Ed O'Brian was conceived on April 15, 1968 in Oxford, Oxfordshire and took on the role as guitar player. Colin Greenwood, born June 26, 1969 also in Oxford, Oxfordshire contributed by playing the bass guitar. Colin and Thom shared the same musical passion for great bands such as The Smiths and Joy Division and somehow, according to Thom, they always ended up at the same parties! A drummer was also recruited; the task was taken on by Phil Selway, born May 23, 1967 in Hemmingford Grey. As a culminating treat, Colin's younger brother, Jonny Greenwood, born November 5, 1971, joined the band after having permanently pestered the four other members. Jonny became the keyboard player and also took his share playing guitar.

Shortly after Jonny had completed the line-up, On A Friday played their debut gig in Oxford. Nevertheless, the members were 'determined' to pursue their academic careers (mainly in order to please their parents) and the band thus was put on hold. In the summer of 1991, the members finally got together again in Oxford and started focusing solely on their band - now entitled Radiohead after a Talking Heads song. The band debuted in July that very same year at the Hollybush Inn and it didn't take them long to make a lasting impression.

In 1991, they signed to Parlophone and 1992 saw the release of the single Creep, which was simply (for some bizarre reason) ignored at that time. Nevertheless, the band re-released the single the following year and the track quickly became a classic on the UK alternative music scene. This resulted in an increased interest in the band who made it to the UK Top 10. Radiohead then released their brilliant debut album Pablo Honey (completed in 3 weeks) which went into the Top 30 - not only in Britain the band claimed success, as Radiohead indeed seemed to appeal to a much broader audience on an international scale.

The band then spent 2 years promoting Pablo Honey before releasing the follow-up in 1995, entitled The Bends. With the great acclamation of their debut album, Radiohead was under a lot of pressure and had a hard time recording The Bends. After a 2 months long periode of stagnation and the band's producer telling Thom to 'just fucking play it!', Radiohead finally seemed back on the right track again. In 3 weeks the album was finished off at Abbey Road Studios, London - and it certainly was not disappointing.

Two years of intense touring all over the world then followed - they toured the USA no less than 5 times within this period - and by the time the tour had finished, the members were desperate to get back into the studio again. During the recording of their third album, OK Computer, there was much secrecy and the band kept a very low profile. They released OK Computer in June 1997 which is an album I highly recommend - to me, this album is a beautiful journey through paranoia, anger and frustration.

Radiohead's next release saw them changing direction musically. Kid A was put out in October 2000 and appears to be a collection of interesting sounds and ideas rather than an album consisting of individual songs. With this rather abstract and electronica-based album, it also became clear that Radiohead is a band uncomfortable with the pressures and demands of the record business. By creating Kid A, the band succeeded in making an album that confounded most conventional categories and expectations. Only 11 months after releasing Kid A, Radiohead put out Amnesiac - their 5th studio album. This album is by many considered ‘Kid A Part II’, and it shows a band cynical, disgusted, and enthusiastic enough about music to try it on, test people’s patience and damn the consequences! With their two latest releases, Radiohead have moved far far away from OK Computer....