There are no surprises at the end of this scribbling... the story hasn’t ended.

It’s the year 2000 and punk attitude prevails, anti-corporate bands have been spreading their message with the marketing tools of corporate labels for years, but in the 90s, with the added bonus of modern technology, were able to present themselves in truer definition than media self-opinion. Huge talent, high articulation skill and intelligence, all soaked in vast amounts of creativity, when added to the above mean that even huge chart bands can remain "underground" to their fans.

For some (notably sections of print media regularly saying "it’s all over" and "there’s nothing happening" throughout the decade) guitar music was dead. For others (thousands of people that bought records and attended gigs) it was one of the most exciting decades ever for music fans.

(I am of the latter camp and Radiohead are one of the bands that, for me, make life contain so many adventures (... Minxy)

Peerless. Unique. Radiohead could never be labelled "the new _______" and nobody is "the new Radiohead". They may be an inspiration to many, but they are the first and the last. Radiohead is a phenomenon that only really exists  when making music. Their private world is as highly politicised/intelligent/articulate in standing up for the planet/humanity as most salt-of-the-earth people, but most salt-of-the-earth people don’t also happen to play in, arguably, one of the finest recording and live acts in the history of music.

Like all the best gangs, Radiohead were friends before they were a band. Another miraculous accident to gift the world of music! It took years for them to "make it", so they developed properly and when their fourth album is released towards the end of the year 2000, will be fully formed.

They had several LPs worth of great songs up their sleeves from day one, but since world-wide success beginning in 1993, no time to record them. Their exceptional first five releases were deemed "unsuitable" for day time radio (except Creep, and only then when it had been re-released in the UK after being a planet-wide hit). Until The Bends blew minds, it was the huge amount of loyal fans that ensured consistent chart success. Nowadays it’s the done thing to say that Radiohead weren’t any good until The Bends, but that depends on whether Pablo Honey touched any nerve in you. it did in me.

Although Radiohead have always had ardent fans in the media, (they especially got early rave reviews in the local pop pages of the UK), Radiohead never joined the endless list of "next big thing"s in the music press. At first they were dismissed as "major label pop fodder" (as opposed to credible indie?), "ugly ducklings" (eh?), "unfashionable" and accused of moaning for desiring UK recognition. Mocked for being the polite, shy antithesis of "rock and roll", or just ignored, they were understandably stung by their early reception. They haven’t changed, but fads have and it’s no longer a crime to sign to a major label so that people can see and hear you. The "miserable/moaning" etc tags get harder to prove now that Radiohead have presented themselves to the public via their website while recording. In fact Radiohead are mostly MOANED ABOUT! They never conformed to the mould the media want, and it’s too late for them to start now! Without image, "angles" or hype, they grow continually on the strength of their songs and live reputation. Having developed away from the limelight, they wouldn't have it any other way.

Radiohead met at school in Oxford. First they formed the band, then learnt how to play, with no second thoughts about image or musical style. They were away at various colleges, meeting up in summer holidays.

Thom was at Exeter University where he was reckoned to have been one of the best DJs at the Lemon Grove club. In Summer 1991 he got back together with Phil, Ed (once voted most eligible man in Oxford in a national magazine when he was the barman at Browns restaurant) and brothers Colin and Jonny G (sometimes affectionately referred to as The Greenwood Sisters). Jonny had to leave college after only one month and take his text books on tour.

On the strength of their early demos, followed a signing frenzy after a gig in Oxford’s Jericho Tavern. Radiohead (name from a Talking Heads song) were signed, within only three weeks, to Parlophone by the end of 1991. Their a&r knows a good thing, Keith Wozencroft also signed Supergrass and Mansun among others and along with Miles Leonard is responsible for the Regal Label which includes The Beta Band and Orange Can among it’s charges). I believe in Karma though, and saw it as Parlophone, the label that signed The Beatles and an early (worn out!) walkman tape with Pablo Honey and every Radiohead b-side up to "Anyone Can Play Guitar" is labelled "Radiohead, The Movie"

1992

In May 1992 the debut EP, Drill, received critical praise. Significantly, for all four tracks. There are those bands that save their best songs as singles and use weak fillers they wouldn’t even play live, to accompany them, and those that don’t have to. Prove Yourself received a day time play on Radio 1's Gary Davies show. Radiohead’s first interview with NME includes the statement "We play fuck off music, if you're not interested, fuck you". Fuck off music is thrilling, that’s all I can say! "Drill" sold out of it's 3,000 copies. Radiohead's intense and frantic live performances began to win them a dedicated following and continued to do so...

While recording the next EP they warmed up with a song they*d been playing about with in rehearsal, not realising the tape was running. Creep, recorded spontaneously in one take, has been described as "one of the best pieces of rock since Everest", the infamous guitar-crack before the chorus is Jonny trying to spoil a song he originally didn*t like. I defy anybody to hear it for the first time and not be moved to speak in tongues. It’s not a moaning song, it’s a positive song about getting creativity from self-hate. It’s therapeutically uplifting to yell "I’m a weirdo" actually! Anyway, it caused no visible excitement when first released, fell foul of radio’s "no depressing songs in a recession" rule, was never heard on day time radio in the UK and failed to make the Top 75 of the singles chart. Nevertheless, because word-of-mouth is mightier than the pen, it became ‘92's anthem of self loathing, showing up in polls it didn’t even belong in like the Indie Top 10 of the year etc. The boundaries and labels were starting to be kicked down by fuck off music!

Early on Radiohead earned their "live legend" reputation - unpredictable, tense experiences where the music took control (Thom once broke a toe kicking his guitar, while Jonny (who likes to feel nervous on stage) often cut his hands creating loud jazz noise with a small practice amp - nowadays the man can play anything, even a wireless).

Over 100 gigs supporting everybody/anybody - (on the Kingmaker tour, Radiohead’s set preceded first a juggler, then a film show!). At early gigs it wasn’t all that obvious which member of the Radiohead family was in the band or in the crew (the family remains). Travelling in their little van together with woolly hats etc to keep warm, it was only when five of the similar blokes setting up gear, were left standing on the tiny stage and started to play music that you could really tell who was who if you weren’t stood right in front of them but for me, this was part of the brilliance. Nobody in the crowd forgot their faces when they LEFT the stage. This happened over and over again and they impressed fans of bands like Sultans Of Ping etc (list of such acts they warmed up for is endless) that by the end of 1992 Radiohead were hot contenders. They continually won/stole new fans with these live performances, and earned poetic reviews. Their rising popularity was reflected in 1992 End Of Year polls in the UK music press. Creep was one of NME*s 10 Indie 45s and No.4 in the critics Top 50. Radiohead were voted a Band For ‘93 in Melody Maker and No.9 in Ten For ‘93 by NME readers.

Radiohead were to live up to those expectations with varying degrees of success. Drill had come along about a month after Melody Maker’s cover had screamed that Suede were the "Best New Band" in Britain. The new camp glamour was just what Radiohead weren’t, so their fans had to discover them for themselves. We were obviously joining Europe because there seemed to be an EEC quota on how many "best new bands" there could be at one time (er, one!). Not a problem though that Radiohead were originally underestimated and no part of any favoured "scene". They were largely deemed unfashionable in print (although rated "best new band" by many regional/independent press - some local papers even campaigned to get Radiohead played on the radio and three cheers to Kai Jones of South Wales Echo who ran a Radiohead feature at the time proclaiming "forget Suede"!).