensible news, live recordings of all 21 shows from the first leg of King Crimson's 2016 European tour have been made available via the band's partnership with streaming service Nugs.
The shows featured Crimson's celebrated "Seven Headed Beast" line-up of Fripp, guitarist and singer Jakko Jakszyk, saxophonist and flautist Mel Collins and bassist Tony Levin, plus drummers Pat Mastelotto and Gavin Harrison, with Jeremy Stacey stepping in for Bill Rieflin as the third drummer and keyboard player.
Meanwhile, Toyah will release a 24-CD box set on December 4. Twenty-Four From Toyah includes every single and EP she released between 1979 and 1987, plus a selection of mixes, rarities, outtakes and live recordings. It's available to pre-order now.
