A Short History of Radiohead and Letterman

On August 29, 1997, Radiohead played "Karma Police" to promote their new album "Ok Computer" - their first appearance on Letterman.

Big deal for me since Radiohead were my favorite band and the "Late Show" was my favorite TV show. That's why it always pained me that Radiohead hated either Letterman or his show, at least that's the impression I got.

Rewind back a few days earlier - August 26, 1997 - playing the Hammerstein Ballroom, and before playing "Karma Police, Thom remarks, "In two day's time, we have to do this song on a TV show called 'Mr. Letterman'... bullshit." That's it, simple and concise. Perfectly cryptic: no reasons listed, no explanation given.

Then we move forward to the day of the appearance. At the soundcheck on the Late Show, documented in the film "Meeting People is Easy." Thom tells the sound booth, "Twenty minutes to rehearse spinning a wheel and we don't get five minutes to play the fucking guitar?" Later, offstage he complains, "There [was] a guy on stage giving us shit." What he says after that has never been clear to me and the exact nature of the conflict is not explained to any degree that I can discern.

Fast-forward to 2003 and it's time to promote "Hail to the Thief." Radiohead go on the "Late Show" again to perform "2+2=5." The song ends and no handshake or communication of any kind.

Ah, but let's rewind to just before that... we gain more context by remembering the "Late Show" era we're in. This is during the period where Paul Shaffer is doing his James Brown bit. If you don't know, there was a running bit from 2002-2004 where Paul Shaffer would sing "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" in the style of James Brown, even to the point of falling to his knees, getting covered in a cape, ushered away from the microphone, before throwing off the cape and returning to sing. The bit was made more elaborate by having guest cape operators who were celebrities. The apex of the bit was  the time when James Brown himself came out to do the cape. The full song was only for the theater audience (played during commercial) but the TV broadcast would come back in time for the cape part.

So Radiohead are on stage waiting to perform "2+2=5" and are confronted by this bizarre ritual. And it probably didn't help that the cape person that night was CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer. I doubt they know who that is. I don't believe they appreciated the joke. I seem to recall someone saying so in an interview later but I have not been able to find the source so it may be my own hallucination. Nevertheless, I challenge you to look at the expressions and body language of the band and decide for yourself . And, again, after the performance they avoid shaking hands with Dave or even acknowledging him. Significant? Coincidence? Thom's a big Michael Stipe fan, perhaps he's doing an impression.

Apparently someone agreed with my assessment that something was going on and thought to submit a question about it to BBC Radio 1 in an interview a few months later:

Mark: Right, James in South Korea, says: I saw Radiohead perform on David Letterman a few weeks ago, and they seemed a little annoyed by the whole thing, was there a reason?

Thom: (laughs) I'll tell you why, man

Mark: What was going on there?

Thom: I'll tell you

Mark: Well do, yeah

Thom: In order for Mr. Letterman not to break into a sweat, he has the studio at sub-zero temperatures

Mark: Does he?

Thom: Yeah

Ed: Yeah

Thom: So our hands went numb (laughs)

Lard: Ahhhhhh!

Thom: So there you go

So maybe it's that innocent, laughed off as a joke. Radiohead are a very tough band to figure out, it remains a possibility that I may be overthinking everything.

1997 and 2003 are the only two times Radiohead performed on the "Late Show."

But ever since 1997 (or 1998), when I discovered the Hammerstein ballroom quote, I've been wondering "why the hatred?" One might look at "Meeting People is Easy" and just assume they hated the show because they had a bad experience there. But the key here is Thom was complaining about having to go on the show before he was ever on the show. Another possibility, then, it may be just a matter of: they hated doing television appearances in general and Letterman just happened to be in the way. I'm certainly open to that possibility, they probably don't like TV. But then, they've also done Conan's show, Leno, Jool's Holland, Stephen Colbert and "Saturday Night Live" and I've never heard them complain about those, show disdain or avoiding shaking hands with the host. In fact, on Leno and SNL, they seemed delighted.

Reddit had a thought that could connect the dots. In a thread speculating on who the song "Talk Show Host" was based on, a redditor points out that Radiohead were big fans of "comedian" Bill Hicks, even dedicating their second album to him and Bill Hicks was famously censored in his last "Late Show" performance before dying of cancer in 1994. If this is the cause, it would completely explain why they hated Letterman and resented having to do the show sight unseen. I personally don't think it's likely. Remember: this is in the days where the different sides of the Atlantic had completely separate spheres of entertainment and the internet was still very nascent. I doubt they even knew who Letterman was, let alone knowing about the behind-the-scenes censorship controversy. [Footnote: years later, Letterman would air the performance in full and apologize to Hicks' mother.]

Another possibility: it may be a matter of timing; the band was in a bad place at this point and things were only getting worse. According to Yorke in a Rolling Stone interview, the band's all-time low point would come only two months after their 1997 appearance. Bad timing, bad mood... maybe.

But that's the history of my favorite band "feuding" (perhaps) with my favorite talk show host. It's always bothered me and the "feud" is made all the more irksome because it seemed to arise without a cause. My best guess is that their disdain for doing the show was a combination of being a famously temperamental band, resenting having to do TV appearances and the particular timing of August 1997. But that's only a best guess, and not very satisfying.

Radiohead - Lift (Live at Pinkpop)

This performance, officially released today by the Pinkpop channel, is from 1996. From this time, it would be another 21 years before this song would be officially released. But the official release would be a disappointment, in my opinion, because the studio version can't compare to this one perfect live version from 1996. 

Of course, I wasn't a fan of any of the long-awaited releases ("I Promise", "Man of War") so maybe it's just me.

3 Songs for the Summer to Fall Transition

 I don't know what the weather is like where you are, and it's a fragile thing, but over here it's solidly in that hazy transition between Summer and Fall. Here are 3 songs that are comfortable at this time. Gotta stock up on apple cider.

Fazerdaze - Little Uneasy

Haerts - All the Days

 

Radiohead - Gagging Order

 

Radiohead - Million Dollar Question

 

Last November, right before Thanksgiving, I was laidoff from my job of 15 years. And at that time, and even until now, it didn't occur to me to listen to "Million Dollar Question." I don't know how it happened but I'm rectifying the oversight now. 

In the realm of Radiohead B-Sides, there's "Million Dollar Question" and "How I Made My Millions" and they're very different and not related. Always remember that.

Radiohead's Most Complex Song

Only recommended for Radiohead fans.

This business of time signatures and changing time signatures is mostly alchemy to me - it makes some sense but finer points escape me. Still, I found the video to be worthwhile.

Man Of War

I don't want to spoil it for anyone else but after nearly 20 years, this one feels like a disappointment. It feels like it was left unreleased because it wasn't finished rather than the usual reason Radiohead don't release songs: to torture people. Even with the editing, strange audio and distortion. I'll take the Meeting People is Easy version any day. Maybe that's nostalgia but it's the truth.

Radiohead - I Promise

Any time Radiohead want to do their best Roy Orbison, they are welcome to do so. In fact, I can't think of another combination that I would enjoy more. But, as this took 20 years to release, I don't expect it to happen very often.

Star Wars Episode V Title Sequence

In honor of the new Radiohead album, here's an "alternate" version* of the "Empire Strikes Back" title sequence.

Watch in full screen.

Star Wars - Episode V "The Empire Strikes Back" Homage (Title Sequence) from KROFL on Vimeo.

* None of the Star Wars films have a title sequence.

When Radiohead released the song "Spectre" for free on Soundcloud, the message they posted with it ended with "May the Force be with you." for no apparent reason. Funny.

IMDB 250 - Incendies (2010)

Incendies (2010)

"Incendies" is a Canadian film, filmed in the French language and set in Lebanon. As it begins, two twins are reading the will of their recently deceased mother. In the will she requests that they find their father and brother, both of whom they have never met. In order to track them down, they have to piece together the pieces of their mother's life which we experience in flashbacks.

If there was ever going to be a first scene that hooks me in, it would be this movie's. The film starts with basically a music video for the Radiohead song "You and Whose Army". I'm in. And then later on in the film, the song "Like Spinning Plates" makes an appearance.

Soundtrack aside, "Incendies" is a pretty powerful film with an extremely clever story. One scene in particular I found to be extremely powerful and the ending is quite a twist. It reminds of a modern day "Dr. Zhivago" in the way it cuts to the past to reconstruct a person's life, shows the devastating effects that world events have on the lives of average people and the fact that the ending delivers such an emotional punch.

8/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 374.

Late Night - Radiohead

Last night Radiohead was the musical guest on "Late Night". I'm obviously a big fan but if there's a band out there that's capable of making more delicate and beautiful songs than this, please let me know, because I know of none...

New Press Photo

Sure, we don't want this to become a Radiohead Fan Blog but, uhhhhh....

So anyway a new press photo of the band was released! Desperate for hints and clues as to the new album as we are, this counts as major news (for now).

Here it is:

[Note: The photo contains 3 invisible ponies.]

Now THAT is a sweet photo. Judging by it, I'd say the new album is going to sound like The Band's self-titled album. Yaaaaay! Or perhaps Neil Young's Harvest album. Yaaaayy! Or maybe it'll be like "The Wild Wild West" soundtrack. Oh, BOOOO! Or maybe My Morning Jacket's new album that isn't released yet. Cool? I guess maybe this has become an entire genre of band photo. But still it's good.

Here Comes the Limb King

The eighth Radiohead album "The King of Limbs" is available for pre-sale now and will be downloadable this Saturday, February 19th 2011.

Its gonna be HUGE, Conan. I've officially been waiting on this album for 4 (calendar) years and after not a hint, not a suggestion, not a word, it's all of the sudden going to be OUT in 5 days. WOW. Their previous album, "In Rainbows" was announced 10 days before it was released. I wish they didn't do things this way. If they would have only announced it two months ago, I would have had something to look forward to for those two months. Instead, it's 4 years... BAM, NOW!

And along the lines of the "no info" front. Little to nothing is known about this album, not even the tracklisting or how many tracks there are. Although the Japanese are saying it's got 8 songs. That would seem low and I don't think that's correct. There were some tracks that have been played live and not yet recorded but there always are. Furthermore, those tracks that ARE known were only played acoustically or with guest musicians so that's not much help. I'm rooting for "Big Boots" or "Follow Me Around" to finally land a spot.*** All in all, I'd venture to say this is the least I've known going into any Radiohead album, ever.

The album purchase is available in two varieties: download only (wav or mp3) or "newspaper album" which comes with the download as well as two vinyl records, the CD, the ability to download everything and tons of artwork. There's been a lot of speculation as to what "newspaper album" means.... Ok, there's been almost no speculation and what little there is has been ridiculous. I would speculate that it's one of two things: 1) An expression of the nature of the artwork (ie. the artwork will be arranged like a newspaper or 2) All of the materials will be recyclable/biodegradable like a newspaper. Radiohead, after all, are known for being super eco-friendly and that would be the kind of thing they would brag about.

Ok, as speculation goes, this probably isn't the most exciting stuff, but that's all I got.

I should say also that I don't like the title... "The King of Limbs". Reminds me of Kings of Leon (it actually comes from a tree (much like a newspaper! mMM!)). But I'm taking that as a possibly good sign. After a 3 year wait in 2000, the new album "Kid A" was announced and I didn't like THAT title because it reminded me of Kid Rock. And that album turned out PRETTY good.

*** Denotes an old-timey, hardcore-fan reference to songs that will probably never see the light of day. Ha ha? But really, I do love those non-songs.

Top Ten Album Easter Eggs

Cracked.com has a really interesting article about the top ten album easter eggs.

Read it here.

For me, the most mind-blowing one is #6 Aphex Twin though he loses points for the fact that the song, on a surface level, sucks.

Of particular interest - and the reason I found the article in the first place - are #9 and #8. #9 is real (obviously) and I've known about for a long time. I even bought two copies of the album just so I could ruin one by opening the back of the CD case. It wasn't strictly necessary - getting to the booklet didn't have to mean ruining the case - but it turned out to be a good idea because I cracked a giant chunk of plastic off.

#8 is really intriguing and I'll be checking out that "combined" album soon but I have to regard it as the same as the Dark Side of the Moon / Wizard of Oz thing (which I also checked out by the way (summer vacations were awesome)). There are hugely suspicious coincidences that lead you down the path of "clues" but it IS only coincidence. The quote in the article where a "source close to the band" says that they can't believe it's taken the public this long to figure it out is rubbish. It's hard enough writing good music, it's hard enough producing good music and making a compelling album, you can't expect artists are going to add some hugely complicated extra parameter for themselves that they have to overcome like syncing to a movie.

I think most conspiracy theories start off for the exact same reason. In fact, there ACTUALLY people who still believe Paul McCartney is dead. THAT... is depressing. Still, I find this kind of thing interesting at least.

Classic Roots Choice #22

Usually these posts are for obscure or clever choices of song for a particular guest's walk-on music. This one's a bit different. This is about kicking-to-commercial music.

The Roots covered "Everything in its Right Place" from Radiohead's epic "Kid A" album.

It looked and sounded like this:

"But wait a minute", you say incredulously, "It goes to commercial so you only get to see a few seconds of it". Your point being? Those two seconds were the most exciting two seconds of my terrible day.

Ed. Note: Relistening to the original now to verify the youtube link and, 10 years later, it still sends me back to the first time I heard it. That is a trip. The song is a trip in itself, but that's a trip on top of the original trip. That's what I call "Double Tripulature". There's also "Triple Tripulature" but people don't generally survive that. Don't forget to trip your waitress.

AT THE SAME TIME...

Probably my favorite moment in the classic "This is Spinal Tap" (or one of my favorite moments) is when we see a showcase of one of Nigel's guitar solos:

His playing of two guitars at the same time and then the playing of the guitar with the violin exemplifies everything that it could.

It's attacking the pompous AND the mindless, the "rock as art" AND the "rock as throwaway" all at once. It speaks to ambition and ego and, in short, it's an exact mockery of the entire ROCK AND ROLL mindset (note: that's "rock and roll" in caps).

And by the way my favorite moment in particular is when Nigel suddenly notices the violin isn't quite in tune to his liking and has to fix it.

[As an aside, I have to believe, though there is no proof, that the violin is picked as a reference to Jimmy Page who would sometimes play his guitar with a violin bow. If Jimmy Page can play a guitar with a bow, Nigel Tufnel can play a guitar with a violin.]

Having said that, and looking at how playing two instruments at the same time can be stupid, let's face it, playing two instruments at the same time is generally awesome. I'd love to play ONE instrument at all let alone be able to play multiple.

Which brings me to Johnny Greenwood (guitarist Radiohead) and a video I just rediscovered recently. Greenwood is an extraordinary musician. He's a man who can can play virtually any instrument (or any object that makes some sort of noise), he can compose and score music for orchestras and, of course, he can shread a mean guitar. In this particular live version of "Street Spirit [Fade Out]" he plays both the guitar and the keyboard. Beside the fact that this is impressive by definition, this isn't all that impressive: that is the song is quiet, ethereal and open, there isn't that "100 miles a second" playing on either instrument that turns it into "a feat". But towards the end of the song, the video shows something interesting: he's not just playing the keyboard AND the guitar, he's playing the keyboard WITH the guitar. Rock and Roll.

[Disclaimers: I regret the association between the two linked videos though I felt it unavoidable. I believe "This Is Spinal Tap" mocks everything bad about Rock 'n Roll while Radiohead represent all that is good. I also regret focusing so much on just the multi-instrumentalist portion of the video as it is a perfect rendition of a perfect song and I've probably distracted from it's pure beauty. I also wish to restate that the playing of guitar and piano in the displayed video doesn't represent any circus-trick level of musical prowess. I just think the idea is awesome in itself. In short, this whole post is a mistake and I can't find the delete buttonm. All rights reserved.]

Spring! Music!

The following songs are all songs that I emotionally and psychologically associate with Spring. The change of seasons, the warmer weather, the idea that there's still plenty of the school year left but the end is in sight - it's all here. ROCK.

If it's nice out listen to these songs whilst enjoying the sunshine. If it's not, listen and pretend it is.

Talking Heads - Nothing But Flowers

(The above takes me right back to my senior year in high school. I had ordered the Best of the Talking Heads CD online and listened to it a lot while making an entire website for a school project using Frontpage. Those were the days.)

Passenger - Walk You Home

(The above takes me straight back to 2007. That's probably to recent to reminisce.)

The Lemonheads - If I Could Talk I'd Tell You

(The above takes me right back to 1997 or thereabouts... it takes me there but whilst there I don't have access to a calendar. Ah, to be back in the '90s.)

Elbow - Scattered Black and Whites

(Takes me back to 2001. Working a summer job by day (I say "working" though it was really more like "surfing the internet and then leaving after 8 hours") and hanging with friends in the evenings.)

Radiohead - Maquiladora

(It's oft been said that Radiohead's B-Sides are better than other bands' A-Sides. S'truth. Takes me back to 1998. In those days there was a webpage with every Radiohead B-Side listed and each had a link to download the song right off the webpage. Those days are gone, eh? I went through the B-Sides endlessly while exploring the new "internet" and trying out new Winamp "skins".)

The fact that 3/5 bands have the word "head" in the title is completely coincidental. A different 3/5 are British. Also coincidence.

Peter Gabriel - Scratch My Back

I've lost track of Peter Gabriel in the period since John Cusack held a boombox aloft in "Say Anything" but he's come up with an interesting concept.

With his new album, entitled "Scratch My Back" Gabriel covers 12 songs by 12 different artists. Then, later, another album will be released of those 12 artists covering Peter Gabriel songs, entitled "I'll Scratch Yours". The main point of interest is the artists involved. Other than Peter Gabriel, you have names like David Bowie, Paul Simon, Talking Heads, Lou Reed, Arcade Fire, Radiohead and Neil Young.

Check out an exclusive preview of the first album here.

I'm a fairly big fan of some of his work with Genesis and his solo album "So" is a masterpiece in my opinion. However, I haven't heard much of his material since then and this is his first release in 8 years so I didn't quite know what to expect. My initial impression is that the style of the moment for him seems to be slow, dire, stark and dour. If you're looking for dark and atmospheric music this is probably the album for you. If you're not, it's not. From what I've heard so far, I'm not sure but I'm liking it. I wouldn't say any one songs stands out at this point but that's to be expected - it's the kind of thing that sneaks up on you slowly. I'll keep listening and see what I find. Anyways, I'm more looking forward to the second album - with all those artists it's bound to be an interesting treasure trove of interesting covers.

The rumormill is abuzz with what song each artist will cover. I've heard that Bowie isn't involved and it actually be Brian Eno who will do the response song (lame). The biggest mystery is exactly how the Talking Heads are involved as they have said things in the past that indicate that they'll never reunite.

They're a Garage Band... They Suck

For being geniuses in the studio, it does look like Radiohead are having a little trouble with their live set:

The best part is "Don't Stop Believing".

Apparently this is a new series/meme where [Band] Shreds [Song Title]. In my day "shredding" was good but I guess the new "hip" thing amongst all the kids is that it's bad. I don't understand the kids these days, what with their "8 tracks" and their "Leo Sayers".

See also: John Williams Shreds, Toto Shreds, The Mars Volta Shreds, Led Zepplin Shreds.

The Roots Don't Know Billy Joel, Learn Billy Joel

On Thursday Jeremy Renner was on "Late Night" to promote "The Hurt Locker". After mentioning that he sometimes plays/sings with a band, Jimmy decides to have him show off his musical skills. One of his favorites is "New York State of Mind" by Billy Joel.

Jimmy: Roots, do you know "New York State of Mind"?

[Shot of The Roots looking like deer in headlights]

Jimmy: I think we stumped The Roots.

[Shot of The Roots wracking their brains in silence.]

Jeremy Renner does a solo and The Roots accompany as the melody becomes clearer.

Back from commercial, Jimmy is still disturbed. "The Roots don't know Billy Joel? I can't even believe it. You guys are in so much trouble. You don't know any Billy Joel?" Some members point fingers at other members, others hang their heads in shame. One offers, "I know who he is!"

Jimmy and Jeremy play an intense game of Perfection. At the conclusion of the segment, as Jimmy throws to commercial, The Roots play "You May Be Right". They had learned and arranged a Billy Joel song in 4 minutes.

Follow Up: Friday - First guest: Kiefer Sutherland who plays Jack Bauer in "24". The Roots play "Captain Jack". Second guest: Kerry Washington who's in a Broadway play. The Roots play "Uptown Girl". They followed their embarrassing episode one day earlier with an All-Billy-Joel extravaganza.

This phenomenon is not unheard of in my life. In an interview once, a reporter asked Thom Yorke (Radiohead frontman) if he liked any Billy Joel songs. He thought for a minute but responded that he didn't know who that was. Then after some time had passed he said something like, "Is that the guy who did that 'it's still rock 'n roll' song? Yeah, I like that one."

Not knowing who Billy Joel is?! I guess it goes to show that sometimes some artists live in a plane of existence outside the realm that you and I live in.

In Legos

Last Summer I told you about how Radiohead had created their video for the song "House of Cards" (off of "In Rainbows") in a slightly unusual way. The entire music video was created without using a single frame of film, a single tape, nor a camera, nor a light (in the traditional sense). Instead, the entire video was created with 3D imaging devices. One, for the outdoor shots, works by rotating 64 lasers in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute. These devices wrote the real-time 3D data to hard drive, the data was then manipulated in various ways and then finally rendered as a digital video for the final product. And there it was - a filmless, cameraless music video.

The music video can be viewed here.

As a, sort of, "indy", "techie" thing to do, the resulting 3D data was released free to download on the internet at code.google.com/creative/radiohead. People were free to learn more about visualizations, develop there own, etc. Basically the public was given the raw data, to do whatever they wished with it and encouraged to make and share their own videos.

Here's where it gets unusual. I just saw one of the resulting videos today:

In case you missed it, someone has, "frame by frame" (heh), actually modeled the 3D data in lego form. SPROING! WHAT IN THE WORLD?! Absolutely amazing.

Also on the topic of stop motion videos, I found this related video which I really thought was well done.

Not quite the same time sink though, I'd of thought.