Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox share cover of Edwin Starr's 'War'
King Crimson founder Robert Fripp and his wife, singer Toyah Willcox, have shared a cover of Edwin Starr‘s ‘War’ – watch it below.
The cover is a part of the pair’s ‘Sunday Lunch’ video series which was launched in 2020. The series has so far seen the couple share renditions of songs by Ramones, Nirvana, David Bowie, Metallica, Billy Idol, The Rolling Stones, Judas Priest, The Prodigy, Guns N’ Roses, Alice Cooper and many more through Willcox’s YouTube channel.
In recent weeks, they’ve covered Green Day’s ‘Basket Case’, ‘Bullet With Butterfly Wings’ by the Smashing Pumpkins and Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’; last week’s cover saw the pair deliver their take on Kaiser Chiefs‘ ‘I Predict A Riot’.
For their reworking of Starr’s ‘War’, the anti-Vietnam War anthem first recorded by The Temptations, the pair return to the kitchen, with a backdrop which includes a painting of a dove with an olive branch in its beak (symbolising peace), alongside Edwin Starr’s name with the year 1970.
Willcox, who usually performs on top of the couple’s kitchen table, sits alongside Fripp at the front of the screen, with both donning a white stripe of face paint.
“War – What is good for….” Willcox captioned the new video, taking inspiration from the song’s chorus. You can watch their latest cover below.
Back in August, Willcox released her 16th studio album ‘Posh Pop’, which she previewed with the single ‘Levitate’ featuring Simon Darlow and Bobby Willcox.
Discussing the album in an interview with NME, Willcox explained how it came about. “When COVID stopped everything last year, it allowed me to concentrate on writing and recording the next album,” she said. “We recorded in Simon’s outdoor studio with just him, my husband and I.
“‘Posh Pop’ was a magical experience created out of the need and ability to make contact with our fans in a heartfelt way. Also the terrifying distance between those who run the world and those on the ground inspired my writing.
She added: “Working with Fripp in the studio, we just handed him the chord charts the day before and said: ‘We want you to come in and improvise and that’s what we’ll use’. It was spontaneous.”
According to a representative, McDonald “passed away peacefully on February 9, 2022 in his home in New York City, surrounded by his family”. No cause of death has yet been officially revealed.
McDonald’s passing follows the recent deaths of fellow King Crimson members Gordon Haskell and Bill Rieflin.
