Abingdon School — Where Radiohead Were Born
Abingdon School in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, is an independent boys' school where the members of Radiohead first formed their band in 1985 under the name On a Friday. Guided by music teacher Terence Gilmore-James, students Thom Yorke, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Philip Selway, and Jonny Greenwood rehearsed in the music department. They recorded their first demo at the school in 1986 before signing with EMI in 1991.
Oxford, Oxfordshire · from the walk “Guitars, Campfires & Cropredy: Oxfordshire's Rock Pilgrimage” · audio ~3 min · Generated
Abingdon School, Park Road, Abingdon
- Radiohead originally formed under the name On a Friday at Abingdon School in 1985.
- Music teacher Terence Gilmore-James mentored student Thom Yorke and introduced the future band members to avant-garde music.
- The band recorded their earliest known demo at Abingdon School in 1986 featuring saxophonist Raz Peterson.
- After playing their first gig at Oxford's Jericho Tavern in 1987, the band signed with EMI in 1991.
Which rock band was formed at Abingdon School in Oxfordshire in 1985?
Take a look around you. This quiet school on Park Road... it doesn't exactly scream rock and roll, does it? But right here, inside the music department of Abingdon School, five teenage boys changed the course of guitar music Forever.......... It was nineteen eighty-five, and Radiohead — then just a group of schoolmates — formed their very first band right here in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. This was an independent boys' school. Thom Yorke and Colin Greenwood were in the same year, guitarist Ed O'Brien and drummer Philip Selway one year above... and Colin's younger brother, Jonny Greenwood, two years below.......... Now here's the thing. They called themselves On a Friday... simply because Friday was their usual rehearsal day in the school's music room. Not exactly a name for the ages, right? And get this — at one point, On a Friday even featured a saxophone section. Try to imagine That version of Radiohead.......... The band disliked the school's strict atmosphere — the headmaster once actually Charged them for using a rehearsal room on a Sunday. But there was one person who made all the difference... A music teacher named Terence Gilmore-James, who immersed his students in twentieth century classical music, avant-garde music, classic jazz, and film scores. Gilmore-James recalled young Thom Yorke as "forlorn and a little isolated," and said he was "not a great musician" unlike Jonny Greenwood, but rather a "thinker and experimenter."
...... Yorke himself once said the music department was the Only place where school was bearable for him.......... The earliest known demo recording of On a Friday was recorded right here in nineteen eighty-six — and Jonny wasn't even in the band yet. Instead, a friend named Raz Peterson played saxophone. Jonny was the last to join... first on harmonica, then keyboards, but he soon became the lead guitarist.......... On a Friday played their first proper gig in nineteen eighty-seven at Oxford's Jericho Tavern. And on the strength of an early demo, they were even offered a record deal by Island Records — but they turned it Down, deciding they weren't ready. Teenage boys... walking away from a record deal. That takes some nerve.......... It wasn't until nineteen ninety-one that they finally signed — a six-album contract with E-M-I. And at the label's request, they changed their name. "Radiohead" was taken from a song on the Talking Heads album True Stories. David Byrne himself, decades later, said he was "surprised and very flattered" that they'd named themselves after one of his songs.......... So next time you hear those guitar chords ringing out from OK Computer or The Bends... remember. It all started in a school music room, on a Friday afternoon, with five boys who had no idea what they were about to unleash on the world.