Editing Radiohead (section)

=== 1985–1992: formation and first years ===
[[File:Abingdon School, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England-23April2011.jpg|thumb|[[Abingdon School]], where Radiohead formed]]
The members of Radiohead met while attending [[Abingdon School]], a [[Private schools in the United Kingdom|private]] school for boys in [[Abingdon-on-Thames|Abingdon, Oxfordshire]].<ref name="MCLEAN">{{cite news |last=McLean |first=Craig |title=Don't worry, be happy |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=14 July 2003 |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/dont-worry-be-happy-20030614-gdgxei.html|access-date=25 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001040219/https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/dont-worry-be-happy-20030614-gdgxei.html|archive-date=1 October 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The guitarist and singer [[Thom Yorke]] and the bassist [[Colin Greenwood]] were in the same year; the guitarist [[Ed O'Brien]] was one year above, and the drummer [[Philip Selway]] was in the year above O'Brien.<ref name="AbingdonArchives">{{Cite web |title=Radiohead |url=https://archives.abingdon.org.uk/content/uncategorized/radiohead |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240821213232/https://archives.abingdon.org.uk/content/uncategorized/radiohead |archive-date=21 August 2024 |access-date=21 August 2024 |website=Abingdon School Archives |language=en}}</ref> Colin's brother, the multi-instrumentalist [[Jonny Greenwood]], was three years below Colin and Yorke and the last to join.<ref name="AbingdonArchives" />

In 1985, the group formed On a Friday, the name referring to their usual rehearsal day in the school's music room.<ref name="guitar-world">{{cite journal |author=Randall |first=Mac |date=1 April 1998 |title=The Golden Age of Radiohead |url=https://www.guitarworld.com/radiohead-interview-golden-age-radiohead |journal=[[Guitar World]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903205835/http://www.guitarworld.com/radiohead-interview-golden-age-radiohead |archive-date=3 September 2017}}</ref> The band disliked the school's strict atmosphere—the headmaster once charged them for using a rehearsal room on a Sunday—and found solace in the music department. They credited their music teacher for introducing them to [[jazz]], [[film scores]], postwar [[avant-garde music]], and [[20th-century classical music]].<ref name="ROSS">{{cite news |last=Ross |first=Alex |author-link=Alex Ross |date=20 August 2001 |title=The Searchers |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/08/20/the-searchers |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214053947/http://www.therestisnoise.com/2004/04/mahler_1.html |archive-date=14 February 2008 |access-date=16 March 2011 |newspaper=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref>

[[File:Radiohead Curfew advert.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Advertisement placed in the Oxford music magazine ''[[Nightshift (magazine)|Curfew]]'' announcing On a Friday's change of name<ref>{{cite news |date=13 March 2016 |title=Radiohead, Foals and 25 years of discovering Oxford music |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-33176717|url-status=live|access-date=14 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314074533/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-33176717|archive-date=14 March 2016}}</ref>]]While each member contributed songs in the band's early period, Yorke emerged as the main songwriter.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Randall |first=Mac |date=9 June 2023 |title=Philip Selway: Tidal Backstory |url=https://tidal.com/magazine/article/philip-selway-backstory/1-91629 |access-date=15 June 2023 |website=[[Tidal (service)|Tidal]]}}</ref> According to Colin, the band members picked their instruments because they wanted to play together, rather than through any particular interest: "It was more of a collective angle, and if you could contribute by having someone else play your instrument, then that was really cool."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2001/0915/01091500133.html |title=Taking Music To Strange Places |last=Kelly |first=John |date=15 September 2001 |newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=16 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012072827/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2001/0915/01091500133.html|archive-date=12 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> They played few gigs, and focused on rehearsing in village halls.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Graham |first=Jane |date=20 October 2024 |title=Colin Greenwood: 'I never let Jonny forget it was me that got him into Radiohead' |url=https://www.bigissue.com/culture/music/colin-greenwood-interview-radiohead-jonny-music/ |access-date=20 October 2024 |website=[[The Big Issue]] |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Oxford]] had an active [[independent music]] scene in the late 1980s, but it centred on [[shoegazing]] bands such as [[Ride (band)|Ride]] and [[Slowdive]].<ref name="KENT">{{cite journal |last=Kent |first=Nick |author-link=Nick Kent |date=1 June 2001 |title=Happy now? |journal=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]}}</ref> On a Friday played their first gig in 1986 at Oxford's [[Jericho Tavern]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Lucy |date=23 January 2014 |title=Colin Greenwood Q&A on Radiohead's first gig, independent venues and what the band's up to now |url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/colin-greenwood-qa-on-radioheads-first-gig-independent-venues-what-the-bands-up-to-now-774340 |access-date=1 February 2025 |website=[[NME]] |language=en-GB}}</ref>

On the strength of an early demo, On a Friday were offered a record deal by [[Island Records]], but they decided they were not ready and wanted to go to university first.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 – Desert Island Discs – Ten things we learned from Thom Yorke's Desert Island Discs |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/b7zfNZjlKBK3r8s9t9ldhx/ten-things-we-learned-from-thom-yorkes-desert-island-discs |access-date=23 September 2019 |website=[[BBC]] |language=en-GB}}</ref> They continued to rehearse on weekends and holidays,<ref name="ROSS" /> but did not perform for four years.<ref name="guitar-world" /> At the [[University of Exeter]], Yorke played with the band Headless Chickens, performing songs including future Radiohead material.<ref>{{cite web |last=Minsker |first=Evan |date=13 July 2015 |title=Rare footage surfaces of Thom Yorke performing 'High and Dry' with pre-Radiohead band |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/60375-rare-footage-surfaces-of-thom-yorke-performing-high-and-dry-with-pre-radiohead-band/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715025618/http://pitchfork.com/news/60375-rare-footage-surfaces-of-thom-yorke-performing-high-and-dry-with-pre-radiohead-band/|archive-date=15 July 2015|access-date=16 July 2015 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]}}</ref> He also met [[Stanley Donwood]], who later became Radiohead's cover artist.<ref name="EYE">{{cite web |url=https://www.eyestorm.com/artists/profile/Stanley_Donwood.html |title=Stanley Donwood |publisher=Eyestorm|access-date=29 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516152202/http://www.eyestorm.com/artists/profile/Stanley_Donwood.html|archive-date=16 May 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1991, the band regrouped in Oxford, sharing a house on the corner of Magdalen Road and Ridgefield Road.<ref name="Fricke-2012">{{cite magazine |last=Fricke |first=David |author-link=David Fricke |date=26 April 2012 |title=Radiohead reconnect |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radiohead-reconnect-20120426 |url-status=live |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317233858/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/radiohead-reconnect-20120426 |archive-date=17 March 2016 |access-date=15 March 2016}}</ref> They recorded another demo, which attracted the attention of Chris Hufford, Slowdive's producer and the co-owner of Oxford's Courtyard Studios.<ref name="Doyle-2008">{{Cite journal |last=Doyle |first=Tom |date=April 2008 |title=The complete Radiohead |journal=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |publisher=[[Bauer Media Group]] |volume=261 |pages=65–69 |issn=0955-4955}}</ref> Hufford and his business partner, Bryce Edge, attended a concert at the Jericho Tavern; impressed, they became On a Friday's managers.<ref name="Doyle-2008" /> According to Hufford, at this point the band had "all of the elements of Radiohead", but with a rougher, punkier sound and faster tempos.<ref name="Gilbert-1996">{{Cite journal |last=Gilbert |first=Pat |date=November 1996 |title=Radiohead |journal=[[Record Collector]]}}</ref> At Courtyard Studios, On a Friday recorded the ''Manic Hedgehog'' demo tape, named after an Oxford record shop.<ref name="Gilbert-1996" />

In late 1991, Colin happened to meet the [[EMI]] [[A&R]] representative Keith Wozencroft at a record shop and handed him a copy of the demo.<ref name="Doyle-2008" /> Wozencroft was impressed and attended a performance.<ref name="Doyle-2008" /> That November, On a Friday performed at the Jericho Tavern to an audience that included several A&R representatives. It was only their eighth gig, but they had attracted interest from several record companies.<ref name="Doyle-2008" /> On 21 December, On a Friday signed a six-album recording contract with EMI.<ref name="ROSS" /><ref name="Doyle-2008" /> At EMI's request, they changed their name; "Radiohead" was taken from the song "Radio Head" on the [[Talking Heads]] album ''[[True Stories (Talking Heads album)|True Stories]]'' (1986).<ref name="ROSS" /> Yorke said the name "sums up all these things about receiving stuff ... It's about the way you take information in, the way you respond to the environment you're put in."<ref name="Doyle-2008" />