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"rows
of houses
all
bearing down on me
i can
feel their blue
hands
touching me
all
these things
will
one day take
control,
and fade out
again
and fade out"
"the
breath of the
morning
i keep
forgetting.
the smell of the
warm
summer air.
I live
in a town,
where
you can't smell
a
thing, you watch
your
feet for crack
in the
pavement"
"today
we escape
we
escape"
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One
of the best British groups of the 90's. Intensy,
dramatic and deep music, with a distinctive sound.
Standout tracks include "Fade out..Street Spirit"
and "Let down".
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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 age 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 realised he would require more sympathetic
band members and formed what would become Raidiohead 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, jazz fanatic Jonny Greenwood (b. 5 November 1971,
Oxford, Oxfordshire, 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 (Blood Brothers, Return To The Forbidden Planet)
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). After 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 (having
previously become an alternative anthem in the US), 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 following its US breakout
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 include 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.
Radiohead
Wall Papers - click to enlarge, then with your brower, set
as wallpaper.
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