![\"Radiohead](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Radiohead-2000-Far-Out-Magazine-1-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Radiohead \/ Tom Sheehan)<\/p>\n
Thu 1 January 2026 8:00, UK <\/p>\n
Before Radiohead<\/a> burst through the mainstream with their downtrodden lament on \u2018Creep\u2019, they were private school boys at the Abingdon School in Oxfordshire and, naturally, found a safe haven in their school\u2019s music department.<\/p>\n Colin Greenwood and Thom Yorke were in the same year, while Ed O\u2019Brien was a year above; Philip Selway preceded him. The youngest of the group, Colin\u2019s brother Jonny<\/a>, was three years below his brother and Yorke and the last to join, but he rounded out the lineup that became known as On a Friday in 1985. <\/p>\n Their music teacher exposed the young musicians to an array of influences: film scores, jazz music, postwar avant-garde music and 20th-century classical music. They would continually retreat to the music department in an escape from their school\u2019s strict rules, even if it meant getting fined for using a rehearsal room on a Sunday. They simply wanted to play together, by any means necessary.<\/p>\n During these early days, Yorke assumed the role of principal songwriter, though each member contributed songs in \u201ca collective angle,\u201d as Colin remarked to The Irish Times<\/a>, continuing, \u201cAnd if you could contribute by having someone else play your instrument, then that was really cool.\u201d <\/p>\n In 1991, they produced an early demo cassette with the unofficial title of Manic Hedgehog and, on the strangely-named tape, versions of songs that would later appear on their debut album, 1993\u2019s Pablo Honey<\/a>, were featured, including \u2018I Can\u2019t\u2019, an often-forgotten tune.<\/p>\n \u2018I Can\u2019t\u2019 is similar, lyrically, to the likes of \u2018Creep\u2019, as Yorke condemns his \u201cstrange and creeping doubt\u201d that compelled him to blurt out words that he would much rather have the listener forget. \u201cIt keeps rattling in my cage,\u201d he warns, \u201cAnd there\u2019s nothing in this world will keep it down.\u201d The repeated broken promise of \u201cEven though I might, even though I try, I can\u2019t,\u201d is contrasted with an upbeat tone, bearing a strong resemblance to Dinosaur Jr and their formative American alternative sound. <\/p>\n Upon hearing Manic Hedgehog, Chris Hufford, a local producer, and his business partner, Bryce Edge, became the band\u2019s managers, getting them signed with EMI in 1991. On a Friday became Radiohead, named for the Talking Heads song \u2018Radio Head\u2019, and set forth in recording. <\/p>\n Having the idea to establish Radiohead with American producers and tour in the States, before garnering a following in the UK, Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade stepped in. Having worked with the Pixies and Dinosaur Jr, they were met with irony when it came time to work on \u2018I Can\u2019t\u2019, a song that stubbornly refused to cooperate with their vision. <\/p>\n \u201cWe could never get it at the right speed,\u201d Kolderie told Q magazine, \u201cI wanted it to be faster, and everyone else wanted it to be slower, and we went back and forth. I had high hopes for that one, and I don\u2019t think it panned out that well.\u201d Eventually, they chose Radiohead\u2019s original demo version to appear on Pablo Honey. <\/p>\n