So, as you know, I am a pretty big Radiohead fan (not as hardcore as certain people I know, but I more fan than the average listener).
I was first introduced to Radiohead through, I think, Melody Maker. Radiohead came slightly before Britpop, and I remember "Creep" having a huge impact on me on MTV's 120 Minutes. By the time I saw them again doing "Anyone Can Play Guitar" on MTV Beach House, I knew I was hooked.
Prior to The Bends being released in '95, I was already working at KFSR 90.7 FM as a regular DJ and was offered the opportunity to interview the band (which obviously I jumped all over it). I had prepared all my questions for Thom or Jonny and had already memorized all the songs off The Bends.
Of course, needless to tell you, I didn't get either of those gents, but instead got Phil Selway.
We chatted live on the radio and obviously all improvised because all my prepared questions were useless. I do remember that Phil dropped the F-bomb, which was really funny because we could've gotten fined for that.
Anyway, so in celebration of In Rainbows, coming out via download very soon and a boxset in December, I have decided to talk about Radiohead deluxe packages. We're not talking about promos, these are deluxe versions of their albums that anyone can buy in stores.
This tradition didn't really happen until fairly recently - when sales started to slump, the record company decided it was a good idea to release a more expensive version for the fans. Which I thought was a great idea, because I rather have something special than a standard jewel-cased CD.
All the special packages started the release of Kid A in 2000. As with all the Radiohead artwork and direction, this specially designed hard glued 9 page children's book was by Stanley Donwood (and probably Thom Yorke).
The book contains paintings and a brief text on top.
With Amnesiac, this was a nice-sized hardback red book, complete with a library card and such. I thought I read somewhere that they actually wanted to use real pages from various books, but had changed their minds when it was critized that they were encouraging destroying books.
By the way, this special edition actually won a Grammy for "Best Recording Package".
Hail to the Thief was designed as a special fold-out map. This was actually pretty cool, but kind of worthless. Apparently, the poster is supposed to be a roadmap, referencing the Bush Administration's 2003 plan for peace between Israelis and Palestinians (but it just looks like a painted map to me).
10/05/2007 00:26:16
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