Radiohead are an English
alternative rock band from Abingdon
, Oxfordshire, formed in
1985. The band consists of
Thom
Yorke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, beats),
Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboard,
other instruments),
Ed O'Brien (guitar,
backing vocals),
Colin Greenwood
(bass guitar, synthesizers) and
Phil
Selway (drums, percussion).
Radiohead released their first
single, "
Creep", in 1992. The song was
initially unsuccessful, but it became a worldwide hit several
months after the release of their debut album,
Pablo Honey (1993). Radiohead's popularity
rose in the United Kingdom with the release of their second album,
The Bends (1995). Radiohead's
third album,
OK Computer
(1997), propelled them to greater international fame. Featuring an
expansive sound and themes of
modern
alienation,
OK Computer
has often been acclaimed as a landmark record of the 1990s.
Kid A (2000) and
Amnesiac (2001) marked an evolution in
Radiohead's musical style, as the group incorporated experimental
electronic music,
Krautrock,
post-punk and
jazz influences. Although critical opinion was
initially divided, Radiohead remained popular.
Hail to the Thief (2003), a mix of
guitar-driven rock, electronics and lyrics inspired by headlines,
was the band's final album for their major record label,
EMI. Radiohead independently released their seventh
album,
In Rainbows (2007),
originally as a
digital download
for which customers could set their own price, later in stores, to
critical and chart success.
Radiohead's work has appeared in a large number of listener polls
and critics' lists. For example, in 2005 Radiohead were ranked
number 73 in
Rolling Stone's
list of "the greatest artists of all time". While the band's
earlier albums were particularly influential on British rock and
pop music, their later albums brought them a wide audience. Their
work has influenced other musicians in genres ranging from jazz and
classical music to hip hop and R&B.
History
Formation and first years (1985–1991)

Abingdon School, where the band
formed
The
musicians who form Radiohead met while attending Abingdon School
, a boys-only public school in Abingdon,
Oxfordshire
. Thom Yorke and Colin Greenwood were in the
same year, Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway were one year older and Jonny
Greenwood two years younger than his brother, Colin. In 1985 they
formed the band "On a Friday", the name referring to the band's
usual rehearsal day in the school's music room.
The group played their
first gig in late 1986 at Oxford's Jericho Tavern
; Jonny Greenwood originally joined as a harmonica
and then keyboard player, but he soon became the lead guitarist.
Although Yorke, O'Brien, Selway, and Colin Greenwood had left
Abingdon by 1987 to attend university, the band continued to
rehearse often on weekends and holidays. In 1991, when all the
members except Jonny had completed their university degrees, On a
Friday regrouped, began to record demos such as
Manic Hedgehog, and performed live gigs
around Oxford.
Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley
had an active indie scene in the late 1980s, but it
centred around shoegazing bands such as
Ride and Slowdive; On a Friday were never seen as fitting
this trend, commenting that they had missed it by the time they
returned from university.
Nevertheless, as On a Friday's number of live performances
increased, record labels and producers became interested. Chris
Hufford, Slowdive's producer and the co-owner of Oxford's Courtyard
Studios, attended an early On a Friday concert at the Jericho
Tavern. Impressed by the band, he and his partner Bryce Edge
produced a demo tape and became On a Friday's managers; they remain
the band's managers to this day. Following a chance meeting between
Colin Greenwood and
EMI representative Keith Wozencroft at the record shop
where Greenwood worked, the band signed a six-album recording
contract with the label in late 1991. At the request of EMI, the
band changed their name to Radiohead, inspired by the title of a
song on
Talking Heads'
True Stories album.
Pablo Honey, The Bends and early success
(1992–1995)
Radiohead recorded their debut release, the
Drill EP, with
Chris Hufford and Bryce Edge at Courtyard Studios. Released in
March 1992, its chart performance was very poor. Subsequently, the
band enlisted Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade—who had worked with US
indie bands
Pixies and
Dinosaur Jr.—to
produce their debut album, recorded quickly
in an Oxford studio in 1992.
With the release of the "Creep" single late in the year,
Radiohead began to receive attention in the British
music press, not all of it favourable.
NME described them as "a lily-livered
excuse for a rock band", and "Creep" was blacklisted by
BBC Radio 1 because it was deemed "too
depressing".
The band released their debut album,
Pablo Honey, in February 1993. It stalled
at number 22 in the UK charts, as "Creep" and its anthemic
follow-up singles "
Anyone Can
Play Guitar" and "
Stop
Whispering" failed to become radio or video hits. "
Pop Is Dead", a non-album single later disavowed
by the band, sold equally poorly. Some critics compared the band's
early style to the wave of
grunge music
popular in the early 1990s—to the extent of Radiohead being dubbed
"
Nirvana-lite"—yet
Pablo
Honey failed to make either a critical or a commercial splash
upon its initial release. Despite shared influences with popular
guitar-heavy acts, and some notice
for Yorke's
falsetto voice, the band toured
only British universities and clubs.
In the first few months of 1993, Radiohead began to attract
listeners elsewhere.
"Creep" had been played very frequently on
Israeli
radio by an influential DJ, and
in March, after the song became a hit on that country's charts,
Radiohead were invited to Tel Aviv
for their
first live gig overseas. Around the same time, the San Francisco
alternative radio station KITS
added the song to its playlist. Soon other radio
stations along the west coast of the United States
followed suit. By the time Radiohead began
their first
North American tour in
June 1993, the
music video for "Creep"
was in heavy rotation on
MTV. The song rose to
number two on the US
modern rock
chart, entered the lower reaches of the
top
40 pop chart, and finally hit number seven in the UK singles
chart when EMI re-released it in Britain late in the year.
Unexpected attention to the single in America caused the label to
improvise new promotional plans, and the band shuttled back and
forth between continents, playing over 150 concerts in 1993.
Radiohead nearly broke up due to the pressure of sudden success as
the
Pablo Honey supporting tour extended into its second
year. Band members described the tour as difficult to adjust to,
saying that towards its end they were "still playing the same songs
that [they had] recorded two years previously... like being held in
a time warp", when they were eager to work on new songs.
The band
began work on their second album in 1994, hiring veteran Abbey Road
studios
producer John
Leckie. Tensions were high, with mounting expectations
on the band to deliver a superior follow-up to match or exceed the
success of "Creep". Recording felt unnatural in the studio, band
members having over-rehearsed their material.
They sought a change
of scenery, touring the Far East, Australasia and Mexico
in an
attempt to reduce the pressure. The band found greater
confidence performing their new music live. However, confronted
again by the fame he had achieved, Yorke became disillusioned at
being "right at the sharp end of the sexy, sassy, MTV eye-candy
lifestyle" he felt he was helping to sell to the world.
My Iron Lung, an EP and
single released late in 1994, was Radiohead's reaction, marking a
transition towards the greater depth they aimed for on their second
album. Promoted through alternative radio stations, the hard-edged
single's sales were better than expected, and suggested for the
first time that the band had found a loyal fan base beyond one hit.
Having introduced more new songs on tour, Radiohead finished
recording their second album by year's end, and they released
The Bends in March 1995. The
album was driven by dense riffs and ethereal atmospheres from the
band's three guitarists, with greater use of
keyboards than their debut. It also
received stronger reviews for both songwriting and
performances.
While Radiohead were seen as outsiders to the
Britpop scene that dominated the media's attention
at the time, they were finally successful in their home country
with
The Bends, as singles "
Fake Plastic Trees", "
High and Dry", "
Just", and "
Street Spirit " made their way to
UK chart success; the latter song placed Radiohead in the top five
for the first time. In 1995, Radiohead again toured North America
and
Europe, this time in support of
R.E.M., one of their formative influences and at the
time one of the biggest rock bands in the world. The buzz generated
by such famous fans as
Michael Stipe,
along with distinctive music videos for "Just" and "Street Spirit",
helped to sustain Radiohead's popularity outside the UK.
However, Radiohead's growing fan base was insufficient for them to
repeat the commercial popularity of "Creep" worldwide. "High and
Dry" became a modest hit, but
The Bends peaked at 88 on
the US album charts, which remains Radiohead's lowest showing
there. Radiohead were satisfied with the album's reception. Jonny
Greenwood said, "I think the turning point for us came about nine
or twelve months after
The Bends was released and it
started appearing in people's [best of] polls for the end of the
year. That's when it started to feel like we made the right choice
about being a band".
OK Computer, fame and critical acclaim
(1996–1998)
In late 1995, Radiohead had already recorded one song that would
make their next record. "
Lucky", released as a single to
promote the
War Child charity's
The Help Album, had come out
of a brief session with
Nigel Godrich,
a young
audio engineer who had
assisted on
The Bends and also
produced a 1996
B-side, "
Talk Show
Host". The band decided to produce their next album with
Godrich's assistance, and they began work in early 1996.
By July
they had recorded four songs at their rehearsal studio, Canned
Applause, a converted apple shed in the countryside near Didcot
,
Oxfordshire.
In August 1996 Radiohead toured as the opening act for
Alanis Morissette, seeking to perfect
their new songs live before completing the record.
They then resumed
recording, again outside a traditional music studio, settling
instead at a 15th-century mansion, St. Catherine's Court
, near Bath. The recording sessions were
relaxed, with the band playing at all hours of the day, recording
songs in different rooms, and listening to
The Beatles,
DJ Shadow,
Ennio Morricone and
Miles Davis for inspiration. Radiohead
contributed "Talk Show Host", as well as a newly-recorded song
called "Exit Music (For A Film)", to
Baz
Luhrmann's adaptation of
Romeo +
Juliet late in the year. Most of the rest of the album was
complete by the end of 1996, and by March 1997, the record was
mixed and mastered.
Radiohead released their third album,
OK
Computer, in June 1997. Largely composed of melodic rock
songs, the new record also found the band experimenting with song
structures and incorporating some
ambient,
avant
garde and
electronic
influences. The album's lyrics took a more observational, less
personal tone than
The Bends, expressing what one magazine
called "end-of-the-millennium blues".
OK Computer met with
great critical acclaim, and Yorke admitted that he was "amazed it
got the reaction it did. None of us fucking knew any more whether
it was good or bad. What really blew my head off was the fact that
people got all the things, all the textures and the sounds and the
atmospheres we were trying to create."
OK Computer was the band's first number one UK chart
debut, propelling Radiohead to commercial success around the world.
Despite peaking at number 21 in the
US
charts, the album eventually met with mainstream recognition
there, receiving the first
Grammy
Awards recognition of the band's career, a win for
Best Alternative
Album and a nomination for
Album of the Year.
"
Paranoid Android", "
Karma Police" and "
No
Surprises" were released as singles from the album, of which
"Karma Police" was most successful internationally.
The release of
OK Computer was followed by the "Against
Demons" world tour.
Grant Gee, the
director of the "No Surprises" video, accompanied and filmed the
band, releasing the footage in the 1999 documentary
Meeting People Is Easy. The film
portrays the band's disaffection with the music industry and press,
showing their burnout as they progressed from their first tour
dates in mid-1997 to mid-1998, nearly a year later. The film is
also notable for documenting earlier versions of songs that were
never released or were not released until years later, such as "How
to Disappear Completely", "Life in a Glasshouse" and "Nude". During
this time the band also released a music video compilation,
7 Television
Commercials, as well as two EPs,
Airbag/How Am I Driving? and
No
Surprises/Running from Demons, that compiled their B-sides
from
OK Computer singles.
Kid A, Amnesiac and a change in sound
(1999–2001)
Radiohead were largely inactive following their 1997–1998 tour;
after its end, their only public performance in 1998 was at an
Amnesty International concert
in Paris. Yorke later admitted that during that period the band
came close to splitting up, and that he had developed severe
depression. In early 1999, Radiohead began work on a follow-up to
OK Computer. Although there was no longer any pressure or
even a deadline from their record label, tension during this period
was high. Band members all had different visions for Radiohead's
future, and Yorke was experiencing
writer's block, influencing him toward a more
abstract, fragmented form of songwriting.
Radiohead secluded
themselves with producer Nigel Godrich in studios in Paris,
Copenhagen
, and Gloucester
, and in their newly completed studio in Oxford
.
Eventually, all the members agreed on a new musical direction,
redefining their instrumental roles in the band. After nearly 18
months, Radiohead's recording sessions were completed in April
2000.
In October 2000 Radiohead released their fourth album,
Kid A, the first of two albums from these
recording sessions. Rather than being a stylistic sequel to
OK
Computer,
Kid A featured a
minimalist and textured style with less overt
guitar parts and more diverse instrumentation including the
ondes Martenot, programmed
electronic beats,
strings, and
jazz
horns. It debuted at number one in many countries, including the
US, where its debut atop the
Billboard chart marked a first for the
band and a rare success in the US by UK musicians. This success was
attributed variously to
marketing, to the album's leak on the
file-sharing network
Napster a few months
before its release, and to advance anticipation based, in part, on
the success of OK Computer. Although Radiohead did not release any
singles from
Kid A,
promos of "
Optimistic" and "
Idioteque" received radio play, and a series of
"
blips", or short videos set
to portions of tracks, were played on music channels and released
freely on the
Internet. The band had read
Naomi Klein's
anti-globalization book
No Logo during the recording, and they decided
to continue a summer 2000 tour of Europe later in the year in a
custom-built tent free of advertising; they also promoted
Kid
A with three sold-out North American theatre concerts.
Kid A received a
Grammy Award
for
Best
Alternative Album and a nomination for
Album of the Year in
early 2001. Yet it won both praise and criticism in
independent music circles for
appropriating
underground styles
of music, while some mainstream British critics saw
Kid A
as a "commercial suicide note", labelling it "intentionally
difficult" and longing for a return to the band's earlier style.
Radiohead's fans were similarly divided; along with those who were
appalled or mystified, there were many who saw the album as the
band's best work. Yorke, however, denied that Radiohead had set out
to eschew commercial expectations, saying, "I was really, really
amazed at how badly [
Kid A] was being viewed ...
because the music's not that hard to grasp. We're not trying to be
difficult ... We're actually trying to communicate but
somewhere along the line, we just seemed to piss off a lot of
people ... What we're doing isn't that radical."
Amnesiac, released in June 2001,
comprised additional tracks from the
Kid A recording
sessions. Radiohead's musical style on these songs was similar to
that of
Kid A in their fusion of
electronic music and
jazz influences, though more reliant on the use of
guitars. The record was a critical and commercial success
worldwide, it topped the
UK Albums
Chart and reached number two in the US and being nominated for
a Grammy Award and the
Mercury Music
Prize. After
Amnesiac's release, the band embarked on
a world tour, visiting North America, Europe and Japan. Meanwhile,
"
Pyramid Song" and "
Knives Out", Radiohead's first issued singles
since 1998, were modestly successful, and "
I Might Be Wrong", initially planned as a
third single, expanded into Radiohead's thus far only live record.
I Might Be Wrong:
Live Recordings, released in November 2001, featured
performances of seven songs from
Kid A and
Amnesiac along with the acoustic, previously unreleased
"True Love Waits".
Hail to the Thief and a hiatus (2002–2004)
During July and August 2002 Radiohead toured Portugal and Spain,
playing a number of newly written songs.
They then recorded
the new material in two weeks in a Los
Angeles
studio with Nigel
Godrich, adding several tracks later in Oxford, where the band
continued their work into the next year. Radiohead members
described the recording process as relaxed, in contrast to the
tense sessions for
Kid A and
Amnesiac. The band's
sixth album,
Hail to the
Thief, was released in June 2003. Mixing sounds from
throughout their career,
Hail to the Thief combined
guitar-based rock with electronic influences and topical lyrics by
Yorke. Although the album was critically praised, many critics felt
that Radiohead were treading water creatively rather than
continuing the "genre-redefining" trend that
OK Computer
had begun. Nevertheless,
Hail to the Thief enjoyed
commercial success, debuting at number one in the UK and number
three on the
Billboard chart and eventually being
certified
platinum in
the UK and
gold in the US. The
album's singles, "
There There",
"
Go to Sleep" and "
2+2=5", achieved a level of play on
modern rock radio. At the 2003 Grammy
Awards, Radiohead were again nominated for
Best Alternative
Album, while producer Godrich and engineer Darrell Thorp
received the
Grammy
Award for Best Engineered Album.
Yorke denied that
Hail to the Thief's title was a comment
on the controversial
2000 US presidential
election, explaining that he first heard the words in a
BBC Radio 4 discussion of 19th century
American politics. Yorke said his lyrics had been affected by news
reports of war in 2001 to 2002 and "the feeling that we are
entering an age of intolerance and fear where the power to express
ourselves in a democracy and have our voices heard is being denied
us" but said, "[Radiohead] didn't write a protest record, we didn't
write a political record." After the release of
Hail to the
Thief, Radiohead embarked in May 2003 on a world tour,
including a headlining performance at the
Glastonbury Festival.
The tour finished in May 2004 with a performance at the
Coachella
Festival. During their tour, the band released
COM LAG, an EP compiling most of
their b-sides from the time. Following their tour, the band began
writing and rehearsing in their Oxford studio but soon went on
hiatus. Free of their label contract, Radiohead spent the remainder
of 2004 resting with their families and working on solo
projects.
In Rainbows and independent work (2005–2009)

Yorke in concert with Radiohead in
2006
Radiohead began work on their seventh album in February 2005. In
September 2005, the band recorded a piano-based song, "I Want None
of This", for the
War Child
charity album
Help: A Day
in the Life. The album was sold online, with "I Want None
of This" being the most downloaded track, although it was not
released as a single. Radiohead had already begun recording their
next album on their own and then with producer
Mark Stent.
However, in late 2006, after touring Europe
and North America and debuting 13 new songs there, the band resumed
work with Nigel Godrich in London, Oxford and several rural
locations in Somerset
, England. Work was finished in June 2007 and
the recordings were mastered the following month.
Radiohead's seventh album,
In
Rainbows, was released through the band's own website on
10 October 2007 as a
digital download for which
customers could make whatever payment that they wanted, including
nothing; the site only advised, "it's up to you". Following the
band's sudden announcement 10 days beforehand, Radiohead's unusual
strategy received much notice within the music industry and beyond.
1.2 million downloads were reportedly sold by the day of release,
but the band's management did not release official sales figures,
claiming that the Internet-only distribution was intended to boost
later retail sales. A "discbox", including a second disc from the
recording sessions, vinyl and CD editions of the album, and a
hardcover book of artwork, was sold and shipped in late 2007.
In Rainbows was physically released in the UK in late
December on
XL Recordings and in North
America in January 2008 on
TBD Records,
charting at number one both in the UK and in the US. The album's
success in the US marked Radiohead's highest chart success in that
country since
Kid A, while it was their fifth UK number
one album. "
Jigsaw Falling
into Place", the first single from the album, was released in
the UK in January 2008. The second single, "
Nude", debuted at number 37 in the
Billboard Hot 100, Radiohead's first song
to make that chart since 1995's "High and Dry" and their first
top 40 hit in the US since "Creep". A
greatest hits album, titled
Radiohead: The Best
Of, was released by EMI in June 2008. The compilation was
made without the input of the band and also did not contain any
songs from
In Rainbows, as the band had already left their
label. Radiohead continued to put out tracks from
In
Rainbows as singles and videos; in July a digitally-shot video
for "
House of Cards" was made
available. "House of Cards", along with "
Bodysnatchers", also received a single
release on radio. In September the band announced a fourth single,
"
Reckoner", and a
remix competition similar to one organised for
"Nude".
In Rainbows received overwhelmingly positive reviews,
among the best of Radiohead's career. Critics praised the album for
having a more accessible sound and personal style of lyrics than
their past work. In July 2008,
In Rainbows was nominated
for the short list of the
Mercury
Music Prize. At the 2009 Grammy Awards, the band won
Best Alternative
Music Album. Their production team also won the Grammy for Best
Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. The band received their
third nomination for
Album of the Year, along
with three other nominations for the band, plus nominations for
Godrich's production work and for the "House of Cards" video.
From mid-2008 to early 2009, Radiohead toured North America,
Europe, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile (the band's
first ever tour in South America) - to promote
In
Rainbows. The band headlined the
Reading and Leeds Festivals in
August 2009.
Current studio sessions (2009-present)
In May 2009, Colin Greenwood revealed that the band had entered the
studio, with producer Nigel Godrich, to begin new recording
sessions.
On 5 August 2009, Radiohead released the single, "
Harry Patch ", in tribute to the
recently deceased
Harry Patch, the last
surviving British soldier to have fought in the
trenches of the
First
World War. The song was sold direct from Radiohead's website
for £1, with proceeds donated to the
British Legion. The song featured Thom Yorke
singing lyrics based on Patch's own statements about his war
experience, over a string orchestra backdrop arranged by Jonny
Greenwood.
On 7 August 2009, Yorke was quoted suggesting that Radiohead would
turn their focus from full length albums to releasing EPs,
including the possibility of an EP of
orchestral music.
On 17 August, Jonny Greenwood posted a note on the Radiohead
official website, revealing that a new song, "
These Are My Twisted Words," was
available from the website as a standalone download or a torrent,
free of charge. The download included a digital set of pictures to
be printed on tracing paper and put "in an order that pleases you."
Greenwood revealed that the song had been one of the first products
of the band's recent studio sessions, and that it was likely to be
played during their August festival appearances, the final dates of
the
In Rainbows tour. Several days before the official
release, an identical studio version of the song had been leaked
online. Rumours of a new EP titled
Wall of Ice were
reported in the days after the leak, but they later proved
false.
On 7 October 2009, O’Brien told NME that the band would be
recording in the winter and releasing a new album in 2010.
Style and songwriting
Among Radiohead members' earliest influences were
Queen,
Scott
Walker, and
Elvis Costello;
post-punk acts such as
Joy Division and
Magazine; and significantly 1980s
alternative rock bands such as
R.E.M.,
Pixies,
The Smiths and
Sonic
Youth. By the mid-1990s, Radiohead began to mention an interest
in
electronic music, especially
that of
Massive Attack and the
instrumental hip hop of
DJ Shadow, which Radiohead claimed as an
influence on parts of
OK Computer. Other influences on the
album were
Miles Davis and
Ennio Morricone, along with 1960s rock
groups, such as
The Beatles and
The Beach Boys. Jonny Greenwood also cited
composer
Krzysztof Penderecki
as an inspiration on the sound of
OK Computer.The
electronic style of
Kid A and
Amnesiac was the
result of Thom Yorke's admiration for
glitch,
ambient
techno and
IDM as
exemplified by
Warp Records artists
such as
Autechre and
Aphex Twin. The
jazz of
Charles Mingus,
Alice Coltrane, and
Miles Davis, and 1970s
Krautrock bands such as
Can and
Neu!, were other
major influences during this period. Jonny Greenwood's interest in
20th century classical
music also had a role, as the influence of both Penderecki and
composer
Olivier Messiaen was
apparent; for several songs on
Kid A and later albums,
Greenwood has played the
Ondes
Martenot, an early electronic instrument popularised by
Messiaen.While working on
Hail to the Thief, Radiohead put
renewed emphasis on guitar rock.
The
Beatles,
The Rolling Stones
and particularly
Neil Young were reported
sources of inspiration to the band during this period. Since
beginning to record
In Rainbows, Radiohead members have
mentioned a variety of rock, electronic, hip hop and experimental
musicians as influences, including
Björk,
Liars,
Modeselektor,
Spank
Rock and
M.I.A. Band members
have also been inspired by
reggae and
dub music.
Since their formation Radiohead have lyrically been spearheaded by
Yorke, but musically, songwriting is a collaborative effort, and it
has been noted in interviews that all the band members have roles
in the process. As a result, all the band's songs are officially
credited to "Radiohead". The
Kid A/Amnesiac sessions
brought about a change in Radiohead's musical style, and an even
more radical change in the band's working method. Since the band's
shift from standard rock music instrumentation toward an emphasis
on electronic sound, band members have had greater flexibility and
now regularly switch instruments depending on the particular song
requirements. On
Kid A and
Amnesiac, Yorke played
keyboard and bass, while Jonny Greenwood often played Ondes
Martenot rather than guitar, bassist Colin Greenwood worked on
sampling, and O'Brien and Selway branched out to drum machines and
digital manipulations, also finding ways to incorporate their
primary instruments, guitar and percussion, respectively, into the
new sound. The relaxed 2003 recording sessions for
Hail to the
Thief led to a different dynamic in Radiohead, with Yorke
admitting in interviews that "[his] power within the band was
absolutely unbalanced and [he] would subvert everybody else's power
at all costs. But ... it's actually a lot more healthy now,
democracy wise, than it used to be."
Collaborators
"Modified bear" logo for
Kid A by Stanley Donwood and
Tchock (Thom Yorke)
The band maintains a close relationship with their
producer Nigel
Godrich, as well as with
graphic
artist Stanley Donwood. Godrich
made his name with Radiohead, working with the band since
The
Bends, and as producer since
OK Computer. He has, at
times, been dubbed the "sixth member" of the band in an allusion to
George Martin being called the
"
Fifth Beatle". Donwood, another
longtime associate of the band, has produced all of Radiohead's
album covers and visual artwork since 1994. Together with Yorke,
Donwood won a
Grammy in 2002 for a
special edition of
Amnesiac packaged as a library book.
Other collaborators include Dilly Gent, and Peter Clements. Gent
has been responsible for commissioning all Radiohead music videos
since
OK Computer, working with the band to find a
director suitable for each project. The band's live technician,
Peter Clemens, or "Plank", has worked with the band since before
The Bends, setting up their instruments for both studio
recordings and live performances.
Discography
Awards and nominations
References
- "Reading and Leeds 2009 line-up".
NME. 30 Mar 2009
-
http://stereokill.net/2009/08/17/radiohead-officially-release-these-are-my-twisted-words/
- "Leaked Radiohead Song Has Fans on Alert for New EP".
ABC News, August 14, 2009.
- Liner notes of Hail to the Thief, 2003.
Sources
- Randall, Mac. Exit Music: The Radiohead Story. 2000.
ISBN 0-385-33393-5
- Clarke, Martin. Radiohead: Hysterical and Useless.
2000. ISBN 0-85965-332-3
Further reading
- Doheny, James. Radiohead: Back to Save the Universe.
2002. ISBN 0-82641-663-2
- Footman, Tim. Welcome to the
Machine: OK Computer and the Death of the Classic Album. 2007.
ISBN 1-8424-03885
- Griffiths, Dai. Radiohead's OK Computer (33⅓ series). 2004. ISBN 1-56025-398-3
- Johnstone, Nick. Radiohead: An Illustrated Biography.
1997. ISBN 0-7119-6581-1
- Paytress, Mark. Radiohead: The Complete Guide to their
Music. 2005. ISBN 1-84449-507-8
- Tate, Joseph (ed). The Music and Art of Radiohead.
2005. ISBN 0-7546-3979-7.
External links