“All the things you got,
all the things you need
I bought you cigarettes,
and pried the company
to come and see you, honey…”

-Radiohead – “Thinking About You”

Some time in the winter of 1994 I went to the RCKCNDY club in Seattle to see a new British band that had hit it big in the Autumn with their first American single,”Creep”. It was a good enough song, full of crushing guitars and alienation – surprising considering that the Brits’ contribution to rock lately had been cloyingly precious. And “Crush” had one of the catchiest choruses of the year:

“I wish I was special
You’re so fucking special
But I’m a creep,
I’m a weirdo
What the hell am I doin’ here?
I don’t belong here….”

I wasn’t expecting much from Radiohead live, just figured that they were the latest flavor of the month one hit wonder, and would put on a show of their hit and a few other weak songs. I certainly wasn’t expecting what I got that night at RCKCNDY – a wailing, grinding wall of sound led by mousey little Thom Yorke. Radiohead came to the home of grunge and floppy-haired, shoe-gazing Johnny Greenwood outchopped some of the leading axemen of the time – Mark Arm, Kim Thayil, Jerry Cantrell and Kurt Cobain. Yorke came to their turf and out-yowled the likes of Eddie Vedder, Chris Cornell, Layne Staley and Cobain. They were absolutely magnificent live, one of those rare live shows that sticks with you for decades.

In hindsight, one of the most amazing things about that show was that it was supporting what is almost certainly Radiohead’s weakest album, their debut “Pablo Honey”. To be fair if this record had been released by a lesser band, it probably would have been remembered as a pretty damn good record. But when considered against the rest of the Radiohead canon, “Pablo Honey” represents the first steps, a band finding its footing. It’s a natural predecessor to “The Bends” and to a lesser degree the masterful “OK Computer” with soaring guitar driven pop songs with only the occasional electronic meander. However, there are signs on this album – tracks like “How Do You?”, “Stop Whispering” and “Prove Yourself” – of the band that was to come that would wipe the floor with its peers – Verve, Suede, The Stone Roses, even Oasis. A band that, with “O.K. Computer”, would release arguably the best rock album of the 1990’s.

Which leads me to 6:30 this Sunday morning. For the first few weeks of our father/son musical journey, we did our listening early Sunday mornings while his mother got a lie in. But we’d gotten lazy and Z was beginning to recognize the pleasures of sleeping late on Sunday – and the advantage of bright eyed parents. For whatever reason, he woke with a rage in the pre-dawn hours this Sunday and Daddy took one for the team. “Pablo Honey” was teed up and while it didn’t soothe Z back to sleep and it wasn’t one of the records that gave him a little baby blissful look, but I know every word on the album and Zach still likes my singing. So we got there.

Radiohead, by the way, is back in a big way. If you, like me, were annoyed by their recent experimental albums then you may have been hesitant to buy their new record “In Rainbows”. In an incredibly trusting move, Radiohead allowed their fans to buy a digital version of the new record for whatever price they wanted. The plastic version is out now, and “In Rainbows” represents a return to form for the Oxford quartet. It’s not “OK Computer” and there is still more electronic noodling than I typically like, but the songs are structured and it establishes a groove that grows on you. I posted a song from “In Rainbows” the other day – have a listen.

Both “Pablo Honey” and “In Rainbows” are available from Amazon.

 
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