Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp cover ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ for Christmas edition of ‘Sunday Lunch’
Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp have delivered a special Christmas edition of their Sunday Lunch series, covering Bobby Helms’ iconic 1957 tune ‘Jingle Bell Rock’.
A notedly short edition this week, the jaunty performance sees Willcox clad in jangly gold bangles, singing enthusiastically as she bops Fripp – who plays the melody on his Les Paul with a tropical twinge – with comically large balloons. After the song, the couple exuberantly wish their fans a “happy Christmas”.
Willcox and Fripp also shared a standalone Christmas message, where the former told their viewers: “We are thinking of you, Mostly, thank you for staying with us all this year [and] for coming to see the live shows.
“We promise you, in the next 12 months, some very amazing things are happening for the first time in our careers, and we look forward to sharing that with you. In the meantime, we hope you are with your loved ones and you’re having a fantastic time!”
“May your Christmas be rocking,” Fripp added, before the pair tore through a couple of bon bons (with Willcox emerging as the stronger puller).
Have a look at the latest Sunday Lunch video, and the couple’s Christmas message, below:
Last week’s Sunday Lunch came as their second festive edition for this year’s holiday season, following their performance of ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ a fortnight ago. Sandwiching the specials was another detour from the norm, with Willcox and Fripp performing the former’s own song ‘Sensational’.
December also saw the couple cover The Cardigans‘ 1998 song ‘My Favourite Game’, while in November, they put their usual off-kilter spin on ‘Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?’ by The Cramps, ‘Have Love Will Travel’ by Richard Berry, ‘Seek And Destroy’ by Metallica and ‘Holy Wars’ by Megadeth.
Sunday Lunch kicked off in 2020, with Willcox explaining the following year that she started the videos to help Fripp power through the COVID-19 lockdowns. Speaking to NME, she expounded further on the couple’s plans for the series’ future, saying they “loved making the content” and were “going to take it a lot further”.
Earlier this year, Fripp revealed that the series had upset some King Crimson fans, but at 76, he’d been unfazed by their negativity. “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,” Fripp said in an interview with the Telegraph.
Next year, Fripp and Willcox will take Sunday Lunch on the road. They announced a joint 2023 tour back in June, and revealed the full itinerary – 14 shows sprawling over the bulk of next October – last month. See more details on all of the shows (and grab tickets to them) here.
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Ellie Robinson
NME
