Man, I used to love Radiohead so much, it was almost sad. I think the bass line on "Airbag", the first track on OK Computer, is just about the illest bass playing ever. Such an unpredictable pattern. But then along came Kid A. I was so offended that I wrote the following letter to the editor of the local Oakland, CA weekly newspaper. It was printed, and was followed by what the editor later described to me as a "barrage of hatemail" directed at me. I thought I might share what I still think is a hilarious piece, even if it does fairly wreak of bitterness:
After being shepherded into the made-up confines of the Capitol Records building along with several dozen of my L.A-area-record-store-employee peers, in anticipation of hearing Radioheads new album, Kid A, for the first time, I found the truth laid bare before me. As my peers slowly made their way from the buffet table and booze bins to their seats, a Capitol stooge introduced the evenings menu to us: we were about to listen to Radioheads magnum opus, a piece in which the record company truly believed, a piece that would inspire us all
To play the album in-store. Capitol was sure the record wouldnt get salable press, nor radio play, so they were depending on us, the record store employees, the self-styled elite music listeners, to get the word out. As I listened to the album for the first time, though, the only word that came to mind was one that would be echoed by Gina Arnold in her review of the album: Dread.
As a statement of dread, the Radiohead album works perfectly: a coworker stated accurately the real meaning of the album when he said, Oh, poor Thom Yorke, it must be so tough to be rich
I think his joke hit the nail on the head: the dread that Radiohead feels, and the driving force of an album subsequent to the rise of the band to almost legendary status, is the dread that, as a success, its work cannot resonate with those people to whom so much of its success is owed.
Remember that the band originally arose as an English clone of Nirvana. Creep was a song about being a loser, just like Smells Like Teen Spirit. The movers in the Grunge scene gloried in being losers. They wore torn, faded, dirty clothes because they had to, but also because they liked to, as a badge, as a way of telling the world that they would not be winners; that they would refuse to give in to the demands of a society which demanded that, to win, one must look good, act properly and, most importantly, make the big bucks..
Kurt Cobain, as loser, did the only honorable thing: once the world started paying attention, once his act became mainstream and, thus, he ceased being a loser, he ended himself. He made himself a loser again. But it seems that Yorke and company are unwilling to make the sacrifice. So what do they have to sing about, now that they can no longer create music that is relevant to their core of fans, the losers who work at record stores? The discomfort of knowing that their time has come, that they are no longer relevant, as losers.
Which posits the question: can artists who pigeonhole themselves create a new identity? With Kid A, Radiohead has attempted to create identity-as-antithesis. Its members know, and the record company must know (or else it wouldnt have let losers like me spill booze on the floor of their fancy studio) that this importance cant last. Thence comes the dread: it is not a fear that rock is or should be dead (rock n roll died in the beginning of the 60s, pop died in the 70s, rock died when punk hit, et cetera and it is well beyond the scope of one band to herald its death, or to do it in) or that the world is somehow increasingly spiraling into an abyss of alienation of man from man (any Marxist can tell you that this has been happening since the first cash transaction: for wealthy, successful proles such as Yorke and co. to posit it, however, is disingenuous). Rather, it is the knowledge that their band is no longer relevant. Why does Yorke sing so sparsely, and so unintelligibly? Well, what is he going to moan about now, the cost of service for his Ferrari? how much heating his mansion costs?
All the wailing about is this really happening is just so much posturing from a band that charges upwards of $30 for concert seats. Its an old lesson, one that Kurt Cobain learned all too well, and one that Roger Waters outlined 30 years ago: you are what you eat, and, given the chance, rock is more than happy to eat itself.
Sorry about the length. I am long-winded!
L.A.Tronics,
The Boognish
