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Thomas Edward Yorke born on 7th October 1968 in
the small town of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England.
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Born with his left eye completely paralysed, the lid
permanently shut. By the age of 6, he’d undergo 5 eye surgeries.
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Spent his childhood days in Scotland, near a beach that still
contained mementos of WWII, as his father sold chemical-engineering equipment
there
“The
others were all brought up to be polite. I wasn't.”
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Spent his first 5 years in hospital undergoing eye operations
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In the course of the final operation, the doctors damaged his
eye, leaving him half-blind.
“I can kind of see. I can judge if I
am going to hit something, but that’s just about it.”
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Has a brother named Andrew (currently the front man of
Unbelievable Truth)
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At 4, he received his first steel-string acoustic guitar. It
cut his fingers while playing it, so, he smashed the guitar against the wall out
of frustration.
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His father was a boxing champion at university. Taught his
son the sport to ensure that he never had to back down from a fight at school.
“I was a fighter at school, but I
never won. I was into the idea of fighting.”
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Katie Ganson was his first girlfriend at the age of 7.
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Queen’s Greatest Hits was Thom’s first musical memory.
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Thom’s first new goal in life: To play just like Brian May.
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Thom began taking music lessons when his mom bought him a
Spanish guitar, but his guitar teacher laughed at his aspirations, despite his
effort and dedication that Thom could only play “Kumbaya”.
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Improved his guitar playing without learning how to read
music. He improved so much that by 10, he formed his first band; but it was
short-lived due to some failures and Thom’s admittance to Abingdon Boy’s
School.
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Enrolled to Abingdon Boy’s School in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
Nicknamed Salamander because of his eye.
“It was a very malicious school and
everyone has a malicious nickname, so Salamander was par of the course.”
"You will never make friends
unless you like everyone genuinely. Oh well, I'm fucked then aren't I?"
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At 11, Thom wrote his first song, “Mushroom Cloud”, which
was about the way atomic explosions looked.
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Joined a punk group called TNT at 12, where his musical
abilities expand. But when it comes to singing, the others shied away, leaving
Thom to fill the void.
“I
started singing into this stereo mike tied to the end of the broomstick handle.
Everyone
just started falling about laughing, and that was that. That was my
introduction to singing.”
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Quit TNT due to their large egos and attitudes. Wanted to
form his own group, with someone who were about his own age, share the same
passion for music, and one who followed the less popular acts of the era, like
Joy Division.
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Colin Greenwood was the one in TNT who wouldn’t buy the
snobbery of the others. And he was whom Thom felt a connection with. They were
studying in the same year and attended the same classes. They also ran into each
other at many parties and so, Thom became drawn to Colin.
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Thom got involved in the drama department. He and a friend
were to play background music for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” but their
instructor was unimpressed. Ed was the actor for the play. Thom was drawn to Ed
due to his resemblance to Morrissey, the Smith’s lead singer.
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Thom’s first words to Phil on their first rehearsal
together was “Can’t you play any fucking faster?”
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They called themselves On a Friday as they practiced on
Fridays.
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In the meantime, Thom was writing more songs and made demos
on his own. Not only was he passionate about playing, but he also loved the
attention.
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One former Abingdon student asked Thom to teach him how to
play a guitar and Thom showed him “Rebel Rebel” by David Bowie.
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Some songs played by On a Friday sound too much like REM.
After a rehearsal, there was this argument when Ed said they do sound like REM
and Thom rebut back.
“Well, do you ever think that they
(REM) are going to get really big? Do you think anyone would notice that we
sound like REM?”
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Thom’s studies were taking a back seat at the age of 13 to
15, but he took his studies very seriously when he faced his final year in
Abingdon.
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He did well for his final year and excelled in subjects like
art and music. He was awarded a twenty-pound book token.
“I got an art prize and music prize,
which is really funny because I couldn’t read music and I couldn’t really
paint. It was great though-it was the first time I’d ever had any
encouragement.”
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When Thom played his acoustic numbers for the school’s
annual Symposium Revue, he “really impressed the audience” according to Rick
Clark.
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