The Radiohead cover Thom Yorke hated: “It’s pretty extreme, I guess”
When you take bold steps into the unknown, one of the unmistakable caveats is that, behind you, follow a mass of people aiming to tread in your footsteps. One might call it a compliment. After all, without you, there simply wouldn’t be a path to follow. That is certainly the case for Radiohead, one of the most experimental alternative rock bands Britain has ever produced.
Radiohead garner respect like no other band of their generation in the music industry and outside of it. Perennially pegged as the saviours of intelligent rock, Yorke and co have survived by creating music for music lovers. There is no candy-coated fodder here, no songs designed for the dancefloor or to be placed into a low-budget commercial for car insurance. Radiohead make songs to be adored for very personal reasons.
The group have made it their MO to continuously refuse to conform. Not in the kind of anti-establishment, gob-filled wrecking ball way punk rock did, nor the sneering, beer-swilling pretence of Britpop. Radiohead have rallied against the norms of the music industry by never settling down creatively. With every new record, they have found themselves breaking new ground and marking themselves out as standalone individuals. Naturally, this is something most artists would love to emulate, and so, perhaps in an attempt to do so or simply as homage to the group having done so, they cover their songs.
Across the years, there have been some standout covers, too. Prince performing ‘Creep’ at Coachella in 2008 might have garnered a little bit of ire from Yorke as ‘The Purple One’ tried to have the clips of the cover removed from the internet, but it must also have pleased Yorke to know such an icon was picking up a classic tune. Michael Kiwanuka, Arlo Parks, Cold War Kids, and Kelly Lee Owens have all also contributed their own versions of Radiohead tracks with aplomb. But there are also some which don’t quite hit.
Peter Gabriel should be a perfect match for Radiohead. Another unique prospect in the world of music, the former Genesis man has an unshakable cult fandom. But, it would appear that Thom Yorke is not one of them, as he took umbrage with Gabriel’s cover of ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’. Gabriel had been hoping the band would cover his 1982 tune ‘Wallflower’, but was met with stony silence after they received his cover.
Scratch My Back, a collection of covers by Gabriel, included his tribute to Radiohead with his cover, a song he called an “existential cry of mortality”. The cover was recorded and sent over to Yorke with a coded needed to access the content. That code was used, only once and never again, and when Gabriel asked what the Radiohesad man had thought of the cover Gabriel shared: “[Yorke] said he hadn’t listened [to it]. But that seems very strange to me. It’s pretty extreme, I guess. And I have heard since that the band didn’t like what I did with it.”
It should be said that Radiohead allowing Gabriel to cover their song is a sign of the respect they hold for him as an artist, a feeling only compounded by their refusal to be publicly or personally dismissive of it. However, if there is one thing for sure we can take from these words, it is that Radiohead would just rather you listened to the original instead.
