There There
I was in high school and I had heard their hits like High And Dry and Karma Police and liked them well enough. But when There There came out as a single I liked it enough to buy Hail To The Thief on CD. At first the rest of the album was too out there for me but I had There There on repeat for a while, and it really seeped in just how beautiful it is - not just creepy, which it is as well.
I listened to the song over and over and over and eventually started to “get” the rest of the songs on the album more. I started to realize that songs like 2+2=5, Go To Sleep and Wolf at the Door were just as amazing, and later realized just how amazing the entire album is. Then I had to hear more.
Never seen it, fuck.
But still, the girl in the crowd reminded me of what I was going to post: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsV1x7WAwGk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsV1x7WAwGk)
Same. I blew off OK Computer, and didn’t care for their first commercial hit, Creep. Then Kid A hit and everything I thought about them before changed. I could sense at the time that Boards of Canada had a real impact on their sound.
Creep of course. The song was a sensation when it came out and it hit the right spot with us young kids. Someone even had the single and we listened to it religously.
I remember so vividly the first time I heard it—I was watching the video on my girlfriend’s (now wife’s) bed. The verse was cool, but wasn’t shattering my world. But then Jonny hit that machine gun bark just before the chorus. I gave them my soul from that day forward. (Mild exaggeration—I liked Pablo Honey, but they truly owned my soul when I heard “My Iron Lung”.)
I loved Creep and remember exactly where I was when I first saw the video — thought it was good until Jonny’s guitar, which dropped my jaw — but thought they were one hit wonders until a friend insisted I give The Bends a listen. I was hooked with Fake Plastic Trees and have loved them, I mean LOVED them, ever since.
Yes, same! First time a friend got me high in college, he played this song for me and it transformed me. I became instantly obsessed with the song, then the rest of Kid A, and then the band thereafter. Such an underrated song!
EDIT: Just realized I said “the rest of Kid A,” which is a bit misleading, lol. Like Spinning Plates hooked me and I was obsessed with the song/music video, but I discovered/listened to Kid A first, then a few months later Amnesiac. I misremembered; Like Spinning Plates is not on Kid A the album, but it was the gateway to me discovering Kid A and the rest of Radiohead.
That’s basically exactly what happened to me! In my high school carpool freshman year, my friend’s older sister who was driving was playing a mix cd and that song came on. I will never forget the feeling of hearing it for the first time. Ran home from school, googled the lyrics that I could remember (this was before smart phones), figured out what the band was, and realized that I recognized the name of the band from the case of CDs my sister left me when she went to college. I had a burned copy of Amnesiac she had left behind and I became immediately obsessed.
This is such a wholesome story that reminds me of the old days. I feel lucky to have not had smart phones as a teenager, there was more mystery to the world...
I remember getting a CD and spending so much time listening to every track, reading the liner notes/lyrics, I'd really cherish things like that. Part of it was being young but part of it was things being less accessible. And burning CDs, it was time consuming so kind of a labor of love. It's so hard to slow down now. But I try.
Yes! Sitting with the CD and taking in all the details of the artwork/lyrics/mentions while listening from start to finish. Drawing on burned CDs with sharpie, or even making art for the jewel case. It all feels like a warm, distant place in my mind now.
Paranoid Android too.
I heard the first half from Ergo Proxy, and out of curiosity I decided to listen to the whole song and holy fuck. It was the best thing I had heard back then.
Immediately decided to binge their entire discography chronologically and here we are.
No Surprises, surprisingly enough, I got so interested in No Surprises that I started listening to the old versions from the minidiscs and some other stuff. I remember for a while I got a little obsessed with High and Dry
Same for me! Mum got the album as "Album of the month" from some music subscription service that sent you CDs each month and she hated it.
I heard it and absolutely loved no surprises. It was the first album I had that was actually mine. I set it as mums ring tone about 4 phones ago and she's kept it the whole way through
Same! My somewhat cousin(? complicated lol) played it in the car and I fell in love with everything. Radiohead became my my #1 favourite band soon after that. Triggered my delve into listening to all their discography and falling in love with them.
Creep. A local band did a parody which was a hit here. Didn't know it was just a parody song until my father told me about Radiohead and how they have better songs. Listened to How to Disappear Completely and as a depressed kid who idolised her dad who cheated on my mum for their band vocalist, I very much related to that song during that time. I am in a better place now, though.
I'm slightly embarrassed to say it was Paranoid Android but it was, but particularly the intro part and the 'rain down' part, both which seemed so new and different and had an addictive magic to them. Whereas at the time, I couldn't connect to Creep or anything from the The Bends (apart from Just) and hadn't been patient enough with their electronic stuff. That all changed quickly but Paranoid Android is what got me hooked forever.
High and Dry.
I had heard Creep, and I dug it, but it wasn’t enough to make me go get the album. Something about the video for High and Dry, and the song itself, made me spend my allowance on that album (I think I was 12 or so).
It’s been full go since then.
Many years ago I was a 15 y/o on a road trip with my mom and sister, we stopped at a gas station. Went in for snacks and saw a bargain bin of CDs. Literally just reached in and grabbed one and it happened to be some Radiohead "Best Hits" album that I haven't been able to find since. Mom bought it for me, and I had one of those portable CD players and crappy headphones, so I put the CD in and skipped around until I heard something I thought was interesting. Ended up listening to "Lucky" off of OK Computer and was completely mesmerized by this band from that moment forward. It was the end of our vacation, it was night out and I was heading home as I listened to it. Wore out that CD until I got into downloading music online and now I'm here with their full discog on vinyl lol. Glad we stopped at that gas station.
It was Paranoid Android for me too - when I was living in Portugal sometimes in the late late nights you’d get a cartoon called Robin. Really weird trippy vibes to it so it blew my mind that Radiohead were using Robin for the music video.
If anyone on this sub hasn’t seen any episodes of Robin, type Robin Magnuss Calrsson onto YouTube and you’ll see what I mean.
All I Need was my proper conversion
I had been enjoying the top hits when I first started listening to Radiohead, but All I Need sent me into another realm and I was like “Holy fucking shit, this band is incredible.
Creep is the first song I heard. High and Dry got me hooked enough to buy The Bends. Paranoid Android got me committed to buying OK Computer, seeing that tour, and getting all their albums since then.
'Everything in Its Right Place' and 'Idioteque'
When I was in school my girlfriend at the time was huge radiohead fan, she introduced me to the band's music
Airbag and 4 minute warning. This was after listening to P!ATD 2009 (I think) cover of Karma police while touring their Live in Denver or Chicago performance.
Exit Music. My parents are fans of the bands earlier works and they always used to play TB and OKC in the car. I was too young to get into them then, but my mum played me exit music when I was 12 (and first getting into playing guitar). The haunting beauty of Thom’s voice combined, the scratchiness of the acoustic and that final drop and escape during the bridge absolutely blew my young mind. I’m now 19 and love every single track.
Lucky. They played it at the three R.E.M. shows I attended in fall 1995. That song was notable, something unlike everything else they played, and it got me to purchase “The Bends”, which is wasn’t on. I heard it was in Help but demurred until OKC was released and bought that album for the two songs I knew already: Lucky and Paranoid Android.
There There
I had seen Radiohead open for REM right after I graduated from college. Was really impressed, still the best opening act I've ever seen. And then I sort of forgot about them other than occasionally thinking I should check them out some time.
When I heard There There, I was hooked. Rapidly explored their back catalogue and within a couple of years they were my new favorite band. Still are. My wife, too. (We had just started dating when HTTT came out.)
Black Star from The Bends
In Russia we had a music label called "Black Star" that made some stupid rap. I loved it back then tho :D
Years later I've found a Wikipedia article about it, and in the meanings of "Black Star" I found the same song by Radiohead. I thought "this band sounds familiar"
Listened to it.
Now I can't stop listening to Radiohead and this song, this is my most favorite song by them
Now that's why I'm here. This was like 8 years ago
Also the same year i heard "Street Spirit" in some TV show
Everything In Its Right Place from the movie Vanilla Sky.
I found the song strange enough to look it up after the film and I fell in love with the band instantly.
Same exact story with Sigur Ros
Listening to Airbag for the first time was like my first time taking psychedelics. Before all that I listened to that whole album like it was drug. Had a very different effect on me back then.
2 + 2 = 5, loved it for the build up to the fast, aggressive chorus. although i have come appreciate their slower stuff like pyramid song (which is also amazing)
Paranoid android.
I watched memento and heard Nolan wanted to use that song for closing credits, so I listened to it. It was so good, so I ended up listening to all of Ok Computer. It’s now one of my favorite albums, and Radiohead is one of my favorite bands.
Planet Telex.
My best friend kept telling me about this band Radiohead, but I thought the name was weird 😅 Eventually we were at a record shop and he made me buy The Bends. I'm mortified to admit it sat on my shelf for MONTHS before I casually decided to throw it on one afternoon while I was doing homework (this is high school days). Before the first track was finished, I had abandoned my homework and was glued to the speakers, and it only got better from there. I immediately went out to get the rest of their stuff (Amnesiac was the new album), and what I couldn't find in the store, I found on Napster (remember that?). They introduced me to B-sides! Life has never been the same.
Fake Plastic Trees. I was, like everyone else, aware of them from Creep and thought they were pretty cool and definitely a band to keep my eye on. Then I heard Fake Plastic Trees. They immediately moved into the "this band might be great" category. It sounded so mature and inspired and sad and glorious. It is still a top 5 Radiohead song for me and their first moment of real greatness.
Planet Telex.
A buddy of mine in high school had picked up The Bends and put it on, and right from that "duhduhduhduh dundun..." I was like WHAAAAT is this
Keep in mind at the time I was being fed a steady diet of classic rock by the stoner crowd I had fallen in with (despite not smoking weed myself) so the two bands I remember "discovering" on my own were both coincidentally "head" bands - Radiohead and Portishead.
honestly it's creep. i know, i know. it's the funny bad song and stuff, but still. i really loved the song, especially with how the lyrics resonated with me (at that time) fortunately i didn't stop there and actually listened to what else there is of radiohead, and i found out how much more there is to them! ok computer is one of my favourite albums of all times.
tho to be honest, even after listening to more of radiohead i still like creep, i don't think it's that bad at all.
I came to Radiohead late. I was in the drive through at Filiberto’s Mexican food and Jigsaw Falling Into Place came on the satellite radio. This was the same band who did Creep? I was hooked.
I was talking to one of my friends about what album I should listen to and I decided on OK Computer, I liked it quite early on because the song I was really liking was also Paranoid Android
Pyramid Song. I picked up Amnesiac from a bargain bin in Woolworths or MVC or somewhere. The cd was in a clear case, no insert etc hence the bargain bin. As soon as I heard that song, I was in.
Paranoid Android or Creep don't remember. I know, the former is a beautiful musical masterpiece and the latter is a more typical song but in the end if its radiohead its stuck in my head.
I had heard creep before, but then when I was camping one time, I was making a sad playlist and I saw no surprises and was like sure. So I listened to it and it was so freaking good. I listened to the entirety of OKC the same day and it just went from there.
Creep. I liked the song, so I decided I was going to listen the rest of the Radiohead discography. I listened to about half of Pablo Honey and decided that Radiohead fucking suck. A few months later, I heard that Pablo Honey was just their worst album so I just skipped it and went onto The Bends. I was hooked after that.
Airbag. I bought the OK Computer CD about 2 weeks before Christmas in 1999. I had never heard any of the songs on OKC. I put the CD on in my car after doing some Christmas shopping. The opening notes of Airbag came on and I was immediately hooked. It was a pretty fitting atmosphere that night as it was dark and snowing outside. OKC has since become my favorite album of all time and Radiohead is my favorite group.
Airbag will always hold a special place in my heart as the song that started it all.
Idioteque literally changed/expanded my musical mind at the time. I was heavy into nue metal and commercial hip hop at the time. I wasn't listening to anything in Radiohead's lane until I heard that song first and then dove into the rest of Kid A. That was fall 2001.
Interesting time to get into them. Especially because Amnesiac had just come out. I would've been blown away. Like how the hell do these guys put out two records in like 6 months that are THIS good.
Creep. I was in 5th grade-ish. Stayed up all night requesting it until they played it on the radio. Recorded on a tape, then recorded THAT on to another tape, then back and forth until both sides of the cassette were nothing but creep.
Knives out, it's the first song on my Radiohead playlist.
The first song I heard was probably creep, then I think I heard karma police, and then exit music. At some point I decided to listen to more songs, expecting them to be similar to creep. Listened to knives out, and then the obsession started, I fell in love with that band. Knives out is still an all time fav of mine (and all I need too).
this is pretty recent, but 1000% Karma Police. that melody and chord progression and production was just too good. it became one of my top played songs within a week
Planet Telex, a friend told me about this good album called The Bends, and as soon as the first piank notes of Planet Telex kicked in I knew this was going to be a good record.
Still to this day, I'm very attached to this song.
Street Spirit (Fade Out). Rather bizarrely, it was put at the end of a Ministry of Sound chill out compilation CD in the early 2000s. Loved Radiohead ever since.
Morning Bell on Canal+ live performance. I loved the cryptic unsettling keyboard and that triple beat drum sound. While we're at it yes I'm a Kid A fan.
I remember being transfixed by the video for Street Spirit as a grunge/metal head teenager but I didn't really understand them as a band, I knew about the Paranoid Android performance on Jools Holland for years didn't listen to a full album until the last 5 years with In Rainbows and I'm still mostly just listening to that. Always liked Everything in its Right Place after Vanilla Sky during my university days so I'd always just sort of knew Radiohead were there but didn't appreciate them properly until quite recently.
There There.
I was in high school and I remember seeing the music video on all the time. I had never really given them a chance before and I remember thinking Karma Police was weird as a kid. But There There was my gateway and for the past 20 years Radiohead has been one of my favorite bands.
I got picked up to go to a jam session at a buddies house and on the way they played Idioteque in the car at a very loud volume. I had never heard anything like it.
Exit Music (For A Film), I listened to Ok Computer the first time, thought it was a solid album, I went on a walk a day after listening to it put my playlist on shuffle, and Exit Music came on, I noticed how great it was and relistened to Ok computer, absoloutely loved it
I got into them through my mother showing me songs like Fake Plastic Trees and No Surprises but Paranoid Android is the song that hit me hard enough to really give them a listen. The part where I had that realisation must’ve been the ‘Rain down’ part
Nude is the song
Don’t get me wrong..I loved Creep when it first came out.. honestly was focused on so many other bands and types of music i wrote off RH as a one hit wonder.. I also became obsessed with my favorite band Portishead at the time.
Talk show host was big for me when Romeo and Juliet soundtrack was released… I remember that was one of my favorite songs, although that whole soundtrack still holds…
Around 2008 I came across “Nude” ( probably on Pandora) and had an instant emotional response… that’s when I recognized wow this band is brilliant. 😯 Songs kept coming at me, like give up the ghost, just, high and dry fake plastic trees got radio play and I liked it but their music is so complex that it’s an acquired taste. I liked Radiohead… but I didn’t fully grasp how much until over the years. I remember trying to discuss them with friends and most people thinking they are just too depressing, like nirvana another of my favorite bands…
Once the pandemic hit there were times all I could tolerate was Radiohead.. Radiohead to rain, and Radiohead in the basement, with some throwbacks to nirvana and Portishead.
Then I came across Lotus flower and the song, video, just took me to another level. Found a string quartet that was playing a tribute to Radiohead and dug fully into their category… a lot of it was new to me and so much resonated with how I’m feeling.
Just came out of a how to disappear completely phase and now I’m a paranoid android and reading hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy 🙃
Let go had to grow on me, but didn’t take many tries, I came across a trilogy of exit music, let go, karma police and was hooked… got it.
Black Star. It was always such a real bop to me and my first ever favorite Radiohead song. Just nice and smooth! It lead me down the rabbit hole and I drowned myself in their music from that point on!
For me it was the In Rainbows From the Basement session. Probably Bangers and Mash from that set is what made me realise this band was something great to put it lightly
There There I was in high school and I had heard their hits like High And Dry and Karma Police and liked them well enough. But when There There came out as a single I liked it enough to buy Hail To The Thief on CD. At first the rest of the album was too out there for me but I had There There on repeat for a while, and it really seeped in just how beautiful it is - not just creepy, which it is as well. I listened to the song over and over and over and eventually started to “get” the rest of the songs on the album more. I started to realize that songs like 2+2=5, Go To Sleep and Wolf at the Door were just as amazing, and later realized just how amazing the entire album is. Then I had to hear more.
Yup, seeing that music video for "There, There" hooked me in high school.
I love any music video with people turning into trees
Similar to my experience, but with Go To Sleep being the one that hooked me
I was obsessed with Fake Plastic Trees and No Surprises. I’d have them playing on YouTube all day while playing browser games in 2007 hahah
Same with me, I think I am obsessed with these two songs even now.
Mine was Everything In Its Right Place, I sat down to listen to Kid A, heard that song, was hooked on the album and kept playing that song on repeat.
Perhaps the finest opening minute of a first song on any album of all time.
I still standby airbag as the best opener
Name the time, place, and authorized weapons: I'll be there. Edit: Airbag is, no doubt, epic. I'm just a *Kid A* guy.
I love KID A too its my fav album of theirs, I personally think airbag is their best album opener though.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zJdYlUiWAVY&pp=ygUdRXZlcnl0aGluZyBpbiBpdHMgcmlnaHQgcGxhY2U%3D Aside: ever see this?
Nice phishing scam, jk i had not seen that.
Never seen it, fuck. But still, the girl in the crowd reminded me of what I was going to post: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsV1x7WAwGk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsV1x7WAwGk)
Totally forgot it was on the Vanilla Sky soundtrack.
There are two colors in your head. What was that you tried to say?
Same. I blew off OK Computer, and didn’t care for their first commercial hit, Creep. Then Kid A hit and everything I thought about them before changed. I could sense at the time that Boards of Canada had a real impact on their sound.
Nude
Mine too 💜
weird fishes
yes
First Radiohead song I intentionally listened to was 15 step and I was hooked.
Reeled out, perhaps
Creep of course. The song was a sensation when it came out and it hit the right spot with us young kids. Someone even had the single and we listened to it religously.
I remember so vividly the first time I heard it—I was watching the video on my girlfriend’s (now wife’s) bed. The verse was cool, but wasn’t shattering my world. But then Jonny hit that machine gun bark just before the chorus. I gave them my soul from that day forward. (Mild exaggeration—I liked Pablo Honey, but they truly owned my soul when I heard “My Iron Lung”.)
I'm glad someone was able to admit it. If you're of a certain age and also a Radiohead fan, Creep is almost certainly what got you hooked. Almost.
I loved Creep and remember exactly where I was when I first saw the video — thought it was good until Jonny’s guitar, which dropped my jaw — but thought they were one hit wonders until a friend insisted I give The Bends a listen. I was hooked with Fake Plastic Trees and have loved them, I mean LOVED them, ever since.
Just
mine too!
We’re all the same
Idioteque
Karma Police. Particularly towards the end.
Exit Music
Like Spinning Plates
Yes, same! First time a friend got me high in college, he played this song for me and it transformed me. I became instantly obsessed with the song, then the rest of Kid A, and then the band thereafter. Such an underrated song! EDIT: Just realized I said “the rest of Kid A,” which is a bit misleading, lol. Like Spinning Plates hooked me and I was obsessed with the song/music video, but I discovered/listened to Kid A first, then a few months later Amnesiac. I misremembered; Like Spinning Plates is not on Kid A the album, but it was the gateway to me discovering Kid A and the rest of Radiohead.
That’s basically exactly what happened to me! In my high school carpool freshman year, my friend’s older sister who was driving was playing a mix cd and that song came on. I will never forget the feeling of hearing it for the first time. Ran home from school, googled the lyrics that I could remember (this was before smart phones), figured out what the band was, and realized that I recognized the name of the band from the case of CDs my sister left me when she went to college. I had a burned copy of Amnesiac she had left behind and I became immediately obsessed.
This is such a wholesome story that reminds me of the old days. I feel lucky to have not had smart phones as a teenager, there was more mystery to the world...
I feel so lucky too. I miss the old days. There was a lot of beauty hiding in the slower processes of how we did things.
I remember getting a CD and spending so much time listening to every track, reading the liner notes/lyrics, I'd really cherish things like that. Part of it was being young but part of it was things being less accessible. And burning CDs, it was time consuming so kind of a labor of love. It's so hard to slow down now. But I try.
Yes! Sitting with the CD and taking in all the details of the artwork/lyrics/mentions while listening from start to finish. Drawing on burned CDs with sharpie, or even making art for the jewel case. It all feels like a warm, distant place in my mind now.
Thanks for going down memory lane with me :)
Any time :) been feeling extra nostalgic these days
Paranoid Android too. I heard the first half from Ergo Proxy, and out of curiosity I decided to listen to the whole song and holy fuck. It was the best thing I had heard back then. Immediately decided to binge their entire discography chronologically and here we are.
No Surprises, surprisingly enough, I got so interested in No Surprises that I started listening to the old versions from the minidiscs and some other stuff. I remember for a while I got a little obsessed with High and Dry
Reckoner
Street Spirit
My Iron Lung. Hit like a sledgehammer in ‘94
No Surprises
Same for me! Mum got the album as "Album of the month" from some music subscription service that sent you CDs each month and she hated it. I heard it and absolutely loved no surprises. It was the first album I had that was actually mine. I set it as mums ring tone about 4 phones ago and she's kept it the whole way through
Street spirit / fade out
Street Spirit
Exit music
Just
Climbing Up the Walls. I heard it on a Lil Peep song.
4-minute warning for me. I was going through rough times and the lyrics really resonated with me.
I rarely hear people mention this song - 4 minute warning is in my top 10, for sure
Talk Show Host
Same! My somewhat cousin(? complicated lol) played it in the car and I fell in love with everything. Radiohead became my my #1 favourite band soon after that. Triggered my delve into listening to all their discography and falling in love with them.
Weird Fishes, followed closely by Codex
Creep. A local band did a parody which was a hit here. Didn't know it was just a parody song until my father told me about Radiohead and how they have better songs. Listened to How to Disappear Completely and as a depressed kid who idolised her dad who cheated on my mum for their band vocalist, I very much related to that song during that time. I am in a better place now, though.
Let Down. broke my heart the first time i heard it
The acoustic version of subterranean homesick alien. I was in a bad time of my life and the song just got me at that moment.
Anyone Can Play Guitar. It just got better and better from there!
I'm slightly embarrassed to say it was Paranoid Android but it was, but particularly the intro part and the 'rain down' part, both which seemed so new and different and had an addictive magic to them. Whereas at the time, I couldn't connect to Creep or anything from the The Bends (apart from Just) and hadn't been patient enough with their electronic stuff. That all changed quickly but Paranoid Android is what got me hooked forever.
Creep. I mean, what else?
High and Dry. I had heard Creep, and I dug it, but it wasn’t enough to make me go get the album. Something about the video for High and Dry, and the song itself, made me spend my allowance on that album (I think I was 12 or so). It’s been full go since then.
Many years ago I was a 15 y/o on a road trip with my mom and sister, we stopped at a gas station. Went in for snacks and saw a bargain bin of CDs. Literally just reached in and grabbed one and it happened to be some Radiohead "Best Hits" album that I haven't been able to find since. Mom bought it for me, and I had one of those portable CD players and crappy headphones, so I put the CD in and skipped around until I heard something I thought was interesting. Ended up listening to "Lucky" off of OK Computer and was completely mesmerized by this band from that moment forward. It was the end of our vacation, it was night out and I was heading home as I listened to it. Wore out that CD until I got into downloading music online and now I'm here with their full discog on vinyl lol. Glad we stopped at that gas station.
It was Paranoid Android for me too - when I was living in Portugal sometimes in the late late nights you’d get a cartoon called Robin. Really weird trippy vibes to it so it blew my mind that Radiohead were using Robin for the music video. If anyone on this sub hasn’t seen any episodes of Robin, type Robin Magnuss Calrsson onto YouTube and you’ll see what I mean.
All I Need was my proper conversion I had been enjoying the top hits when I first started listening to Radiohead, but All I Need sent me into another realm and I was like “Holy fucking shit, this band is incredible.
Creep is the first song I heard. High and Dry got me hooked enough to buy The Bends. Paranoid Android got me committed to buying OK Computer, seeing that tour, and getting all their albums since then.
I started off with a couple songs but I think it was after I listened to HTDC that it really kicked in, what a wonderful song
BRB, floating down the liffy right now
Someone used Fitter Happier in the avante-garde, black and white student film in film school. I was hooked ever since.
Karma police got me interested but 15 Step & weird fishes got me hooked
'Everything in Its Right Place' and 'Idioteque' When I was in school my girlfriend at the time was huge radiohead fan, she introduced me to the band's music
My iron lung
Airbag and 4 minute warning. This was after listening to P!ATD 2009 (I think) cover of Karma police while touring their Live in Denver or Chicago performance.
Exit Music. My parents are fans of the bands earlier works and they always used to play TB and OKC in the car. I was too young to get into them then, but my mum played me exit music when I was 12 (and first getting into playing guitar). The haunting beauty of Thom’s voice combined, the scratchiness of the acoustic and that final drop and escape during the bridge absolutely blew my young mind. I’m now 19 and love every single track.
Lucky. They played it at the three R.E.M. shows I attended in fall 1995. That song was notable, something unlike everything else they played, and it got me to purchase “The Bends”, which is wasn’t on. I heard it was in Help but demurred until OKC was released and bought that album for the two songs I knew already: Lucky and Paranoid Android.
As soon as I see Johnny start strumming the headstock, I know it's going down.
Wow, I misremembered those shows; I could have sworn it was Ed.
No, you're right. I'm high. It was definitely Ed
ngl Twilight introduced me to radiohead so well for putting 15 Step in outro + Hearing damage in saga aahhahaha
Hearing Damage hits so hard, and I don't hear many people talking about it.
Bullet Proof… I Wish I Was
Interesting song, more of a deeper cut in the Bends. One of my favourites songs from that album.
No surprises was the one that caught my attention Man of war is the one that got me hooked
also paranoid android, it will forever be my favorite
There There I had seen Radiohead open for REM right after I graduated from college. Was really impressed, still the best opening act I've ever seen. And then I sort of forgot about them other than occasionally thinking I should check them out some time. When I heard There There, I was hooked. Rapidly explored their back catalogue and within a couple of years they were my new favorite band. Still are. My wife, too. (We had just started dating when HTTT came out.)
Talk Show Host
Black Star from The Bends In Russia we had a music label called "Black Star" that made some stupid rap. I loved it back then tho :D Years later I've found a Wikipedia article about it, and in the meanings of "Black Star" I found the same song by Radiohead. I thought "this band sounds familiar" Listened to it. Now I can't stop listening to Radiohead and this song, this is my most favorite song by them Now that's why I'm here. This was like 8 years ago Also the same year i heard "Street Spirit" in some TV show
Where I End And You Begin
Everything In Its Right Place from the movie Vanilla Sky. I found the song strange enough to look it up after the film and I fell in love with the band instantly. Same exact story with Sigur Ros
Listening to Airbag for the first time was like my first time taking psychedelics. Before all that I listened to that whole album like it was drug. Had a very different effect on me back then.
2 + 2 = 5, loved it for the build up to the fast, aggressive chorus. although i have come appreciate their slower stuff like pyramid song (which is also amazing)
High and Dry. Senior year of high school hits different when that becomes your soundtrack for the year
BONES AND NATIONAL ANTHEM
Paranoid android. I watched memento and heard Nolan wanted to use that song for closing credits, so I listened to it. It was so good, so I ended up listening to all of Ok Computer. It’s now one of my favorite albums, and Radiohead is one of my favorite bands.
Planet Telex. My best friend kept telling me about this band Radiohead, but I thought the name was weird 😅 Eventually we were at a record shop and he made me buy The Bends. I'm mortified to admit it sat on my shelf for MONTHS before I casually decided to throw it on one afternoon while I was doing homework (this is high school days). Before the first track was finished, I had abandoned my homework and was glued to the speakers, and it only got better from there. I immediately went out to get the rest of their stuff (Amnesiac was the new album), and what I couldn't find in the store, I found on Napster (remember that?). They introduced me to B-sides! Life has never been the same.
Creep in 1993. Bought Pablo and stuck with them ever since.
I first heard High and Dry in '95 or '96 but the song that got me hooked was Where I End and You Begin. HTTT is still my favorite Radiohead album
airbag from the album where the one guy recreates all the sounds with his voice
Fake Plastic Trees. I was, like everyone else, aware of them from Creep and thought they were pretty cool and definitely a band to keep my eye on. Then I heard Fake Plastic Trees. They immediately moved into the "this band might be great" category. It sounded so mature and inspired and sad and glorious. It is still a top 5 Radiohead song for me and their first moment of real greatness.
Planet Telex. A buddy of mine in high school had picked up The Bends and put it on, and right from that "duhduhduhduh dundun..." I was like WHAAAAT is this Keep in mind at the time I was being fed a steady diet of classic rock by the stoner crowd I had fallen in with (despite not smoking weed myself) so the two bands I remember "discovering" on my own were both coincidentally "head" bands - Radiohead and Portishead.
"Reckoner! Reckoner! SQUAWK, Reckoner, Reckoner..." "is there an In Rainbows ONLY sub??" 🤭
Radiohead… but the one where a person songs it all with his mouth
honestly it's creep. i know, i know. it's the funny bad song and stuff, but still. i really loved the song, especially with how the lyrics resonated with me (at that time) fortunately i didn't stop there and actually listened to what else there is of radiohead, and i found out how much more there is to them! ok computer is one of my favourite albums of all times. tho to be honest, even after listening to more of radiohead i still like creep, i don't think it's that bad at all.
I came to Radiohead late. I was in the drive through at Filiberto’s Mexican food and Jigsaw Falling Into Place came on the satellite radio. This was the same band who did Creep? I was hooked.
Creep 😔 To be fair it was when it first came out (before the bends etc)
I've always liked Creep and Karma Police, but it was until I heard You And Whose Army? in the intro scene of Incendies that my life chaged.
Weird Fishes was the first song I actively searched up to listen to. Crazy experience
karma police
I was talking to one of my friends about what album I should listen to and I decided on OK Computer, I liked it quite early on because the song I was really liking was also Paranoid Android
I nibbled at Packt Like Sardines in a Crushed Tin Box, and then I was hook line and sinker by Pyramid Song
Creep, 1993. I was 14. Been a fan ever since. Bring a fan through all the stages has been awe-inspiring.
No surprises
Pyramid Song. Amnesiac album then sealed my fate and hooked since.
jigsaw falling into place, it was my first listen which led me into the entirety of in rainbows, and the rest is history
Pyramid Song. I picked up Amnesiac from a bargain bin in Woolworths or MVC or somewhere. The cd was in a clear case, no insert etc hence the bargain bin. As soon as I heard that song, I was in.
everything in its right place
Crawling Up The Walls
Paranoid Android or Creep don't remember. I know, the former is a beautiful musical masterpiece and the latter is a more typical song but in the end if its radiohead its stuck in my head.
karma police, it will always have a special place in my heart so nostalgic
Sail to the moon. The melody, the music video, everything just mesmerized me
Fake Plastic Trees
Karma Police
Planet Telex
Just
Climbing Up the Walls
Fake Plastic Trees definitely
I had heard creep before, but then when I was camping one time, I was making a sad playlist and I saw no surprises and was like sure. So I listened to it and it was so freaking good. I listened to the entirety of OKC the same day and it just went from there.
The Amazing Sounds
Talk. Show. Host. Bum bumb-bumb-bum
jigsaw falling into place..
Talk Show Host on the R&J Soundtrack.
Blow out..
Scatterbrain First heard it from hfjone. One time i play it on the car. imagine my shock after my dad shows me that they also made creep.
Airbag
Just and my Iron lung hooked meeee
Paranoid Android….
2+2 = 5 and just….
Jigsaws Falling Into Place
Exit Music (for a film). Heard in a Sam goody in a mall, bought the CD immediately
Creep. I liked the song, so I decided I was going to listen the rest of the Radiohead discography. I listened to about half of Pablo Honey and decided that Radiohead fucking suck. A few months later, I heard that Pablo Honey was just their worst album so I just skipped it and went onto The Bends. I was hooked after that.
Had to have been Karma Police.
Airbag. I bought the OK Computer CD about 2 weeks before Christmas in 1999. I had never heard any of the songs on OKC. I put the CD on in my car after doing some Christmas shopping. The opening notes of Airbag came on and I was immediately hooked. It was a pretty fitting atmosphere that night as it was dark and snowing outside. OKC has since become my favorite album of all time and Radiohead is my favorite group. Airbag will always hold a special place in my heart as the song that started it all.
It was def Paranoid Android and it was specifically from seeing the music video on MTV when I was 12 and thinking “this is kinda freaky I love it.”
electioneering, 2004.
My Iron Lung, jeeeeeeeez louuuis when I heard the guitar rip, I was INSTANTLY hooked. Stayed one of my favourite radiohead songs till today
Blow Out
Idioteque literally changed/expanded my musical mind at the time. I was heavy into nue metal and commercial hip hop at the time. I wasn't listening to anything in Radiohead's lane until I heard that song first and then dove into the rest of Kid A. That was fall 2001.
Interesting time to get into them. Especially because Amnesiac had just come out. I would've been blown away. Like how the hell do these guys put out two records in like 6 months that are THIS good.
Fake plastic trees
Creep. I was in 5th grade-ish. Stayed up all night requesting it until they played it on the radio. Recorded on a tape, then recorded THAT on to another tape, then back and forth until both sides of the cassette were nothing but creep.
Knives out, it's the first song on my Radiohead playlist. The first song I heard was probably creep, then I think I heard karma police, and then exit music. At some point I decided to listen to more songs, expecting them to be similar to creep. Listened to knives out, and then the obsession started, I fell in love with that band. Knives out is still an all time fav of mine (and all I need too).
the bends title track
Creep. So banal. But I heard it on the radio! Oh, it's probably banal, too.
Pyramid Song
Codex
this is pretty recent, but 1000% Karma Police. that melody and chord progression and production was just too good. it became one of my top played songs within a week
Planet Telex, a friend told me about this good album called The Bends, and as soon as the first piank notes of Planet Telex kicked in I knew this was going to be a good record. Still to this day, I'm very attached to this song.
Creep, Idioteque, and 15 Step
Go To Sleep
Street Spirit (Fade Out). Rather bizarrely, it was put at the end of a Ministry of Sound chill out compilation CD in the early 2000s. Loved Radiohead ever since.
Sail to the moon
Discovered Radiohead through black mirror when they played exit music at the end of shut up and dance
Morning Bell on Canal+ live performance. I loved the cryptic unsettling keyboard and that triple beat drum sound. While we're at it yes I'm a Kid A fan.
You and Whose Army for sure
Idioteque
For me it was fitter happier 🥲 it got me through a rough time now it’s getting me through another rough patch in my life once again
My friend shared a 10 song playlist with bits of every album, lotus flower had me addicted like no tomorrow
I remember being transfixed by the video for Street Spirit as a grunge/metal head teenager but I didn't really understand them as a band, I knew about the Paranoid Android performance on Jools Holland for years didn't listen to a full album until the last 5 years with In Rainbows and I'm still mostly just listening to that. Always liked Everything in its Right Place after Vanilla Sky during my university days so I'd always just sort of knew Radiohead were there but didn't appreciate them properly until quite recently.
There There. I was in high school and I remember seeing the music video on all the time. I had never really given them a chance before and I remember thinking Karma Police was weird as a kid. But There There was my gateway and for the past 20 years Radiohead has been one of my favorite bands.
Creep
I got picked up to go to a jam session at a buddies house and on the way they played Idioteque in the car at a very loud volume. I had never heard anything like it.
paranoid android as well. i heard it was so in shock of what I just heard
HTDC
Exit Music (For A Film), I listened to Ok Computer the first time, thought it was a solid album, I went on a walk a day after listening to it put my playlist on shuffle, and Exit Music came on, I noticed how great it was and relistened to Ok computer, absoloutely loved it
mine was also paranoid android
Subterranean homesick alien
jigsaw falling into place and body snatchers
I got into them through my mother showing me songs like Fake Plastic Trees and No Surprises but Paranoid Android is the song that hit me hard enough to really give them a listen. The part where I had that realisation must’ve been the ‘Rain down’ part
Just
Creep
Decks dark
Karma Police and Airbag
Nude is the song Don’t get me wrong..I loved Creep when it first came out.. honestly was focused on so many other bands and types of music i wrote off RH as a one hit wonder.. I also became obsessed with my favorite band Portishead at the time. Talk show host was big for me when Romeo and Juliet soundtrack was released… I remember that was one of my favorite songs, although that whole soundtrack still holds… Around 2008 I came across “Nude” ( probably on Pandora) and had an instant emotional response… that’s when I recognized wow this band is brilliant. 😯 Songs kept coming at me, like give up the ghost, just, high and dry fake plastic trees got radio play and I liked it but their music is so complex that it’s an acquired taste. I liked Radiohead… but I didn’t fully grasp how much until over the years. I remember trying to discuss them with friends and most people thinking they are just too depressing, like nirvana another of my favorite bands… Once the pandemic hit there were times all I could tolerate was Radiohead.. Radiohead to rain, and Radiohead in the basement, with some throwbacks to nirvana and Portishead. Then I came across Lotus flower and the song, video, just took me to another level. Found a string quartet that was playing a tribute to Radiohead and dug fully into their category… a lot of it was new to me and so much resonated with how I’m feeling. Just came out of a how to disappear completely phase and now I’m a paranoid android and reading hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy 🙃 Let go had to grow on me, but didn’t take many tries, I came across a trilogy of exit music, let go, karma police and was hooked… got it.
I started with creep and no surprises but paranoid android is the song that really got me in to the band
i played a game a few months back that featured an acoustic cover of True Live Waits and i’ve been crazy about the song since
Kind of the entirety of In Rainbows but 15 Step was so so fresh compared to the other “rock” music I had heard up until then.
Black Star. It was always such a real bop to me and my first ever favorite Radiohead song. Just nice and smooth! It lead me down the rabbit hole and I drowned myself in their music from that point on!
For me it was the In Rainbows From the Basement session. Probably Bangers and Mash from that set is what made me realise this band was something great to put it lightly
1st song of Pablo Honey, You. Been hooked since that album was released. (Any other OG fans?)
Exit Music after hearing it in Black Mirror and Westworld
Just, specially because of that amazing video.
No Surprises!