Radiohead
England | Alternative Rock / Art Rock | 1986 - present
Radiohead are an English alternative rock band from Oxfordshire. The band is composed of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, electronics), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, other instruments), Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass guitar, synthesisers) and Phil Selway (drums, percussion). Radiohead have released seven albums and have sold over 23 million records throughout their career.
Radiohead released their first single, "Creep", in 1992. Their debut album, Pablo Honey, followed in 1993. "Creep" was initially unsuccessful, but the song became a worldwide hit when reissued a year later, and the band were almost branded as one hit wonders. Radiohead's popularity in the United Kingdom increased with the release of their second album, The Bends (1995). The band's textured guitar atmospheres and Yorke's falsetto singing were warmly received by critics and fans. Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), propelled the band to greater fame worldwide. Featuring an expansive sound and themes of alienation from the modern world, OK Computer has often been acclaimed as a landmark record of the 1990s.
The release of Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) saw Radiohead reach the peak of their popularity, although the albums divided critical opinion. This period marked a change in Radiohead's musical style, with their incorporation of avant-garde electronic music, Krautrock and jazz influences. Hail to the Thief (2003), which mixed guitar-driven rock with electronics and contemporary lyrics, was the band's final album for their record label, EMI. Radiohead's seventh album, In Rainbows (2007), was first released independently as a digital download for which customers selected their own price, later meeting with critical and chart success.
The musicians who formed Radiohead met while attending Abingdon School, a boys-only public school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Yorke and Colin Greenwood were in the same year, O'Brien and Selway were one year older and Jonny Greenwood two years younger. In 1986, 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 keyboard player but soon became the lead guitarist.
As On a Friday's number of live performances increased, record labels and producers became interested. Chris Hufford, 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.
Musical Influences
Among Radiohead members' earliest influences were Queen and Elvis Costello; post-punk acts such as Joy Division and Magazine; and 1980s alternative rock bands such as R.E.M., the Pixies, The Smiths, and Sonic Youth. By the mid-1990s, Radiohead began to mention an interest in electronic music, especially that of trip-hop act 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 pop 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. During this era, critics noted musical similarities between OK Computer and the albums of progressive rock bands such as Pink Floyd, but the band have denied that their musical style is directly influenced by progressive rock.
The electronic style of Kid A and Amnesiac was the result of Yorke's admiration for glitch, ambient techno and IDM as exemplified by Warp Records artists such as Autechre, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada and Squarepusher. 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 continued to play a role, and the influence of Penderecki and composer Olivier Messiaen was increasingly apparent; for several tracks 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 placed renewed emphasis on guitar rock. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and particularly Neil Young were reportedly sources of inspiration to the band during this period. Radiohead also continued to cite the electronic influences of their previous two albums, along with classical musicians and Can. Since beginning to record In Rainbows, Radiohead members have mentioned a variety of rock, electronic, hip hop and experimental musicians as influences, including Liars, Modeselektor, Spank Rock and M.I.A.. Band members have also been inspired by reggae and dub music. The 2007 Trojan Records release Jonny Greenwood Is the Controller is a selection of songs from Greenwood's favourite dub artists.
Influence
Despite the increasing profile and popularity that Kid A and Amnesiac brought to the band, the continued popularity of The Bends and OK Computer ensured the influence of Radiohead's earlier style on British rock music. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, many critics compared the sound of contemporary bands to that of Radiohead at some time during their recording output, and in some cases, these bands used the band's own producers Nigel Godrich or John Leckie. When asked in 2001 by MTV, "How do you guys feel about the fact that bands like Travis, Coldplay and Muse are making a career sounding exactly like your records did in 1997?", Yorke replied, "Good luck with Kid A." Yet, other artists, notably Bloc Party, have cited influence from Radiohead's more recent work. Acts in various genres including The Roots, Hanson and John Mayer, as well as jazz and classical musicians, have covered or sampled Radiohead songs from their Kid A and Amnesiac period. In 2005, Radiohead were ranked number 73 in Rolling Stone's list of the greatest artists in history.