Formation and first years (1985–91)
Abingdon School, where the band formed
The members of Radiohead met while attending Abingdon School, an independent school for boys in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.[12] Thom Yorke and Colin Greenwood were in the same year, Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway were one year older and Jonny Greenwood two years younger than his brother. In 1985, they formed the band "On a Friday", the name referring to the band's usual rehearsal day in the school's music room.[13] Jonny Greenwood was the last to join, having previously been in a band called "Illiterate Hands", with Nigel Powell and Yorke's brother Andy Yorke.[14][15] The group played their first gig in late 1986 at Oxford's Jericho Tavern;[16] Jonny Greenwood originally joined as a harmonica and then keyboard player, but soon became the lead guitarist.[13]
Although Yorke, O'Brien, Selway, and Colin Greenwood had left Abingdon by 1987 to attend university, On a Friday continued to rehearse on weekends and holidays.[17] In 1991, when all the members but Jonny had completed their university degrees, On a Friday regrouped, began to record demos such as Manic Hedgehog, and performed live gigs around Oxford at venues such as The Jericho Tavern. Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley had an active independent music scene in the late 1980s, but it centred on shoegazing bands such as Ride and Slowdive.[18]
As On a Friday's live performances increased, record labels and producers became interested. Chris Hufford, Slowdive's producer and the co-owner of Oxford's Courtyard Studios, attended an early On a Friday concert at the Jericho Tavern. Impressed, he and his partner Bryce Edge produced a demo tape and became On a Friday's managers;[17] they remain Radiohead's managers to this day. Following a chance meeting between Colin Greenwood and EMI A&R representative Keith Wozencroft at the record shop where Greenwood worked, On a Friday signed a six-album recording contract with the label in late 1991.[17] At the request of EMI, the band changed their name; "Radiohead" was taken from the song "Radio Head" on the Talking Heads album True Stories (1986).