Thom, Jonny, Colin, Ed & Phil all hail from the Oxford area, where they all still live. The city still has a strong influence on their songs. Oxford had recently become famous for the birth of quite a few bands; Flide, Nubiles, Swervedriver, Candyskins and now Supergrass. Famed for its Jericho Tavern, [sadly now closed] it was a great opening for local bands to showcase their talents. More famous for its University, local music doesn't cross over into student life as the University is a ‘closed shop‘ to anyone other than students.
Radiohead all went to the same school just outside Oxford. We were in different class years, had different friends, and mostly different interests, save the obvious one: the “sweet rock”. The school was depressingly single sexed, ie. male, but had a great music school where we would all run and hide away from the tedious conformity of timetables and uniforms. There, we jammed endlessly around Joy Division and New Order covers. We ditched the drum machine, and drafted in Phil “mad dog” Selway. Thom wrote some great songs, and the few gigs we played involved us all wearing black and playing very loud. Some things never change - Colin
They met each other in their early teens when they were attending Abingdon School. Thom and Ed were in the same year at school, Phil was in the year above, Colin the year below, and Jonny, Colin's brother, a year below him. Initially Jonny was not a member of the band, he joined later, at first playing the mouth-organ, graduating to keyboards and guitar.
Although as yet they didn’t know each other, music was a means of escape from the rest of their regimented schooling. "When you‘re at school you get into a band and you get to be kind of a cool person in your year." - Phil. Whenever possible, Thom, Jonny, Ed, Colin and Phil used to retreat to the music school where they could experiment and create. They took their first influences from bands around at the time such as Magazine.
When the band formed they were originally called ‘On A Friday’, (“...the worst name in the fucking world..." Thom.) simply because that was when they rehearsed.
“Can’t you play any fucking faster?” First impressions are so important, and such was my initial greeting, as drummer, from the band. Despite having been at the same school for years, we’d had no contact until this exchange of ideas at my first rehearsal at the music school. We had been in different years, and most certainly weren’t a gang. Eight years on and aside from Thom’s hair, little has changed. We still argue about tempo and, finally, are in a gang of our own – thankfully without any bizarre initiation rites. - Phil
The band played sporadically at the Oxford Jericho Tavern and other local venues after recording their first demo at Union Street Studios in Oxford, which contained songs that have never been released.
Their second demo was recorded at The Dungeon Studio near Oxford, around the same time that Flide recorded their first demos that would later become their first EP.
Other names that the band toyed with included 'Gravitate‘ and 'Shindig', and at one time On A Friday had three saxophone players!
One after the other the band members left school to go on to University. Distance made it impossible for the band to keep together to rehearse or gig, so for a while their musical development entered a dormant period and they played only in the holidays, but did find time to record home demos. But on the completion of their courses, and with encouragement from their friends, Thom. Ed, Phil & Colin came back to Oxford, where Jonny was still studying, and On A Friday launched themselves back onto the Oxford music scene in the Autumn of 1991. They were a big success and made their mark as an exciting, raw and electrifying act. Oxford music paper, Curfew described one gig a follows, "On A Friday played the Jericho Tavern [Oxford] to a good sized crowd and there was a man from EMI there. A mere two weeks later they play the Tavern again and the place is heaving. There are twenty five record company A & R men there and what's more, they all paid to get in. To put it bluntly On A Friday are HAPPENING." [Curfew Dec. 1991]
Curfew wasn't wrong. Word went round fast and in a matter of weeks On A Friday was the name on the lips of every A & R man in the music industry. At the same time they were introduced to their current man-agers Chris Hufford, a local recording studio owner & producer, and his partner Bryce Edge. They were attracted to the bands fresh and exciting show and saw the potential for development. Colin spoke of his first meeting with Chris, "He heard about us through a mutual friend and he came to see us at the Jericho. Afterwards he was almost shaking. He said we were the best group he'd seen in 3 years and invited us to record with him at his studio. We see it as an investment". [Curfew 1991)
Only a dozen gigs old, there were lots of companies eager to sign them up and they had the luxury of being able to take their pick of the record deals. On A Friday signed to Parlophone Records on the 2nd March '92, because “...we liked the cut of their jib.” - Colin. Parlophone didn’t particularly like the name, nor so the band, so they changed the name to 'Radiohead', tipping a wink to the Talking Heads song.
The debut E.P “Drill” was released [now deleted] on 5.5.92, reaching no. 101 in the U.K. Gallup chart, with one reviewer saying that the E.P had “...a slight sixties feel and hints of Neil Young."
“Creep” E.P. was released 21.9.92 as a pre-cursor to the album Pablo Honey. ['Creep' was the first track the band recorded for the album.) After only three plays on Radio One the EP reached no. 78 in the charts.
Thom "That nervous twitch he does, that's just his way of checking that the guitar is working, that it's loud enough, and he ended up doing it while we were recording. And whilst we were listening to it, it was like ‘Hey what the fuck was that? Keep that! Do that!’"
Famous for Jonny's distinctive 'Kerchunnk' parts leading into the chorus, he was unhappy that the song was too ‘ballady' and wanted to pep it up a bit. Unbeknown to the band, the tape machine was running and from that one accidental take, ‘Creep’ was recorded, leading to it being hailed as one of the classic anthems of the nineties. Where the press had given it mediocre reviews the first time round they gave it rave reviews on its re-release claiming that they had always backed it as a huge hit. They had to edit out the ‘fuck’, for a radio friendly version because the stations weren't allowed / refused to play it, and replaced it with ‘very’. Fans have written in after hearing the single and buying the album complaining that there was swearing on the album version.
Proud of their live performances and wanting to build up a solid fan base, Radiohead toured for most of '92 (dubbed ‘the toilet tour‘) building up their repertoire, learning their craft and supporting Kingmaker, Frank & Walters, Sultans of Ping and Levitation, forging their exciting live performances into something that's highly critically acclaimed today.
Radiohead have been called, “The British music industry's best kept secret," because, they had worked hard all year but had been virtually ignored by the music press. Some say that the music press lost interest because the band are not the type of people to smash up hotel rooms, or make outlandish claims. Instead, they built up more of a dedicated underground following on the strength of their exciting gigs.
“Pablo Honey”, the first Radiohead L.P. (named from a Jerky Boys sketch) was released on 22.2.93, to much praise, picking up comments such as “…it blows just about every other album that will be released this year into a cocked hat…” and Thom was described as having, “…a nuclear powered voice that can scream and swoop like a randy jet fighter on heat.” In the Meldoy Maker, Thom was reported as having said, “…with this L.P. we’re actually going to save pop music.” “Pablo Honey” reached no. 25 in the U.K. album chart.
Their first trip out of the U.K. was the Black Session in Paris, where they played live on national radio. playing their cover of Glen Campbell‘s ‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ amongst other songs in their set. On the 21st of Feb. this year the band went to Paris again to record another Black Session with Weezer in support
March ´93 saw the release of the “Anyone Can Play Guitar” E.P., which reached no 32 in the UK., and was a Melody Maker single of the week, picking up praise such as “...sophisticated polish to their guitar band abrasion," and “If all journalists are indeed frustrated musicians then ‘Anyone Can Play Guitar’ is our anthem. " Before embarking on the ‘Anyone Can Play Guitar’ tour, the band played 3 dates in Tel Aviv in Israel, which were very well received indeed. In April they went on a pro- motional trip to the USA to dip their {nanny collective toes in the turbulent waters of American rock!
In May the band released ‘Pop Is Dead’ and embarked on a tour of the same name. The single received mixed reviews, one reviewer remarking that the song was "...another wonderfully sardonic swipe at society and culture...", whilst others blandly quibbling along the lines of “well if pop is dead then why are Radiohead bothering?" The single reached 42 in the charts.
In the summer of that year, due to radio stations in the U.S. being inundated with requests for ‘Creep, the single was released in the States, the album subsequently soared to gold record status, selling over half a million copies, Radiohead being the first British band to capture the interest of the American market in several years. ‘Creep’ stayed in the American charts for 4 weeks and MTV, showed the video continually. ‘Creep’ had become an anthem to the angst ridden, playing in every teenager's bedroom, a song that ordinary people could identify with, it meant something to them. The success of ‘Creep’ came as a total surprise to the band and their managers, they hadn't expected such a reaction. Time and time again it reached No l in countries all over the world, and the album went Gold in countries they wouldn't have expected such as the Philippines and Canada, and has just gone Gold here in the U.K. “Creep” became a hit in one country after another, USA, Canada, South America and the Far East. The press in the UK became uneasy that Radiohead were big news everywhere except in the UK. “Creep” was released again in the UK in September ‘93 going straight to No 7 in the UK charts, and gave the opportunity for Radiohead to wow the British public on Top Of The Pops. October saw Thom as the cover star of the Melody Maker.
Despite his image as an ‘angry young man of British Pop", Yorke has his more thoughtful side. Like when he's talking about coping with the inevitable waiting around involved with touring. “All the free time we get to think is very valuable. It sounds pretentious, but it gives you the chance to grow up." On touring America, “It was wild," says Yorke, "My first memory of America was waking up on a coach in Boston. I walked into the hotel at about 7 o'clock in the morning, switched on the the television, and there was ‘Creep‘." The single became a massive hit in America, and the band were instant superstars. “It was all such a contrast to what we were used to. But the thing I remember most about America is that it's silly. That can be quite a relief at times."
The success of “Creep” took them to America on tour twice in 1993, the first being a headline tour in June and July, the second tour came in September and October, co-headlining with Belly. The band totalled an incredible 130 gigs that year. Great to see the world but not very good for one‘s private life. They were applauded everywhere they went. As people discovered how exciting and energetic their live shows were, building up a dedicated following of fans. Whether the critics liked Radiohead or not, they agreed that the band were destined for greatness.
Meanwhile back in Europe the band experienced their first taste of the summer festival circuit, playing in both Belgium and Holland. Unfortunately their appearance at the Reading Festival had to be cancelled due to Thom suffering from laryngitis. In November Radiohead went off with James on a tour of Europe, ending in December with a run of British dates.
The New Year brought in an award! The NME readers voted “Creep” the best single of 1993, earning the band a Brat Award, a rather offensive looking hand statuette with a rigid middle digit. Radio 1 listeners voted “Creep” into second place in the Brit Awards, being pipped to the top slot by Take That. Ho Hum.
In May MTV filmed a blistering performance by the band at The Astoria in London [Video release on 13.3.95].
The first half of 1994 was taken to by rehearsals and recording for the new album, ‘The Bends”. Touring began again in May beginning with Europe, and then debuting in Japan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. After Australia the band finally managed to play at a British festival, the massive Glastonbury Festival in Somerset. Part of Radiohead’s set was later broadcast on U.K. radio. Glastonbury heralded the beginning of this year’s summer festival season with appearances in Denmark at the Roskilde Festival and the Sopot Festival in Poland, then back to England for the all important Reading Festival, much of the show has been broadvast on TV by Gary Crowley on The Beat.
After the busy summer, Radiohead released ‘My Iron Lung’ in the form of two E.R's with 6 other tracks spread between them. The song reached 24 in the U. K. charts, with Them saying that, “The E.P.s, rather than being a taster for the album, are more like the tracks that didn't get on the album because they were slightly too diverse.” One reviewer adding that ‘My Iron Lung‘ was a ”...slab of spine-tingling rock. "
September saw the band load up more for the gig trail. Beginning with the ‘Iron Lung’ tour of the U.K. running into October and then jetting off to Thailand for a two date stint in Bangkok. From Thailand, Mexico was the next place to touch down, with dates in Mexico City and Guadalajara. From Mexico to the U.S. for a couple of acoustic shows hosted by Thom and Jonny, the first in New York and then Los Angeles. Next stop back to England for Christmas.
In January the band flew back to the United States to shoot two videos in Los Angeles. The first, ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ was produced by Jake Scott [son of Bidley - who directed Blade Bunner], and was shot in a hangar at L.A.’s Van Nuys airport, where the end of Casablanca was filmed. ‘High And Dry‘ was shot just outside L.A. in Vasquez Canyon, near the location where old episodes of Star Trek were made, and the recent Flintstones film. The band had to suffer a freezing cold deluge of water being sprayed on them for the shoot. ‘High And Dry’ and ‘Planet Telex‘ a double A side single released on February 22nd, the NME giving it the ‘single of the week’ slot, “Thom Yorke‘s slender but elegant voice compliments the minimalist ‘flick tap‘ acoustic guitar. The clarity and separation of the production is excellent." ‘High And Dry’ giving Radiohead their second Top Of The Pops appearance. The single reached 17 in the British charts.
The new album ‘The Bends’, (released 133.95) recorded at RAK, Abbey Road. [home of the Beatles] and The Manor, [recently used by Paul Weller] in Oxfordshire, produced by John Leckie and mixed by the producers of ‘Pablo Honey’, Sean Slade and Paul ‘O’ Kolderie has already received excellent reviews in the music papers, with several "album of the week" pedigrees.
The tour for the new album began in March preceded by four more acoustic shows hosted by Thom and Jonny once again, with a sneak preview of ‘The Bends‘, being played after the acoustic set, over the PA.
