May 9, 2021 | 10:31am ET
Even Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp warn you that that their latest “Sunday Lunch” performance “cannot be unseen,” as everyone’s favorite rock couple take on The Prodigy’s hit “Firestarter”. And they’re not kidding around — this one will be burned in your memory for a while.
This video starts out with a warning: “You are about to our favorite kitchen trio as you have never seen them before and it cannot be unseen.” Once again joined by mystery guitarist “Sidney Jake”, Toyah and Robert pay homage not only to the electro-rock anthem but also to The Prodigy’s look, particularly that of the band’s late singer Keith Flint (a sign with the name “Keith” and a heart appears on a kitchen cabinet in the background).
Toyah sports black eye makeup and a spiked-up hairdo while covered from the neck down to the waist in fiery body paint, with only a barely-there sheer piece of fabric covering her up. Fripp, meanwhile, has seemingly switched wardrobes with “Sidney Jake”. The King Crimson founder usually appears in a button down shirt, vest, and tie, but this time is sporting a Lamb of God t-shirt, not to mention a new mohawk hairstyle and shadowy eye makeup. Mr. Jake, on the other hand, eschews his usual metal tee fo that shirt, vest, and tie that Fripp normally wears.
Related Video
From there, it’s a high-energy performance that sees Toyah writhing around and banging a pot as she sings lines like, “I’m the bitch you hated/ Filth infatuated, yeah/ I’m the pain you tasted/ Fell intoxicated.”
At the end of the performance, the couple have a chuckle, as Toyah reveals that the mysterious and masked “Sidney Jake” is actually George Clooney. Somehow, we think the guesses will keep coming.
The music choice is a bit of a departure from the usual hard rock and metal classics that Robert and Toyah have tackled during their weekly quarantine series. They first went super viral at the beginning of 2021 with a cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”, featuring Toyah riding an exercise bike while wearing a see-through top. Other performances have seen Toyah wearing a French maid getup (Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades), a cheerleader costume (Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell”), and a naughty nurse uniform (Alice Cooper’s “Poison”).
Toyah, who had a string of new wave hits in the UK in the ’80s, is no stranger to body paint, as she also went that route for the “Sunday Lunch” performances of The Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” and Hawkwind’s “Silver Machine”. Last week, she appeared head-to-tail as a mermaid for a cover of Heart’s “Barracuda”.
And speaking about performances that “cannot be unseen”, Toyah and Robert’s wild rendition of “Paranoid” led Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi to tell Heavy Consequence, “I think this lockdown has drove them mental.”
Watch Robert, Toyah, and “Sidney” take on The Prodigy’s Firestarter in the video below.