It's all gone spectacularly Halloween-shaped in the Fripp-Willcox household
· louderBy Fraser Lewry
( Classic Rock )
published 28 October 2024
Watch aghast as Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp wrestle David Bowie's Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) into the grave
Halloween is almost upon us, and nowhere is the annual feast of horror celebrated more gleefully than in the Worcestershire kitchen of YouTubers Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox.
For this year's macabre festivities – in a move that'll surely have David Bowie gyrating happily in his tomb – the gruesome twosome have filmed a frazzled cover of The Dame's 1981 Top 20 smash Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps), both sporting the kind of pancake that adorned Bowie's face on the Scary Monsters album cover.
Fripp has a famously mixed relationship with Scary Monsters. He played on the original recording, but later went to battle with Bowie's estate and royalty collection agency the PPL in order to be deemed a "featured player" on the song and receive fair and proper compensation for his input.
"We are dealing with the music industry here," wrote Fripp in 2019. "Fifty-two years of direct, hands-on experience suggests to me that the majority of players who operate the system, operate the system to serve their own interests. There are a small number of players whose aim is ethical action in business; not directing the industry to promote their own personal interests; these assertions supported by decades of documentation."
Fripp received public support in his battle from album producer Tony Visconti, as well as Brian Eno, a collaborator on Bowie's earlier album "Heroes".
With one annual celebration out of the way, Toyah Willcox has swiftly set her eyes on the next, with Cherry Red Records releasing a limited edition 10” vinyl EP of her 1982 cover of Greg Lake's festive classic I Believe In Father Christmas on December 6, before Willcox and Fripp embark on their much-anticipated Christmas Party tour. Full dates below.
Toyah & Robert's Sunday Lunch - SCARY MONSTERS (AND SUPER CREEPS) *NEW* - YouTube
Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp: Christmas Party Tour
Dec 16: Edinburgh Queens Hall, UK
Dec 17: Sunderland The Firestation, UK
Dec 19: Bath Komedia, UK
Dec 20: London Indigo At The O2, UK
Dec 22: Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall Tickets, UK
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Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. 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.
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