Radiohead's press office issues a new biography and discography

Hall Or Nothing, the independent firm in west London that handles Radiohead's press in Britain, has sent out a new biography and discography of the band, marked January 1996. The biography says “Creep” was taped by accident. The band were recording their next EP and played it as a warm-up, not knowing the tape was running, and that one take is the record. The crunch of guitar before the chorus is Jonny Greenwood trying to spoil a song he did not like at first.

The line-up credits Ed O'Brien with “polite” guitar and Jonny with “abusive” guitar.

The biography makes the case for a band the radio has ignored. It says only two of their singles have been playlisted in three years, and that “Lucky” got no daytime play anywhere except XFM and two local stations in Scotland. It says advance tapes of The Bends drew more than 70 journalists from around the world to a homecoming show at the Oxford Apollo early last year. It also says the album made the last 12 for the Mercury Prize but not the shortlist of 10. The winners, Portishead, said on Radio 1 that The Bends should have won.

Pablo Honey, by the press office's count, has sold well over a million copies worldwide, and has gone gold in Britain and, since September, platinum in America.

The biography ends with “Street Spirit (Fade Out)”, due on 22 January, after which the band take a holiday from a year of touring.

The biography quotes Michael Stipe on stage in Israel last August, at the show that closed the European leg of R.E.M.'s tour.

There aren't many things that scare me, but Radiohead, are so good they scare me

Michael Stipe¹

UK singles and EPs, as the bio lists them