The Radiohead song that saw Thom Yorke “semi-kicked out” of the studio
Blending experimentation with melancholy, Radiohead reshaped and propelled a new wave of rock music into the mainstream. Three decades have passed since their debut release, yet Radiohead’s innovative sound has maintained an unyielding influence within the alternative scene. Their music not only graces record collections but also serves as an inspiration to aspiring bands across the globe.
Radiohead saw their breakthrough with OK Computer in 1997, a watershed moment in music history. Its intricate melodies, layered instrumentation, and introspective lyrics earned critical acclaim and reshaped the landscape of alternative music. The album’s themes of modern alienation, technology’s impact on society, and existential pondering solidified its status as a cultural touchstone.
Following OK Computer, Radiohead boldly stepped into uncharted territories with Kid A and Amnesiac. These albums departed from conventional song structures, embracing electronic textures, fragmented melodies, and surreal lyrical themes.
In 2007, they further revolutionised the music industry with the surprise release of In Rainbows, utilising a pay-what-you-want model that challenged traditional distribution methods. This bold move further cemented their status as trailblazers in artistic expression and industry disruption. The album’s ‘Videotape’ captured a dying man bidding farewell to his beloved on vintage videotape.
“We would have these days where there were big breakthroughs and then suddenly… no,” Thom Yorke told New Musical Express in 2007. “‘Videotape’ to me was a big breakthrough, we tried everything with it. One day I came in and decided it was going to be like a fast pulse-like a four to the floor thing and everything was going to be built from that. We threw all this stuff at it.”
During the recording process, Yorke also recalled how his attitude in the recording studio almost caused him to be removed entirely: “We were looking for something that had a real effect on us, an emotional impact, and that happened when we were doing ‘Videotape’ and I was semi kicked out of the studio for being a negative influence,” he explained.
Yorke added: “Stanley [Donwood] and I came back a bit worse for wear at about 11 in the evening and Jonny and Nigel had done this stuff to it that reduced us both to tears. It completely blew my mind. They’d stripped all the nonsense away that I’d been piling onto it, and what was left was this quite pure sentiment.”
