Song · Pablo Honey era (1992–93)
Faithless, the Wonder Boy
The B-side of “Anyone Can Play Guitar”, with a line Thom Yorke said was about getting even.
1992–93
the b-side
The archive first has it in Stoke-on-Trent on 21 October 1992, three months before it was released. In NME on 19 December Keith Cameron, reviewing a night in Islington, heard it as a weaker copy of the Everly Brothers' “Crying in the Rain”, and called Radiohead a feeble, spineless excuse for a rock'n'roll group.
The band told Curfew, the Oxford magazine, that they wrote it on tour, not long before. It came out in February 1993 on the “Anyone Can Play Guitar” single, alongside “Coke Babies”, and later on the Itch EP. The band insisted that its line “I can't put the needle in” has nothing to do with drugs, and Thom Yorke said the line was about revenge.
1993–95
a live favourite
Through 1993 it was in the set on thirty nights, and the 2003 version of this site remembered it as a favourite that year. After that it came out only now and then, and it was gone after Sapporo on 27 June 1995.
At the Ciné 3000 outside Nancy on 15 June 1993 Yorke had a different explanation for the audience. He introduced it as a song about his favourite pair of jeans.
on stage
Live at Club Citta' 1994.· Nero Liveswatch on youtube →
the record(1)
on stage(2)
Live history
| Times played | 41 shows |
|---|---|
| Live debut | Wednesday 21 October 1992 · Stoke-on-Trent |
| Last played | Tuesday 27 June 1995 · Sapporo |
Nights played include broadcasts; opened and closed count gigs only. A cancelled night has no setlist. All setlist stats →
Tabs (1)
sources5
- The site's own catalogue note, based on fan archives.
- Keith Cameron, live review, NME, 19 December 1992, for the Everly Brothers and his verdict on the band.
- Curfew, issue 24, February 1993, scan on the Internet Archive, for the band on writing it on tour.
- treefingers.com, the 2003 lyric page for “Faithless, the Wonder Boy”, for the Itch EP, the needle line, the live favourite and the jeans.
- The site's live archive, for every date.