I wonder what sort of fomative influence the Smiths and Joy Division exerted on Radiohead? From the two 2007 clips below of Radiohead covers of the Smiths’ “The Headmaster Ritual” and Joy Division/ New Order’s “Ceremony” the joy in playing these songs is apparent, at least for Thom Yorke. I’ve got to say that I’d forgotten how catchy a pop song the Smiths tune is, and those Morrisey yodels in the chorus are tailor-made for Yorke.
I suppose the thing to do here would be to compare and contrast — on Ceremony Radiohead’s drummer is less febrile than Joy Division’s Steve Morris, Morrisey’s miserabilist irony vs Yorke’s more broken-up keen. But just enjoy – Radiohead are having a lot of fun here, and what great songs to reprise.
March 5, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Thanks for this. I was lucky to be exposed to The Smiths when I was in undergrad in the late eighties. They didn’t have the effect on me that say, Kraftwerk did, but my first couple of years of undergrad wouldn’t have been the same without them.
March 7, 2009 at 12:42 am
Glad you enjoyed the Smiths cover. I like the rawness of Radiohead in the studio, almost like they’re performing for themselves.
I was fairly late to Kraftwerk, although I can now see that their influence was all over some of the bands and songs I liked in the 1980s. I’ve read somewhere that Kraftwerk were inspired by the Ramones: they wanted to have a monolithic image and sound like the Ramones. There’s some strange networks of influence in pop music.
How is your book on hip-hop going?