Capitol keeps faith with Radiohead despite modest US sales

Capitol has backed Radiohead more patiently than almost any major rock band of the decade, the New York Daily News says, likening it to the label's care of Pink Floyd 25 years ago. The sales have been uneven. Pablo Honey has sold 803,000 copies in America and The Bends 459,000. Six months after its release OK Computer stands at 372,000, though it has just earned the band Spin's Band of the Year.

Perry Watts-Russell, the band's contact at Capitol, says the label knew when The Bends came in that there would be no second “Creep”. So it led with “Fake Plastic Trees” to show the band were no passing act, and still paid towards four videos and three US tours. It helped that a new president, Gary Gersh, had fallen for the band at a Los Angeles show, and that the roster was quiet. If you don't have all your energy being absorbed by some band selling 4 or 5 million records, then you can focus on a developing band like Radiohead¹, he says.

Because Radiohead are signed to Parlophone in Britain and only licensed to Capitol, the big bills, videos among them, are paid from overseas. Capitol makes less that way, Watts-Russell says, but the company as a whole does well out of the band.

His first reaction to OK Computer was horror, until he played it straight through on headphones. That led to the promotion that sent the album to the press sealed inside Walkmans. The reviews and MTV followed, and a show at Irving Plaza drew Madonna, Courtney Love and R.E.M. The sales have not caught up. In the meantime, we'll just keep slogging away.¹