We checked in on Robert Fripp and Toyah for the first time in ages and it's still bedlam

(Image credit: Toyah Willcox)

Last time we checked in on Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp was nearly two months ago. King Crimson had finished their US tour, Fripp had returned to the matrimonial home, and the pair were cavorting seductively to the ribald sound of Peaches by The Stranglers.

We haven't visited the lively duo since, because, well, you kinda know what to expect. They'll do their thing, we'll report them doing their thing, and they'll watch the YouTube view count ratchet ever higher. This year, our most popular stories haven't been new Iron Maiden albums, cancelled tours or the deaths of beloved rockers. Nope, our most popular stories this year have all featured Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox. Doing their thing.

But hell, it's Christmas. So it would feel churlish not to revisit the Willcox-Fripp household to check in on their progress. And boy, are we glad we did. This week, they're performing George Ratcliffe Woodward's 1924 Xmas banger Ding Dong Merrily On High. Fripp has the word 'Humbug' scrawled across his forehead and his hair teased into a playful mohawk. Both are missing teeth. Par for the course, really.

But it's also joyous. And while the 7.7 million views their cover of Metallica's Enter Sandman has garnered might reasonably be attributed to the revealing nature of Willcox's garb rather than the duo's technical prowess, we feel we must pay tribute.

So here's to Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp. The perfect embarrassing parents to an entire nation. Jesters in the court of national misery. Joy bringers in a world gone awry. Saviours of Sunday lunch.

Thank you. And Merry Christmas.

Artists

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.