The five members of Radiohead, widely tipped to steal U2 's crown as the 90s progressed, first met at a private boys school in Abingdon, a small, picturesque town on the outskirts of Oxford. Thom Yorke (b. 7 October 1968, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England; vocals, guitar) had been given his first instrument, a Spanish guitar, at the age of eight by his mother. He formed his first band two years later, then joined an existing school punk band, TNT. Singing for the first time, he realized he would require more sympathetic band members and formed what would become Radiohead with school friends Ed O'Brien (b. Edward John O'Brien, 15 April 1968, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England; guitar), 'who looked cool', and Colin Greenwood (b. Colin Charles Greenwood, 26 June 1969, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England; bass) 'because he was in my year and we always ended up at the same parties'. They shared an interest in Joy Division and the Smiths and Greenwood earned Yorke's sympathy for joining TNT after him. Mild-mannered drummer Phil Selway (b. Philip James Selway, 23 May 1967, Hemmingford Grey, England; drums) bound the group, titled On A Friday, together. The addition of Colin's brother and jazz fanatic, Jonny Greenwood (b. 5 November 1971, Oxford, England; guitar, keyboards) completed the line-up, originally on harmonica, after he pestered his elder brother and friends continually to let him join. A week after his first rehearsal with the band, On A Friday played their debut gig at the now defunct Jericho Tavern in Oxford. With a musical canon resembling a youthful Talking Heads, they added two saxophone-playing sisters to fill out the band. However, the band were then put on hold while the members pursued their academic careers, in an effort to appease already frantic parents (Jonny finished his schooling). Colin became entertainments officer at Peterhouse College, Cambridge University, and helped get his friends together for occasional gigs there. At Exeter University, Yorke played guitar in a techno band, Flickernoise, while Selway drummed for various theatrical productions while studying at Liverpool Polytechnic.
The band finally regrouped in Oxford in the summer of 1991, deciding to dispense with the brass section and concentrate squarely on the band, now entitled Radiohead (after a Talking Heads song). Playing their first gig at the Hollybush Inn in July 1991, it was not long before they made a lasting impression. Their first commercial broadcast followed when 'Prove Yourself' was voted Gary Davies' 'Happening Track Of The Week' on BBC Radio 1. 'Creep' then became the alternative rock song in the UK during 1993, its self-loathing lyric ('I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo, I don't belong here') stretched over driven guitars that at one point simply explode. Ignored when it was first released in September 1992, its re-release sparked enormous interest as the group toured with Kingmaker and James. Taking the band into the UK Top 10, it also announced a Top 30 debut album, Pablo Honey. Unlike other celebrated UK indie hopefuls such as Suede, Radiohead also translated well to international tastes, from the US to Egypt. Two years of promotional activity followed, before the release of The Bends in March 1995. With the pressure on following the plaudits, the recording process was not easy. With hardly a note recorded over two months, producer John Leckie ordered all bar Yorke out of the studio and told the singer to 'just fucking play it'. The songs came, and he and the rest of the band relocated to Abbey Road Studios to finish off the album in a mere three weeks. The Bends did not disappoint, with a vibrant mood range encouraging Yorke's prosaic yet affecting lyrics: 'When your insides fall to pieces, You just sit there wishing you could still make love'. Notable tracks included the hypnotic 'High And Dry' and 'Fake Plastic Trees'. By the end of 1995 The Bends had been universally acclaimed, enough to win them a BRIT Awards nomination as the best band of the year. Two years later, the band unveiled its follow-up, OK Computer, which received the most spectacular reviews of any rock album in recent memory, and won the band a Grammy Award in 1998 for Best Alternative Rock Performance.
|
