Radiohead

Radiohead
Radiohead is a famous rock band from Oxford Shire, England. It has released seven albums and total sale crosses over 23 million till date. The band is comprised of members like Thom York, Johnny Greenwood, Ed Brian, Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway.

They had released their first ever single in 1992 and their debut album came into the market in 1993. Its name was Pablo Honey, which had a worldwide hit named Creep'. Their first single got them critical as well as commercial success all over the United Kingdom, which was further strengthened with the release of their second album The Bends in 1995. Their later release named OK Computer was a worldwide hit and proved to be the mega blockbuster of the 90's era.

Radiohead's later releases like the KID A in 2000 and Amnesiac in 2001 took them to the further level of fame and fortune. Although their later albums got a mixed kind of opinions from audience and critics as there was too much of experimentation with the electronic music, Jazz and Krautrock. Their album Hail to the Thief in 2003 had a bend of guitar and other electronic instruments and there was a change in the lyrics of it too. They broke up with their recording company EMI and consequently their seventh album In Rainbow has been released on their official website and customers can easily select the numbers by paying the price online.

Formation and first years (1986-1991)
The musicians of the Radiohead team were from the same Abingdon School. They used to study in different classes with one or two year difference. They decided to form a band named On a Friday based on the fact that they used to rehearse for the music on every Friday. They displayed their talent publicaly for the very first time at Oxford's Jericho Tavern in 1986.

The senior members of the band left the school to study in the university but still thay met omn almost every weekend for the rehearsals. In 1991 they started performing live gigs in and aroud Oxford but very soon thay felt that their university time had made them unfit for the trends in the area.

As their performances with the name As on Friday began to increase and lot of producers and recording companies seemed to be interested in hiring them. Chris Hufford was the co- owner of the Oxford's Courtyard Studios; he had a chance to attend the band's live performance. He was greatly impressed by the talent of it, made a demo tape and offered his services as a manager of the band. Due to a chance meeting of Colin Greenwood with an EMI representative in a shop, the band got a six album contract with the company in the late 1991. It was on the request of EMI that the Band changed its name to Radiohead due to an inspiration from the song Talking Heads.

Changing Roles
Radiohead's music has evolved in a series of steps due to the differences in the tastes and backgrounds of the band members. Greenwood is the only members, who is classically trained and he has an additional quality of playing many kinds of instruments like banjo, viola harmonica etc. He has also arranged the orchestration of many of Radiohead's songs. The other member York , once a DJ in the Exeter University is the most influential member of the band. He likes to play a produce a digital or techno style of music. He loves to produce music on computer as compared to guitar.

York has commented on his state of dominance in the band by saying that they operate like UN and his role is that of America. Regardless of the positions, comments and jokes it is quite clear that song wring is a duty which has to be performed by every band member and this is the reason that every song is an official credit to the Radiohead. Since the band has a shift in the band's music from rock to the instrumental side. Each member has the choice and flexibility to change the sound according to the song. They have a chance for more experimentation with the instruments as admitted by the leading member York.

Collaborators
This bear logo was a collaborative effort between Stanley Donwood and Tchock (Thom Yorke) for the purpose of advertising Kid A.

The band has a good reputation of maintaining a working relationship with its producer and enginreer, It gives a great importance to its graphic artist Stanley Donwood. Godrich, who made his name with Radiohead, working with the band ever since The Bends, and as co-producer ever since OK Computer. He if often called as the sixth member of the band. Donwood, is a name of another ongtime associate of the band, has produced all of Radiohead's album covers and visual artwork since 1994. He often works directly with Yorke, whom he met at art school. His graphics work with the band comprises of oil paintings, computer-generated imagery, collage and antique posters, as well as work on the band's official web site. Together with Yorke, Donwood won a Grammy in 2002 for a special edition of Amnesiac packaged as a library book.[68]

Other collaborators include Graeme Stewart, Dilly Gent, and Peter Clemens. Stewart has been Radiohead's sound engineer since their Kid A/Amnesiac sessions. He has also engineered Johnny Greenwood's and Yorke's respective solo albums Body Song and 'The Eraser'.

Gent has been responsible for commissioning all Radiohead music videos since OK Computer, working with the band to find a director suitable for each project.[71] The band's live technician, Peter Clemens, or Plank, has worked with the band since The Bends, setting up their instruments for both studio recordings and live performances.

Musical Influence
Keeping in view of the fact that the great popularity of Kid A and Amnesiac had brought to the band. It is working hard to get its earlier style on the British Rock Band, which is clearly shown with the works like OK Computer and The Bends. Surprisingly many music critics compared the sounds of the Radiohead with its contemporary bands. There are number of them influenced by the earlier works of the band, which is in itself a great tribute to it. In 2005, it was ranked in the 73 position in the Rolling Stone Magazine's list of greatest artists in history.